Ludlow, Leominster and Stokesay Castle

We put the seats down in the car in preparation for collecting the bureau later in the day and set off for Ludlow.  We've been before, probably several times, but it is still an interesting town with streets still to explore.  But first a cup of tea/coffee and a toasted tea cake!  The waitresses wore black with little white caps and pinafores. Nothing like it!

One of the old gates leading into Ludlow

Ruth at Ludlow

Then on to Stokesay Castle a fortified manor house which has a dramatic exterior and a very interesting interior...remarkably it had been left to decay for several hundred years and finally purchased and conserved (rather than restored) in the 1800s.   There's an excellent audio guide.  The lunch wasn't much to write home about but we sat within the walls and admired the castle, the towers and the gatehouse.

North tower

South tower

View from churchyard

Stokesay Castle

The gatehouse

The gatehouse

Waiting for our crumbs

 And then to Leominster to collect the bureau and back to Wellbrook Manor Studio for a cup of tea.  Ah!  And then a saunter round the vegetable plots to collect tomatoes, French beans, courgettes, and into the netted enclosure for raspberries and red currants.  Holiday over!  We leave tomorrow...