Feathers and Ghosts

After exploring Powis Castle we stayed the night in Ludlow, to be precise at The Feathers Hotel. It’s long been on our bucket list, which fortunately fills up as soon as it's emptied. Behind that façade it’s very reminiscent of an illustration I remember as a child. It was from a book of nursery rhymes with a picture of the interior of a large leather boot and the accompanying rhyme.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.

She had so many children she didn’t know what to do

She gave them some broth without any bread

Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

I spent hours imagining myself in that shoe, climbing its Escher like stairs and exploring each nook and cranny. Now I was in its equivalent, though it offered more than broth and bread, and we weren’t whipped soundly to bed.

From the street it is hard to believe that The Feathers has 40 ensuite rooms, never mind a Reception, large bar and lounge, and spacious restaurant with oak panelling up to the ceiling; presumably there’s a kitchen  somewhere in there too, certainly toilets.

The building itself was constructed in 1619 and when it became an inn in 1670, a balcony was added to the frontage for electioneering. Inside, it’s an intimate but visual feast, the weird nooks and crannies: Jacobean carved cupboards and chests, and above, richly plastered ceilings, exposed Elizabethan timber-framing and ceiling beams. It even has the original C17th door, which I stroked as I walked through. And, of course, it’s heavily haunted. I now regret we weren’t in room 211, though my wife probably doesn’t.  

But back to important things. The food was excellent, as was the beer. The New York Times was so impressed, it referred to it as the ‘most handsome inn in the world’. And I won’t argue with that. 

Still, it has its contenders. Opposite The Feathers is the even older Bull Inn and such is the rivalry, they have a yearly ‘Tug of War’ across the street on Boxing Day.

This is the Town Preacher and Lecturer's house. Worth enlarging for detail

Again worth enlarging for detail

There are more Elizabethan and Stuart buildings in Ludlow than you can shake a stick at, and when done with shaking sticks, pubs I could spend a happy week exploring.