THANKS to the vision of two Ludlow shop workers, the town will come of a halt to commemorate one of the darkest days in its long history.

It was two years ago when Margaret Edwards and Jean Parker had the idea of making sure that all those from Ludlow and the surrounding area who died in the three great conflicts of the last century would have a memorial.

Helped by historian Clive Richardson, they discovered that there were names missing from the memorial board in St Laurence Church and so began the task of filling the gaps and getting a permanent memorial.

Now more than two years and £9,000 later, work will shortly start in putting the names of all of Ludlow’s war dead from the First and Second World wars and the Korean War on to slabs that will be laid in a V shape around the town’s War Memorial.

“It is so important that all those who gave their lives have a permanent memorial,” said Margaret Edwards, who works with Jean Parker at Poyners in Broad Street.

But it has been a major effort that has involved businesses and individuals from around the town.

There have also been major fundraising events including two fashion shows that have involved clothes shops in Ludlow with the most recent a gala evening at Stokesay Castle.

“It has been a remarkable response from the entire town,” added Margaret Edwards.

“We have had school children who can have no recollection of any of these terrible conflicts helping with the fundraising and support from those with no family history of having had people serving in these wars.”

But with the money raised to give the go-ahead to start on the engraving of the memorial stones and with all the necessary permissions achieved to lay them next to the War Memorial plans could go ahead to find a suitable date.

With the help of Clive Richardson it has been decided that the town will link hands and hearts in memory on Thursday, July 14.

Ludlow Town Band will play, the male voice choir will sing and three families that lost loved ones in each of the conflicts will be the special guests.

The date has been chosen because it will be 100 years to the day after three soldiers from the small south Shropshire market down lost their lives in the battle to end all battles.

On July 1 in 1916, the Battle of the Somme, which was to be the bloodiest battle in military history, started and on that day alone 57,000 men died.

Two weeks later, the men from Ludlow went into the line and were killed.

The three men who died on that day were among more than 200 Ludlovians to be killed in the First, Second and Korean wars.

Most of these, about 150, died in the Great War and two were killed in the Korean War with the remainder giving their lives in fighting between 1939 and 1945.