LUDLOW is missing a trick in not making more of its links with the poet A E Housman.

This was the message from Max Hunt, secretary of the Housman Society when he spoke to Ludlow Town Council.

The poet, who died in 1936, is best known for his work ‘A Shropshire Lad’ that was first published in 1896.

Max Hunt said that the rarest editions were from 1916 because so many had perished with soldiers that had taken them to war.

“In the same week as the commemoration in Stratford-on-Avon of the Shakespeare 400th anniversary, it struck me how little Ludlow makes of its literary associations,” said Max Hunt.

“I believe that back in the 1980s both the town and district councils used to be associated with the annual Housman Commemoration, recognising the potential for tourism and the local economy.

“Although born in Worcestershire, Housman is so strongly linked through his most famous work with Ludlow and south Shropshire that I cannot help but think that the town is missing a trick in not exploiting the connection more than it does.”

He added that the Housman Society had written without response to the Ludlow Chamber of Commerce.