LUDLOW carpenter Graeme Perks is continuing his one man mission to make sure that locals and visitors to the town and surrounding area have a nice place to sit and admire the view.

Mr Perks, who is a member of Ludlow Town Council, has been using his skills to repair and refurbish benches.

His latest project came after a request from Bromfield Church.

He responded and has now refurbished the bench by the war memorial.

Mr Perks is involved with the Ludlow war memorial fund and the group is undertaking a survey of benches in the area to find out what further work is needed as the project that started in 2018 moves towards its fourth year.

Some of the benches that he has given a new lease of life are more than 70 years old, dating back to the 1950’s.

He has also used old pallets to replace some of the ‘silent soldier’ boards that were placed around the town to mark the centenary of the end of the first world war in November 2018. The earlier ‘silent soldiers’ were made from plywood and not intended to last long.

Mr Perks is a highly skilled carpenter who was trained at the London School of Furniture.

At one time he ran a group in the town helping young people to learn artisan skills like woodworking. Mr Perks also founded a young chef competition that ran for several years, culminating in awards presented at the Ludlow Food Festival in September.

His work plays an important part in helping the town to looks its best and be welcoming for visitors, who play such a big part in supporting jobs in the town.

All being well, Ludlow will open up fully again with the ending of all Covid-19 restrictions.

This will be in time for the Fringe Arts Festival.

Then there will be the Green Festival in July, a series of special markets are planned for August and the main autumn Food Festival is due to be staged over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the second weekend in September.