ONE of the best days’ in 2021 for Ludlow came with the reopening of the refurbished Assembly Rooms.

The town centre arts facility was closed for more than two years after a refurbishment that had been intended to take months became a much bigger job.

It was discovered that the building was in a much worse condition that had originally been anticipated.

The £3.5m contract included reinstating the original Castle Square entrance, redesigning the auditorium, creating a new box office, improvements to accessibility, a visitor information centre and café bar, modernisation of the mechanical and technical equipment and installation of photo voltaic panels to generate electricity.

It was predominantly funded by Shropshire Council, with grants also received from the European Regional Development Fund, Arts Council England, and Ludlow and District Community Association.