A LOCAL history forum is set for Ludlow next month.

Following a reprint of the sold-out book ‘The People and History of Lower Corve Street and St. Mary’s Lane’ by Jonathan and Rosemary Wood, the Ludlow Civic Society is staging an open forum entitled ‘Lower Corve Street - Then and Now’ to discuss the recent history of this industrial, northern quarter of the town.

The event will include a presentation about Richard Bird, William Davies, William Pipe and Norman Lloyd, men who founded successful businesses in the 19th and 20th centuries and whose descendants still live in Ludlow.

Roy Thwaites, a passionate collector of antique Reynolds of Ludlow furniture will invite Garth Reynolds to share memories of his father, the founder of Reynolds, and Garth’s life in St. Mary’s Lane, where he renovated a dilapidated barn which would later become The Ludlow Society of Quaker Friends’ Meeting House.

Many families living in lower Corve Street and St. Mary’s Lane in the early 1900s had sons or husbands who fought in WWI. An interactive session created and performed by Simon Bolton and Paul Sayers of Rooftop Theatre, and featuring Skye Whitney and Paul Kemp, will introduce some of these soldiers.

The audience will be invited to join in discussion, and there will be an attendant display of Reynolds’ Furniture, artefacts from lower Corve Street’s industrial past, and memorabilia and photographs from WWI.

The Forum will take place in the Parish Room of St. Peter’s Church in Henley Road on Wednesday 13 September. The talks start at 10.00 am, and tea and coffee will be served from 09.30.

Tickets should be booked in advance, and cost £5 for the Forum-only, and an additional £5 for a French bread and cheese lunch.

Contact Rosemary Wood on rosemary.wood3@gmail.com, or 01584 875438 to reserve your tickets.