Star comment: Ludlow will rise to challenge after festival axe

The festival is a premier cultural event of the county, the region, and the nation. Some of the biggest names in the acting world have taken part in the showpiece Shakespearean production held in the incomparable setting of the grounds of Ludlow Castle.

It also provides a huge boost to the local economy.

From triumph, to tragedy.

Nobody needs reminding how bad the summer was and for outdoor events the chances of making any money were washed away.

Ludlow Festival has been a part of the county summer calendar for so long that few will be able to remember the days without it. It can trace its roots to a floodlit performance of Milton's Masque of Comus before Princess Margaret at Ludlow Castle in June 1959, with the first festival being held in July 1960.

An institution, then. And a Shropshire institution which has been killed off through what are described as major losses, although the full extent of the losses will not be known until the accounts are published.

So is there hope? There are precedents which offer a crumb of encouragement that this may not be the end of the Ludlow Festival story.

In 1971 Shrewsbury Flower Show suffered its worst weather for 50 years. All seemed lost. It was saved because some people, including Percy Thrower, really stuck their necks out.

Then there is the West Mid Show. Placed in voluntary liquidation in 2009, it rose again in a different form, as the Shropshire Show.

Ludlow has a great pool of community-minded people. They now face a great challenge in creating something to rise from the ashes.

The big surprise would be if they did not meet the challenge.