Calls to keep historic sign outside Ludlow tea rooms
A sign that has hung outside an iconic tea room for as long as anyone can remember may be taken down - but despite the tea rooms being closed, there are calls to keep it as a memento.
Opinion is split over what should happen to the hand-painted sign that has swung outside De Grey's tea rooms in Ludlow for most of its 90 years.
The historic business, housed in a black-and-white timber-framed building in Ludlow's Broad Street, closed in January to the shock of the town's residents.
Last month it was announced national restaurant chain Wildwood, owned by Tasty Plc, would be taking over the building - but the thought of changing the historic sign has not gone down well with some residents.
Andy Boddington, Shropshire councillor for Ludlow North, contacted the new owners to ask what they intended to do.
He said: "There will be quite a bit of opposition to removal of this sign, from me included.
"The De Grey's sign is part of Broad Street's heritage. Wildwood should keep the sign and advertise their business in the shop windows and doorway.
"I've asked the agents to contact Ludlow's conservation committee for advice," he said.
Margaret Edwards and Jean Parker of Poyner's drapers, one of Ludlow's oldest shops and a neighbour of De Greys on Broad Street, said they thought the hanging sign should be kept outside the building as a memento of De Grey's nine decades in the town.
Mrs Parker said: "I think if it's only the hanging sign they should leave it there, as people have a lot of happy memories of De Greys. It's part of Ludlow."
But a spokesman for Wildwood said it was more likely the sign would be put on display inside.
He said: "Wildwood want to keep the hanging sign and may well keep it inside as a memento of the building's former use as well-known tea rooms. Obviously it would want its own brand name on any replacement signage."
Mayor of Ludlow Jim Smithers said there were hurdles the new owners would have to overcome before the sign could be changed.
He said it would need to be determined if changing the sign came under listed building consent, and if so it would have to go out to public consultation.
"But it's not just the building itself - it's on Broad Street, one of the iconic streets of Ludlow," he said.
A recent application by fashion outlet Fat Face, across the road from De Greys, to put up a larger hanging sign, was recently turned down as it was deemed out of keeping with the Ludlow Conservation Area which Broad Street comes under.
With its waitress service, old-fashioned uniforms and cream teas, Ludlow's historic De Grey's tearoom offered visitors from all over the world a slice of life in bygone days.
It attracted a celebrity fanbase, with Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, Hollywood actress Keira Knightley and TV presenter and author Stephen Fry sampling its delights, and television historian Dan Snow labelling its cream teas the "best in the world" just weeks before its closure.
Tasty plc has submitted a planning application to make changes to the back of the listed building. Bosses say it will create up to 40 jobs and use locally sourced food.
