| Ludford | |
Church of St Mary and St Peter, Ludford Magna |
|
|
Ludford
Ludford shown within Lincolnshire |
|
| Population | 435 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | TF1989 |
| District | East Lindsey |
| Shire county | Lincolnshire |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MARKET RASEN |
| Postcode district | LN8 |
| Dialling code | 01507 |
| Police | Lincolnshire |
| Fire | Lincolnshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Louth and Horncastle |
| List of places: UK • England • Lincolnshire | |
Ludford is a village and parish in the English county of Lincolnshire. It comprises the adjacent villages of Ludford Magna and Ludford Parva.
Contents |
It lies in East Lindsey, just outside of its bordering region, West Lindsey. It sits along a mile-long (Magna Mile) section of the fast-flowing east-west A631 Market Rasen to Louth road.
Ludford sits in an area of outstanding natural beauty at the summit of the Lincolnshire Wolds. From the B1225/A631 crossroads, to the west of the village, the parish boundary (also that of East and West Lindsey), follows the B1225 northwards, bordering North Willingham. It briefly borders Tealby along the B1225, the parish and district boundary moves from the B1225 eastwards through Kirmond Hall, bordering Kirmond le Mire. South of Walmsley Holt the boundary moves eastwards from the district boundary. It passes south of Spottle Hill Farm and Low Farm, and east of Tows Farm, at Great Tows on the road to Ludborough, it meets Calcethorpe with Kelstern. It crosses the A631 around two miles west of the village centre. At this point it follows the start of the River Bain southwards, east of the serted villages of Weast and East Wykeham, which are part of the parish. At Bain Wood, where the two tributaries of the River Bain meet, it meets Burgh on Bain. It passes north-west along the eastern edge of Wykeham Plantation, on the western edge of Wykeham Pond, and along another (western) tributary of the River Bain, south of the deserted West Wykeham. It crosses Girsby Lane to the south-west, and then south-west along the western edge of Harpgates Plantation and the eastern edge of the former RAF Ludford Magna, until where it meets the B1225 and Hainton. A mile north along the B1225 it meets Sixhills and West Lindsey. West of Gally Hill Farm it meets North Willingham.
The parish church is dedicated to St Peter and St Mary, and has the 101 Squadron Roll of Honour. The former deserted villages that are part of the parish were wiped out by the Black Death.
Montagu C. Allwood and his brothers who grew up in a farming family in the village, moved to south of Burgess Hill in Sussex to build a plant nursery, which is now the largest retailer of carnation plants in the world. When the Allwoods lived in the village, the population was twice that what it is now, with a flourishing economy.
Even though the village is on the busy A631, public transport to local towns has sometimes been non-existent; Burgh on Bain would be the nearest place for public transport.
On 27 February 2008 at 00.26 it was at the epicentre of an earthquake measuring 5.2 on the richter scale. Despite the strength of the earthquake no damage was sustained to the village.[1] To celebrate the village's place in UK earthquake history, the White Hart Inn had a beer brewed from a local microbrewery called Epicentre with an ABV of 5.2%.
RAF Ludford Magna was a former Royal Air Force airfield located south of the village, next to east side of the B1225 High Street. The station opened in June 1943.
During the Second World War, Lancaster bomber air crew from the RAF Ludford Magna were shot down and killed over Voué in France. The villagers of Voué buried the air crew and tended the graves for many years until the link with Ludford was discovered. Ludford and Voué are now twinned and enjoy regular visits. No. 101 Squadron RAF have a reunion every year in early September and RAF Coningsby send one of two remaining flying Lancaster bombers from the BBMF on a fly past over the village. There is a memorial stone for the base in the village. The squadron suffered the greatest number of casualties of any RAF Bomber Command squadron.
During the Cold War the station was home to Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Nuclear Missiles, each with 1.44 megaton warheads.
The village has two public houses near each other on the A631: the Black Horse is on the south side, and the White Hart Inn is on the north side, further east.
The Ludford Village Hall Committee produces the newsletter The Magna Messenger.[2]
The primary school was one of a few in the country to be involved with the Science and Technology through Educational Links with Amateur Radio education charity.[3]
The primary school only had around 30 pupils so it was decided to close the school in 2009 by the county council. The school since the 1970s never had more than 40 pupils, and had faced calls to close it since then.