Ledbury

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 52.0339
longitude= -2.4235
population= 8,837 (2001 census)
official_name= Ledbury
unitary_england= Herefordshire
region = West Midlands
constituency_westminster= Leominster
post_town= LEDBURY
postcode_area= HR
postcode_district= HR8
dial_code= 01531
os_grid_reference= SO710373

Ledbury is a town in Herefordshire, England, United Kingdom.

It is east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. Ledbury is an ancient borough, dating back to the Domesday Book, where it was recorded as Liedeberge, and returned members to Parliament in the reign of Edward I. Ledbury probably takes its name from the River Leadon, on which it stands. The Old English "berg" (hill) has been added to the river name.

Ledbury was once home to the poetess Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who spent her childhood days at Hope End. It is also the birthplace of poet laureate John Masefield, after whom the local secondary school is now named - John Masefield High School (JMHS).

Today, Ledbury is a thriving market town in rural England. It has a main-line rail connection to London. The town has a large number of timber framed buildings, in particular along "Church Lane". Notable buildings in the area include the parish church, the Painted Room (containing sixteenth century frescoes), and Eastnor Castle.

Ledbury won the 2003 Britain in Bloom competition, in the category of 'Small Town'.

The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal, which was opened from Gloucester as far as Ledbury in 1798, passed through the lower part of the town with wharves at Bye Street and at what is now the Ross Road near the Full Pitcher public house. After closing in 1885, the canal route was used by the Great Western Railway for the Ledbury to Gloucester branch line. When that closed, as a result of the Beeching cuts, it became disused until it was converted to a nature trail.

One of Ledbury's most outstanding buildings is the Market House, located in central town. The town is also host to the base of former Formula 1 team Minardi.

The main roads through the town are the A449 and the A417, and the M50 motorway runs to the south.

Ledbury is a venue for numerous annual festivals (particularly the Ledbury Poetry Festival) and The Big Chill music event at Eastnor Castle, which brings thousands of young people to the town each year.

The Ledbury hunts (Ledbury, which dates from 1846, and North Ledbury, established in 1905) are well-supported. Ledbury is also home to the Silurian Border Morris men. There are a number of singing groups in the town, including Ledbury Choral Society and Ledbury Community Choir, the latter with over 60 singers.

Notable people

* Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet
* Mary Duggan, cricketer
* Steve Emery, footballer
* Henry Scott Holland, professor of divinity
* Terry Jenkins, darts player
* Conroy Maddox, artist
* John Masefield, poet laureate
* James Crosbie Smith, cricketer
* Rachel Whitear, student

ee also

*Ledbury Town F.C. - football club
* [http://www.lrfc.co.uk/ Ledbury Rugby Club] - rugby union club
* [http://www.themarkettheatre.com/] - The Market Theatre (Ledbury, UK) Home of Ledbury Amateur Dramtic Society

External links

* [http://www.ledburyportal.co.uk/ Ledbury Portal] Citizen Journalism, News, Forum, Directory
* [http://www.visitledbury.co.uk/ Ledbury Tourist Association Website]
* [http://www.ledburyonline.co.uk/ Ledbury Online]
* [http://www.ledburyreporter.co.uk/ Ledbury Reporter] Local Ledbury weekly Newspaper
* [http://www.ledburyswifts.org.uk/ Ledbury Swifts] Youth football team
* [http://www.lrfc.co.uk/juniors/ Ledbury Rugby Juniors] Youth rugby team
* [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/HEF/Ledbury/ Genuki]
* [http://www.h-g-canal.org.uk/index.html Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal Trust]
* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=3268914 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Ledbury and surrounding area]

-- () 23:53, 9 October 2008 (UTC) M da Silva 2008