'Oh I have been to Ludlow fair, and left my necktie God knows where.

And carried half way home, or near, pints and quarts of Ludlow beer.

Then the world seemed none so bad, and I myself a sterling lad.

And down in lovely muck I've lain, happy - till I woke up again.'

A. E Houseman

The May Fair comes to Ludlow every year to mark the start of Spring. In a tradition that reaches back hundreds of years, Ludlow is transformed from a peaceful market town into a bustling and frenetic fairground.

Whether the inhabitants like it or not.

Following the success of previous writers' weeks Pentabus will be inviting 6 of the region's finest writers to experience the thrills and spills of the Ludlow May Fair first hand and to consider why this enduring phenomenon has increasingly polarized local opinion.