Meet the married couple behind Ludlow’s newest kitchen and arts gallery

Chef Clive Davis and artist Janet Austin opened Pale Kitchen and Arts, just off Corve Street, this January and have received a warm reception from the local community. 

In the making for the last 18 months, Janet told the Shropshire Star that the couple, who have been together for the last 35 years, had longed to open something that would combine their individual interests and talents together. 

But launching Pale meant that Janet would be leaving behind a long career in the NHS to pursue her true passion: art. 

Janet, 55, said: “I just felt a bit like I needed a break from that and a different direction. So I’ve always been an artist, and decided that art was going to be my second career.” 

Meanwhile, Clive, who had first opened The Green Cafe, in Linney, which was renamed CSONS after its sale, would gain control of a kitchen once again. 

He said: “A lot of people always keep saying to me, ‘when are you going to do something else?’ 

“We wanted to create a business where we could run it with two people and not recruit any staff. 

“And it would be about being creative, we weren’t trying to make loads and loads of money.”