People who sleep well on firm mattresses usually know it before they reach the shop, and I'm fond of them for it. They want something that pushes back, they want pocket springs, and they don't want to pay for frills. The Dream Team Ludlow 1000 Pocket Memory is the bed Dreams puts in front of them, from the Dream Team range it sells under its own name. Inside, a single sheet of pocket springs carries a thin memory foam layer with polyester fibre over it. The whole mattress is 22cm (just under 9 inches) deep and graded Firm to Very Firm, one step short of the hardest bed on Dreams' scale. The gap it fills is firm with a little cushion: harder than the medium-firm memory foam beds in the same range, and softer at the surface than the plain tufted firm ones. Lie down on your back and the top gives by about a finger's depth, then the springs take your weight and you stay level from shoulders to hips.
The label still said Romsey 1000 when our tester tried it in one of Dreams' shops in December 2025. Ludlow is the new name for it, and Dreams publishes the same layers and the same springs under both. Lying on their back at 68kg (about ten stone ten), they found the firmness suited them, with sturdy support under the back, and it followed their spine's shape nicely, with no pressure points they were aware of. My one reservation sits in the same showroom. The Dream Team Maidstone 1000 is built on exactly the same pocket springs and has a second sleeping side you can turn it over to, while the Ludlow gives that second side up for its layer of memory foam.
Back sleepers and front sleepers of about average weight are who it's for, the ones who like firm and would rather the bed stayed simple. It's an honest firm bed, but to my mind it's a budget bed rather than one to buy for the long haul. Side sleepers should walk on by, and so should anyone slight, because a bed this firm gives a narrow shoulder nowhere to sink. If you want a firm bed to keep, the Maidstone is the better buy, because you can turn it.
858 springs in a double, and the Maidstone has the same 858
The 1000 in the name is the king's count of 1,015. A double has 858, not a thousand, and a single has 561, so compare doubles with doubles when you shop around. I'd call 858 a little light for a double. It's fine for the money, because every one is a full-height wrapped pocket spring and nobody has padded the figure with a layer of mini springs.
Now put the Maidstone beside it. It carries the same 858 springs at the same 22cm, tufted, with polyester filling on both faces, and Dreams grades it Firm, a notch kinder than the Ludlow. Its double weighs 33kg to the Ludlow's 25kg, and those extra 8kg are the upholstery for a second sleeping face. The Ludlow has one face, and puts a 20mm layer of memory foam into it instead.
Turnable is better. Given a mattress I can turn and a no-turn bed built from the same springs, I pick the one that turns every time, because two faces share your weight between them, while one face takes all of it and all you can do is spin it end to end. What the Ludlow gives you back is that layer of foam, which rounds off the push of the springs under your shoulder blades and hips. On the Maidstone you lie on a flatter, plainer surface with the tufts under you.
Dreams put the price up along with the new name. That leaves the Ludlow to win on its build alone, and on build the bed that turns over comes first for me.
Level on your back, unforgiving on your side
Weight first, then position, is how I match anyone to a mattress, and this one sorts people quickly. At around average weight on your back, you get what our tester got: a level spine and support that feels solid all the way along. Front sleepers do well on it too, since a firm surface keeps your hips from sinking and the small of your back from bowing.
On your side it's another matter, because your shoulder gets almost nothing to sink into. If you're slight, you won't press far enough into the bed for the foam to do much, so you'll lie on top of it whichever way you turn. The bluntest owner of all warned side sleepers off it: "It's like sleeping on the floor."
Dreams sells the Ludlow on orthopaedic support. On this bed, orthopaedic means the firm grade, and whether firm is right for your back is the question to answer before you buy. If you're choosing firm because someone told you it's good for backs, stop there. Medium firm is where I'd start almost anyone who isn't sure, and the Ludlow sits two steps firmer than that on Dreams' scale.
Cooler than most memory foam beds
Overheating wakes me up, so I warn hot sleepers about memory foam every time. On the Ludlow the warning is a small one. The foam is a thin layer under a pad of polyester fibre, and there isn't enough of it to close round your body and hold the warmth in. Our tester went in worried about heat building up and found it relatively cool compared with traditional memory foam mattresses.
People who bought it as the Romsey back that up. "I was worried about the memory foam bit making it too warm but its been ok," one wrote, and I couldn't find a single complaint about heat among them. Anyone who throws the duvet off in midwinter will sleep cooler on the Maidstone, which has no foam in it at all.
What people who bought it as the Romsey say
The happiest owners are back sleepers with sore backs. Several describe a few weeks of getting used to the firmness and then mornings without the ache, which is the pattern I'd expect from a firm bed under someone whose back already likes firm.
The unhappy ones pull in opposite directions. Some found the mattress at home much harder than the one they lay on in the shop. Others found it softer than they'd been promised, and a few reported dipping early. "From the 2nd night the mattress started to dip and stayed that way," wrote one. Another, just under eleven stone and turning it every week, says it began sagging almost at once. Early dips are the complaint I weigh hardest, and they're a big part of why I call this a budget bed.
Shop beds get sat on all day for months, so a new one off the van starts firmer, and with this little padding over the springs you notice the difference on night one. Give it the first month. If it's still too firm after that, a topper will soften it. If it dips, a topper won't fix it, so make a fault claim instead.
The guarantee is short, and Dreams counts some settling as normal. Before you pay, find out the depth of dip Dreams counts as a fault, and write it on the receipt. Past the first month, Dreams will exchange it under its 100-Night Comfort Guarantee, as long as you've used a protector from the start. There's a charge for the swap, and you get another mattress rather than your money back.
A light mattress one person can manage
A double weighs 25kg, which one owner called an unexpected benefit, and it means you can swing it round on the base without calling anyone for help. Dreams brings it flat, in one piece, and stairs are where flat mattresses get stuck, so measure the stairwell and any tight corner first. At 22cm deep it takes an ordinary fitted sheet.
It's not one for a Sleepmotion adjustable base. Use a slatted frame or a divan, and check the slats are no more than about seven centimetres apart, because a wide gap is the first thing I'd suspect if any mattress started to dip.
Couples among the owners largely sleep through each other's turning over, though one felt every move their partner made. On a double the edge counts for a lot, since a soft one tips two people towards the middle. One owner says it "stays firm around the edge when sat on", and another found the sides sag a little.
What to buy instead
Buy the Dream Team Maidstone 1000 if you want a firm bed to keep. It has the same springs, it's graded Firm, a step kinder than the Ludlow, and it turns over, so two faces share the wear. You give up the thin layer of memory foam, and for most firm sleepers that's a trade worth making. It's heavier, so turning it is a job for two.
Not sure you want firm at all? The Dream Team Fowey 1000 Pocket Memory puts memory foam over the same spring count under a box top, 2cm deeper and graded Medium Firm, a kinder bed for side sleepers.
If you carry more weight, lie face up or face down and want harder still, with a second side to turn to, look at the Dream Team Fakenham 1000 Pocket Ortho, graded Very Firm on the same count of springs with polyester fillings on both faces.
