About Us | Wrekin About Us Tweet The Wrekin parliamentary constituency forms a rural horseshoe around the east, north and west of the much more urban constituency of Telford, named after the Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. It is covered by two local government administrations, Telford & Wrekin Borough Council and Shropshire Unitary Authority. Telford began life in 1963 as Dawley New Town and then, in 1969, was enlarged to provide for relocation from Birmingham and the Black Country and renamed Telford. From a population of some 50,000 scattered among many villages and the market towns of Wellington & Newport and coal mining centres of Dawley and Oakengates, the new town population was projected to grow towards 240,000. It is currently 190,000. The land area of the Borough is nearly 80% rural and The Wrekin constituency is fortunate to be its steward, leaving the industrialised and heavily populated growth centre to Telford.

Originally it was one constituency but was divided into two constituencies in the 1990s, and extended to include Newport, Shifnal and Albrighton. Landscape and History The Wrekin is characterised by contrasting and prominent beauty. In the southwest the pre-Cambrian volcanic rocks of the Wrekin hill, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, rises to over 400 metres (1,300 feet). To the north-east the Shropshire plain includes the Area of Special Landscape Character known as the Strine Levels. Interspersed between and around these features there is a tapestry of villages, farms and isolated settlements of huge historical interest. Economy Despite its agricultural focus, there are significantly large manufacturing and employment centres within its boundary. The Hortonwood Industrial Park is one such centre and although there is the obvious agricultural connection, Dairycrest has its factory in the north. GKN and BAE Systems are on the very edge of the urban conurbation. A little further to the east there is MOD Donnington. RAF Shawbury is home to MoD helicopter training and RAF Cosford has the aerospace museum in its campus. The Harper Adams agricultural University is at Edgmond.

Parliamentary The first Conservative member of parliament to be elected to The Wrekin is Mark Pritchard, in 2005 with a majority of 900, this was increased to 9,000 at the 2010 general election. Local Government At the local level on the Borough Council Conservatives have consistently bucked the national trend. In 1995 there were just three swash-buckling Conservative councillors. In 1997 the numbers doubled and in 2000 rose to fourteen. In 2007 the Conservatives gained control as a minority administration and following 5 by-elections obtained a majority. In May 2011 Telford and Wrekin Borough Council reverted to Labour control, despite the highest Conservative turn out in the Council’s history. telford telford noting a form of road pavement composed of compacted and rolled stones of various sizes.

[1895-1900; after Thomas Telford (1757-1834), Scottish engineer] * * * ▪ England , United Kingdom new town in Telford and Wrekin unitary authority, geographic and historic county of Shropshire , western England. It lies north and east of the hill of the Wrekin, which has an elevation of 1,335 feet (407 metres). Dawley, now part of Telford, was designated a new town in 1963 to draw off population and industry from the city of Birmingham and the adjacent industrial region known (because of its pollution-coated landscapes) as the Black Country . In 1968 the area of the new town was enlarged and the official name changed to Telford, and intense housing and factory development transformed the area. Pop. (2001) 40,437. * * * Telford — Telford … Wikipédia en Français Telford — Borough de los Estados Unidos … Wikipedia Español Telford — Tel ford, a. [After Thomas Telford, a Scotch road engineer.] Designating, or pert.

to, a road pavement having a surface of small stone rolled hard and smooth, distinguished from macadam road by its firm foundation of large stones with fragments… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English Telford — Telford, PA U.S. borough in Pennsylvania Population (2000): 4680 Housing Units (2000): 1977 Land area (2000): 1.013390 sq. miles (2.624667 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.013390 sq. miles… … StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places Telford — Telford, Thomas, geb. 1755; englischer Baumeister, Erbauer der Menay u. Conwaybrücke, des Calidonschen Kanals, der Katharinendocks; st.

1834 … Pierer's Universal-Lexikon Telford — Telford, Thomas, Ingenieur, geb. 9. Aug. 1757 in Eskdale (Dumfriesshire), gest. 2. Sept.

1834 in Westminster, erlernte das Maurerhandwerk, ging 1781 nach Edinburg, 1782 nach London, wo er unter Chambers und Adams Studien machte und 1787 die Docks … Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon Telford — infobox UK place country = England latitude= 52.6766 longitude= 2.4469 official name= Telford population = 138,241 unitary england= Telford and Wrekin lieutenancy england= Shropshire region= West Midlands constituency westminster= Telford… … Wikipedia Telford — 52.679166666667 2.4475 Koordinaten: 52° 41′ N, 2° 27′ W … Deutsch Wikipedia Telford — This is an Olde English habitational name which derives from the elements taelf , meaning a plateau and forda , meaning a shallow river crossing .

There are several places named in the 1086 Domesday Book, the usual spelling being Tejleford of… … Surnames reference Telford — I Telford [ telfəd; nach T. Telford], 1963 68 Dawley [ dɔːlɪ], Stadt in der County Shropshire, England, 35 800 Einwohner; mehrere Industrieparks mit vielfältiger Industrie. Stadtbild: Zum … Universal-Lexikon 16+ Telford Our New Town- Telford History|Creating a digital archive libraryenquiries@telford.gov.uk 1963 was the year that the Beatles released their first album; The Pink Panther was showing at the cinema; Manchester United won the FA Cup; and Dawley was designated as a New Town.In 1968 the New Town was officially named ‘Telford’ after the civil engineer Thomas Telford, and the development area was expanded.

‘Telford Our New Town’ is a Heritage Lottery funded project bringing together selected, unique material from the Telford Development Corporation Archives and widening access to these resources for people to enjoy. Discover life as Telford developed and progressed from 1960s – 1980s through photographs and other information. Help to add to the growing, living archive with your own memories and photos of that time. Telford wikipedia - wiki Telford map - wiki articles about Telford on the map | Gulliway 39,037 19.9 During the economic crisis of the late 1960s (with unemployment doubling nationally during the second half of the decade), unemployment in the then-new town was initially high. However, in 1967 Halesfield Industrial Estate was founded on the south-eastern edge of the town – the first real answer to Telford's unemployment problems. Other large estates followed, in 1973 with Stafford Park just east of the town centre and in 1979 with Hortonwood, to the north, helping ease the unemployment crisis in a decade which saw an almost unbroken rise in unemployment.

In total, half a million square metres of factory space were provided between 1968 and 1983, making Telford an attractive investment area. By 1976, Telford had begun to recruit industry from the USA, Europe, and Japan . The foreign firms required larger factories, and they began to be built at Stafford Park. By 1983 over 2,000 jobs in Telford were provided by around 40 (mostly American) foreign companies. In contrast to industry in the Black Country at the time, these new companies focused on high-technology industries rather than the heavy and metal-finishing industries. The new arrivals included the American company Unimation and three firms from Japan: Nikon UK Ltd., which opened a warehouse at Halesfield in 1983; video tape manufacturers Hitachi Maxell at Apley Castle in 1983; and office equipment manufacturers Ricoh, who took a 22-acre (89,000 m) site for a factory at Priorslee next to the M54, and formed the first in Telford's new enterprise zone.

Consequently, from the later 1970s, Telford began to attract high-technology firms and to diversify its industry, and the promotion of the Service industry also began to prosper, in the Telford Town Centre area. However, a deepening national recession meant that, despite the creation of new jobs, there were net job losses from 1979. Unemployment grew from 3.4 per cent in 1969 to over 8 per cent in 1972 and 22.3 per cent (almost double the national average) in 1983; long-term unemployment rose even faster. Nevertheless, the rate of increase in unemployment was slowing down by 1983 and was making some progress against national and regional trends. Unemployment in Telford was still around the 20% mark – nearly double the national average at the time – as late as 1986. The Lawson Boom of the next three years saw that figure fall dramatically by the end of the decade, only for it to rise to a similarly high figure again by 1992 as a result of the early 1990s recession.

The 2014 Southwater development just south of the shopping centre Telford has attracted several large IT services companies, including EDS who support the MOD contract from the Euston Park site, as well as a vast array of clients across the world from the Plaza building. Also Capgemini and Fujitsu employ a significant number of staff in the area, mainly supporting their governmental client, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The expansion in these job sectors provided a great asset to Telford's economic recovery after 1992. By August 2007, the success story of Telford's economy had seen unemployment shrink to 3.3% – a fraction of its peak 15 years earlier. However, the subsequent recession meant that unemployment in the area had risen to 5% by February 2011, although this was still well below the national average. The Shropshire Star evening newspaper is based at Ketley, Telford. In recent times there have been significant job losses, with the movement of 500 Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) jobs at the MoD base at Sapphire House, Telford, to Bristol .

The closure of the local sugar beet factory at Allscott in 2007 is another recent example, not to mention the many jobs lost over the next three years across the town due to the latest recession. Landmarks Thomas Telford statue in the town centre, by the Law Courts The commercial centre of the town is the aptly named Telford Town Centre, located off Junction 5 of the M54 motorway, completed in the 1980s. It is home to the administrative headquarters of Telford & Wrekin council, which are now based at Addenbrook House on Ironmasters Way, after moving from Civic Offices in December 2012. The large Telford Shopping Centre (and the accompanying Town Park), various office blocks, such as the blue office towers (Telford Plaza), and the Windsor Life building. The Forge retail park and a large Odeon Cinema are also located in the area. Telford also houses one of the Midland's few ice skating rinks near the newly built Telford International Centre (TIC). The TIC comprises a number of hall and event spaces.

It holds parties, conferences, concerts and is the current home of the UK Snooker Championship in December. A major Shropshire landmark, also now part of Telford, is The Iron Bridge, located in Ironbridge . It was the first bridge of its size in the world made out of cast iron. In the same area is the Ironbridge Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The most important landmark in the area is The Wrekin. There is also the Lilleshall Monument erected to the Duke of Sutherland, which has recently been restored. Education See also: List of schools in Telford and Wrekin Telford has a number of primary and secondary schools including Thomas Telford School, a City Technology College (CTC), which claims to have a 100% pass rate at GCSE level, with all students achieving at least 4 GCSEs grades A*-C, placing it at number one in the entire country for Key Stage 4 attainment.

It was students of this school who were chosen to construct Airfix models of planes and tanks, and to assist Top Gear co host James May construct a life size model of a World War II Spitfire on the first episode of the series James May's Toy Stories. The school's choir has gained lots of notability after their various performances up and down the country, including the Royal Albert Hall for the Music For Youth School Prom, along with performances hosted by CBBC's Barney Harwood. Abraham Darby Academy (Performing Arts, Business and Enterprise), formerly known as Abraham Darby Specialist School for the Performing Arts, provides specialist performing arts education and is home to one of the UK's best school concert bands which has performed at prestigious venues such as Birmingham Symphony Hall, Royal Festival Hall London, Royal Albert Hall and also Carnegie Hall, New York. Further education is handled by Telford College of Arts and Technology (TCAT) and Telford New College, a sixth-form college located in Wellington. There are four other sixth forms located at Abraham Darby Academy, Holy Trinity Academy, Madeley Academy and Thomas Telford School.

8 miles (13 km) to the north are Adams' Grammar School and Newport Girls High School selective schools located in nearby Newport. Telford is also home to The University of Wolverhampton Business School (UWBS) campus and the School of the Built Environment. Harper Adams University, a famous university for land-based education is located near the town of Newport. Madeley Academy is a sport college and a building that was built and opened in September 2009. In 2006 Telford & Wrekin became one of three pilot areas selected as part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's Cultural Hubs programme piloting a cultural offer for young people and schools across Telford & Wrekin through the Council's Telford Culture Zone programme at the heart of which was effective partnership working and joint planning between the cultural and education sectors. In July 2012 the Department for Education and Arts Council England selected Telford & Wrekin as one of the new areas for the in Harmony programme working with Old Park Primary School and Children's Centre, Telford & Wrekin Music, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Manchester Camerata.

In Harmony is a national programme that aims to inspire and transform the lives of children in deprived communities, using the power and disciplines of community-based orchestral music-making. Transport The M54 shown here near Junction 5 for Telford Centre, which is visible in the background to the left. Telford is situated at the terminus of the M54 motorway, a spur of the M6 linking the town with Wolverhampton and the West Midlands , and on the A5 road between Shrewsbury and Cannock . The town has three railway stations on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton Line: Wellington, Oakengates and Telford Central. A new direct train service to London was launched by Wrexham & Shropshire in 2008.

The venture however proved unprofitable and ceased to operate on Friday 28 January 2011, leaving Shropshire as the only English county without a direct train link to London; that is until Virgin Trains launched a direct Shrewsbury to London service in December 2014 In addition, there are two further stations isolated from the national network, Spring Village and Horsehay & Dawley, at Telford Steam Railway, situated at Horsehay. Telford's rapidly growing population still has a relatively low car ownership. In 2004 Telford & Wrekin council was awarded 'Beacon Status' for improving access to public transport. Being a new town with a planned transport infrastructure, the town features relatively few traffic problems, in comparison to the urban areas of Birmingham or medieval streets of Shrewsbury . The M54 reduces through-traffic on local roads, and the A442 Queensway acts as a north-south artery road. Notable people The band, The Sunshine Underground, are originally from Telford and Shrewsbury, and formed while studying at New College Telford.

Some of the band T'Pau are also from Telford (Wellington) and Shrewsbury. The death metal band Cancer formed in Ironbridge . The film and television actor Christian Brassington was born in Wellington. Professional wrestler and current British light heavy-weight champion, Joey Ozbourne, grew up in Little Dawley, Telford. Former WBC super middleweight champion boxer Richie Woodhall, grew up in Woodside, Telford. Professional footballer Elliott Bennett grew up in Telford, while fellow professionals Danny Guthrie and Connor Goldson both attended Thomas Telford School in Telford. Professional darts player Ted Hankey resides in Telford as does folk musician Mark Rousseau. Since 1991 education expert Professor Steve Molyneux has resided in Telford where he was Mayor of Oakengates from 2003-2007. Paul Blackthorne, who plays Detective Lance in the DC TV series Arrow, was born in Wellington.Stewart Lee, English stand-up comedian, writer, director and musician, was born in Wellington. Sport Telford is home to a variety of established amateur, semi-pro and professional sports clubs.

AFC Telford United Football Club are currently playing in the National League North having been relegated from the Conference Premier at the end of the 2014–15 season. AFC Telford's achievements include Best Shropshire Senior Cup Performance: Final – 3 Times, and Promotion to Conference North in 2007, after beating Witton Albion in the play-offs 3-1. Also, they won the Setanta Shield Trophy by beating Forest Green Rovers on penalties in 2009. They were formed in 2004 on the bankruptcy of the previous Telford United club, who had competed in the Football Conference – the highest level of football outside the professional league – for 25 years since its inception in 1979 as the Alliance Premier League. Ice hockey in the town is represented by 2 teams. One is the Telford Tigers, an English Premier League (EPL or EPIHL) ice hockey team originally formed in 1985. The other are the Telford Titans, an ENL Team, which represents development hockey feeding from the excellent youth development and were last year crowned league champions.

There have been many American football teams in the town, although presently Shropshire Revolution a British American Football League, founded in 2006, is the only club in the town and the county of Shropshire. Previous clubs include Wrekin Giants (1985–1989), Shropshire Giants (1989), and Cannock Chase Giants (1989-1993/4). Telford Raiders are the town's Rugby League club, although there have been other Rugby League Clubs in Telford historically, such as the Telford All Blacks and Shropshire Scorpions. Telford Hornets represent the town at Rugby Union. Shropshire Warriors Basketball Club play at Telford College of Art and Technology (TCAT). Telford also hosted the UK Snooker Championship, from 2007 to 2010. The championship moved from York in 2007 but returned to the refurbished Barbican Centre in York since 2011. The Shropshire Golf Centre is located near Muxton, to the northeast of Telford.

This has three nine-hole courses, a 13-hole par three academy course and driving range. Other courses include the Municipal course at Horsehay, The Wrekin Golf Club and Telford Golf and Country Club. There are also several local cricket clubs, many of whom compete in local leagues and some in the Birmingham league. The largest of these is Wellington where many Shropshire County matches are also played but St Georges, Madeley and Lilleshall also run cricket clubs in or on the outskirts of the town. © This material from Wikipedia is licensed under the GFDL . SGC 617 - Sir Thomas Telford Nicknamed ï¿½The Collossus of Roadsï¿½but told everyone to call him ï¿½Tammyï¿½ Telford opened up Northern Scotland by building roads and waterways. He constructed many aqueducts and canals, including the Caledonian Canal 1802ï¿½23, and erected the Menai road suspension bridge 1819ï¿½26, a type of structure scarcely tried previously in England.

In Scotland he constructed over 1,600 km/1,000 ml of road and 1,200 bridges, churches, and harbours. In 1963 the new town of Telford, Shropshire, 32 km/20 ml NW of Birmingham, was named after him, and a local roundabout has as its centrepiece a large copy of Telfords Masons Mark. Telford was born in Westerkirk, Dumfries, and began as a stonemason. Moving to London, he found employment building additions to Somerset House in the Strand under the supervision of architect William Chambers. Recognising his talents, the rich and famous were soon consulting him about their own buildings. In 1786, Telford was appointed official surveyor to the county of Shropshire. There he built three bridges over the river Severn, among other structures. He also rebuilt many Roman roads to meet the need for faster travel.

As engineer to the Ellesmere Canal Company from 1793, Telford was responsible for the building of aqueducts over the Ceirog and Dee valleys in Wales, using a new method of construction consisting of troughs made from cast-iron plates and fixed in masonry. Bro. Thomas was a member of Salopian Lodge. No.262 E.C. Telford | Article about Telford by The Free Dictionary Telford | Article about Telford by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Acronyms , Wikipedia . Telford, town (1991 pop. 28,645), Telford and Wrekin, W England. It was originally designated a new town new towns, planned urban communities in Great Britain, developed by long-term loans from the central government and first authorized by the New Towns Act of 1946. The chief purpose of the act was to reduce congestion in the great cities (or at least prevent its increase) through ..... Click the link for more information. in 1963 as Dawley but was enlarged and renamed in 1968.

Telford was established to alleviate overpopulation in Birmingham and the Black Country Black Country, highly industrialized region, historically mostly in Staffordshire but partly in Worcestershire and Warwickshire, W central England. It includes Dudley, Rowley Regis (see Warley), Tipton, Walsall, Wednesbury, West Bromwich, and Wolverhampton. ..... Click the link for more information. . Industries include machinery, quarrying, brickmaking, iron founding, and brewing. Nearby are the Ironbridge Gorge Museums on the Industrial Revolution and The Wrekin, an isolated volcanic hill. Telford 1 Thomas. 1757--1834, Scottish civil engineer, known esp for his roads and such bridges as the Menai suspension bridge (1825) Telford 2 a town in W central England, in Telford and Wrekin unitary authority, Shropshire: designated a new town in 1963.

Pop.: 138 241 (2001) Benjamin H Telford 1802-1885 - Ancestry See more historical records for Benjamin H Telford Surname meaning for "Telford" Scottish and English (Northumbria): not, as its form would imply, a habitational name, even though there is a place in Shropshire so called, but a variant of Telfer , assimilated to the pattern of habitational names in -ford. The Shropshire place is a new town, named after the celebrated Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford (1757–1834). Telford : Wikis (The Full Wiki) The Full Wiki Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles . Related top topics From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the town in Shropshire. For other uses, see Telford (disambiguation) .

Coordinates : 52°40′36″N 2°26′49″W﻿ / ﻿52.6766°N 2.4469°W﻿ / 52.6766; -2.4469 Telford The Town Centre viewed from the western end of Telford Shopping Centre , with the blue Telford Plaza buildings in the distance. Telford List of places: UK • England • Shropshire Telford (pronounced /ˈtɛlfɚd/ listen ) ) is a large new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire , England , approximately 13 miles (21 km) east of Shrewsbury , and 30 miles (48 km) west of Birmingham . [1] With a population of 138,241 people (2001 census), and a projected population growth within the next 20 years to over 200,000, [1] Telford is by far the largest town in Shropshire, and one of the fastest growing towns in the United Kingdom.

[2] It is named after Thomas Telford , the famous civil engineer . The town was built in the 1960s and 1970s as a new town on previously industrial and agricultural land. Like other planned towns of the era, Telford was created from the merger of other, smaller settlements, most notably the towns of Wellington , Oakengates , Madeley and Dawley . Telford Shopping Centre , a modern shopping mall, was constructed at the new town's geographical centre, along with an extensive Town Park . The M54 motorway was completed in 1983, connecting the town with the West Midlands conurbation . Telford now includes Ironbridge Gorge , a scenic tourist destination and UNESCO World Heritage Site . The town advertises itself as "The Birthplace of Industry", due to its proximity to Coalbrookdale and other places in the Ironbridge Gorge area, which are internationally recognised as being important to the Industrial Revolution , and being to a large extent constructed on the Shropshire Coalfield. The River Severn flows along its southernmost boundary.

Contents Sunnycroft near Wellington Early settlement in the area was thought to be on the land that sloped up from the Weald Moors (an area north of the town centre) towards the line along which the Roman Watling Street was built. Farmland surrounded three large estates in the tenth century, namely Wellington , Wrockwardine and Lilleshall . [3] From the 13th century there was urban development in Wellington and Madeley , where Wenlock Priory founded a new town. Six monastic houses, founded in the 11th and 12th centuries, had large interests in the area's economic growth. They collectively acquired almost half of the area, and profited from coal and ironstone mines and iron smithies on their estates. [3] Modern history The Beatties department store at the west end of Telford Shopping Centre , which was renamed House of Fraser in early 2007. Telford Plaza in Telford Town Centre.

The New Town was first designated on 16 January 1963 as Dawley New Town, covering 9,100 acres (37 km²) of Dawley , Wenlock , Oakengates , Wellington Rural District and Shifnal Rural District . [4] Development started, guided by the Dawley New Town Development Corporation, with the first homes on the new Sutton Hill housing estate being occupied in 1967. The Minister proposed an extension of 12,000 acres (49 km²) in 1968 (taking in the historic area of Ironbridge Gorge ), which saw objections and a public inquiry take place. The Dawley New Town (Designation) Amendment (Telford) Order was made on 29 November 1968, extending the New Town area by 10,143 acres (41 km²) of "land lying within the urban districts of Oakengates and Wellington and the rural districts of Shifnal and Wellington".

[5] This Order also renamed the new town Telford, after the Scottish-born civil engineer Thomas Telford who, in 1787, became Surveyor of Public Works for Shropshire. Other suggested names at the time were Dawelloak and Wrekin Forest City. Most of the infrastructure was constructed from the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s with the major housing and commercial development occurring over three decades up to the early 1990s when the Development Corporation was wound up to be replaced by Commission for the New Towns, later English Partnerships, and most of the property was handed over to the then Wrekin District Council. In 1983, after fierce opposition and three public enquiries[citation needed], the M54 motorway was completed, connecting the town to the M6 and thence the rest of the UK's motorway network. Other major roads are the A5 , A518 and A442 , which is commonly known as the Eastern Primary or EP, and is officially branded Queensway.

Many of the new town's residents were originally from the West Midlands conurbation , which includes Wolverhampton , Birmingham , Dudley and Walsall . The vast majority of the council house tenants in Telford were rehoused from inner city slums in Birmingham. Some controversy and bad feeling still exists in some communities as a result of what some saw as the influx of those from the city slums. The name "overspill" was often used as a derogatory term for these residents. Some individuals still refuse to put Telford in their address, instead using the original local name (such as Wellington or Dawley ). In 2007, a £250 million regeneration plan for the town centre was announced, which will include the pedestrianisation of the road surrounding the shopping centre, and the creation of new cafés, bars and shops which will lead to 1,750 new jobs. [6] The reason for this expansion is that the original "centre" was only ever a shopping place with no real heart (See Shropshire Star June 3, 2004).

Since the "centre" closed early evening, there was no nightlife at all in the area, the only major local entertainment areas being in Oakengates and Wellington. Geography The Wrekin hill overlooks the town Telford town centre lies approximately 21 kilometres (13 mi) east/south-east of Shrewsbury and 24 kilometres (15 mi) north-west of Wolverhampton . The town comprises 7,803 hectares (30.13 square miles) and its southern and eastern parts, between the Severn Gorge and Donnington Wood , include the East Shropshire coalfield. North and north-west Telford lie beyond the coalfield's boundary fault on sandstone beds which, along with other Triassic formations, prevail over much of the North Shropshire plain. The town centre stands on a watershed, with land to the south draining towards the River Severn , and to the north the land slopes gently down towards the Weald Moors.

The town is dominated by the Wrekin , a splendid mountain, though at 407 m (1335 ft), [7] a relatively small one, located south-west of Wellington, straddling the border with the borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham . [3] Governance For more information on Parish divisions, see list of civil parishes in Shropshire . Within the borough of Telford & Wrekin , the town is entirely parished . Telford has no single town council because of this, and the Mayor of the Borough of Telford and Wrekin is also de facto the town's mayor. The town is also divided into Wards, within the Telford and Wrekin borough. These are used for electoral purposes and demographic surveys. Telford was created politically - but its attempts to make a cohesive town from the fusion of other independent, smaller towns: Wellington , Madeley , Hadley , Oakengates , Dawley , Ironbridge and Donnington have largely failed. As a result of this, the town has much clearer divisions than in other older towns, such as nearby Shrewsbury, which have developed into one consolidated urban area over time.

Some small settlements to the south, such as a part of Ironbridge and Broseley , while part of the Telford Urban Area, is administered by Shropshire Council . Telford is the only settlement within the Telford parliamentary constituency , although some suburbs, such as Wellington, are located in The Wrekin , a neighbouring constituency. Telford has been held by Labour since its creation in 1997, and the current MP is David Wright . The neighbouring Wrekin constituency has varying support between the Conservatives and Labour, due to its mix of rural and urban ( Newport ) areas. It is currently held by the Conservatives however, under MP Mark Pritchard . Telford is administratively part of the West Midlands region . Demography Horton A clickable link map of the component towns of Telford and surrounding villages. In 1963 Dawley new town was intended to take 50,000 people from the West Midlands conurbation [8] and so to grow to a town of 70,000 or more.

By 1968 Telford was intended to take an additional 50,000 and grow to a town of 220,000 or more by 1991. By 1983, however, Telford's population was just under 108,000, and it was generally thought that it might not reach 120,000 by the late 1980s. [3] Telford has a younger than average population, and a higher rate of teenage pregnancy than the national average, as well as relatively high levels of income deprivation with 15% of residents living in low income households. In addition the level of statutorily homeless households in 2004/05 was above average for England. [9] The Telford and Wrekin area is a popular commuter zone, containing some relatively rural areas in the North and West of the borough. These are popular with commuters to the West Midlands conurbation , due to the good transport links provided by the A5 / M54 . Telford's population is ethnically White , comprising 93.8% of the population.

The next largest ethnic group is those of Asian descent, comprising 3.3% of the population, which is again less than the West Midlands at 8.0%, and England at 5.3%. [10] However, the town and borough remains comparatively more ethnically diverse than the ceremonial county, with South Shropshire for example being 97.8% white. [11] Economy 39,037 19.9 During the economic crisis of the late 1960s unemployment in the town was high. However, in 1967 Halesfield Industrial Estate was founded on the south-eastern edge of the town. Other large estates followed, in 1973 with Stafford Park just east of the town centre and in 1979 with Hortonwood, to the north. In total, half a million square metres of factory space were provided between 1968 and 1983, making Telford an attractive investment area. [13] By 1976, Telford had begun to recruit industry from the U.S.A., Europe, and Japan.

The foreign firms required larger factories, and they began to be built at Stafford Park. By 1983 over 2,000 jobs in Telford were provided by around 40 (mostly American) foreign companies. [14] In contrast to industry in the Black Country at the time, these new companies focused on high-technology industries rather than the heavy and metal-finishing industries. [15] The new arrivals included the American company Unimation and three firms from Japan: Nikon U.K. Ltd., which opened a warehouse at Halesfield in 1983; [16] video tape manufacturers Hitachi Maxell at Apley Castle in 1983; [17] and office equipment manufacturers Ricoh , who took a 22 acre site for a factory at Priorslee next to the M54 , and formed the first in Telford's new enterprise zone. [18] [19] Consequently, from the later 1970s, Telford began to attract high-technology firms and to diversify its industry, and the promotion of the Service industry also began to prosper, in the Telford Town Centre area.

However, a deepening national recession meant that, despite the creation of new jobs, there were net job losses from 1979. Unemployment grew from 3.4 per cent in 1969 to over 8 per cent in 1972 and 22.3 per cent in 1983; long-term unemployment rose even faster. Nevertheless the rate of increase in unemployment was slowing down by 1983 and was making some progress against national and regional trends. [20] Telford has attracted several large IT services companies, including EDS who support the MOD contract from the Euston Park site, as well as a vast array of clients across the world from the Plaza building. Also Capgemini and Fujitsu employ a significant number of staff in the area, mainly supporting their governmental client, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) . In recent times there have been significant job losses, with the movement of 500 Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) jobs at the MoD base at Sapphire House, Telford, to Bristol. The closure of the local sugar beet factory at Allscott in 2007 is another recent example.

Landmarks Thomas Telford statue in the town centre, by the Law Courts The commercial centre of the town is the aptly named Telford Town Centre, located off Junction 5 of the M54 motorway . It is home to the administrative headquarters of Telford & Wrekin council, the large Telford Shopping Centre (and the accompanying Town Park ), various office blocks, such as the blue office towers (Telford Plaza), and the Windsor Life building. The Forge retail park and a large Odeon Cinema are also located in the area, as well as Thomas Telford School , which is within walking distance. Telford also houses one of the Midland's only ice skating rinks near the newly built Telford International Centre (TIC). The TIC comprises a number of hall and event spaces. It holds parties, conferences, concerts and is the current home of the UK Snooker Championship in December. A major Shropshire landmark, also now part of Telford, is The Iron Bridge , located in Ironbridge . It was the first bridge of its size in the world made out of cast iron . In the same area is the Ironbridge Gorge , a UNESCO World Heritage Site .

The most important landmark in the area is The Wrekin . There is also the Lilleshall Monument erected to the Duke of Sutherland , which has recently been restored. Education Telford has a number of primary and secondary schools. Of particular notability is Thomas Telford School , a City Technology College (CTC), which claims to have a 100% pass rate at GCSE level, with all students achieving at least 4 GCSE's grades A*-C, [21] placing it at number one in the entire country for Key Stage 4 attainment. It was students of this school who were chosen to construct Airfix models of planes and tanks, and to assist Top Gear co host James May construct a life size model of a World War Two Spitfire on the first episode of the series James Mays Toy Stories . The Abraham Darby Academy, formerly known as Abraham Darby Specialist School For The Performing Arts provides specialist performing arts education and is home to one of the UK's best school concert bands which has performed at prestigious venues such as Birmingham Symphony Hall , Royal Festival Hall London, Royal Albert Hall and also Carnegie Hall , New York .

Further education is handled by Telford College of Arts and Technology (TCAT) and Telford New College , a sixth-form college located in Wellington . There are three other sixth forms located in the Blessed Robert Johnson Catholic School (The Oscar Romero sixth form centre), Abraham Darby and Thomas Telford School . 8 miles to the north are Adams' Grammar School and Newport Girls High School selective schools located in nearby Newport . [22] , [23] Telford is also home to The University of Wolverhampton Business School (UWBS) campus and the School of the Built Environment. Madeley Academy is a sport college and a building will be built and opened for September 2009. Transport The M54 shown here near Junction 5 for Telford Centre, which is visible in the background to the left. Telford is situated at the terminus of the M54 motorway , a spur of the M6 linking the town with Wolverhampton and the West Midlands , and on the A5 road between Shrewsbury and Cannock .

The town also has three railway stations: Wellington , Oakengates and Telford Central , which are on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton Line . In addition, there are two further stations isolated from the national network, Spring Village and Horsehay & Dawley, at Telford Steam Railway , situated at Horsehay . A new direct train service to London was launched by Wrexham & Shropshire in 2008, a key boost for the local business community. Telford's rapidly growing population still has a relatively low car ownership. In 2004 Telford & Wrekin council was awarded 'Beacon Status' for improving access to public transport. [24] Being a new town with a planned transport infrastructure, the town features relatively few traffic problems, in comparison to the urban areas of Birmingham or medieval streets of Shrewsbury . [25] The M54 reduces through-traffic on local roads, and the A442 Queensway acts as a north-south artery road. [26] Sport Telford is home to a variety of established amateur, semi-pro and professional sports clubs.

AFC Telford United Football Club are currently playing in Conference North , and their current manager is Rob Smith . AFC Telford's achievements include Best Shropshire Senior Cup Performance: Final - 3 Times, and Promotion to Conference North in 2007, after beating Witton Albion in the play-offs 3-1. Also, they won the Setanta Shield Trophy by beating Forest Green Rovers on penalties in 2009. Ice hockey in the town is represented by the Telford Titans , an ENL Team, represents development hockey feeding from the excellent youth development and were last year crowned league champions. There have been many American football teams in the town, although presently Shropshire Revolution a British American Football League , founded in 2006, is the only club in the town and the county of Shropshire. Previous clubs include Wrekin Giants (1985–1989), Shropshire Giants (1989), and Cannock Chase Giants (1989-1993/4).

Telford Raiders are the town's Rugby League club, although there have been other Rugby League Clubs in Telford historically, such as the Telford All Blacks and Shropshire Scorpions. Telford Hornets represent the town at Rugby Union. Telford is also the current host town of the UK Snooker Championship , which is currently held every December. The championship moved from York in 2007. The Shropshire Golf Centre is located near Muxton , to the northeast of Telford. Closest cities, towns and villages Destinations from Telford Telford is a new town in the ceremonial county of Shropshire , England . It is administratively located in the West Midlands region, and is now by far the largest town in Shropshire, being the residence for some 130,000 people. Understand Telford was built in the 1960s and 1970s as a new town, bringing together a number of mining villages, farms and market towns. As the town develops, the areas between these towns are becoming increasingly filled.

The resulting town is virtually one large conurbation from Wellington to Shifnal and from Donnington to Dawley. As a result of the new town's component towns, Telford has several distinct centers, although the Telford Shopping Centre and Telford Town Park area is the de facto administrative center of entire town. Get in Telford is easily linked from London by the new Wrexham & Shropshire Railways [1] rail service from London Marylebone. It is also linked to the West Midlands conurbation by the M54 motorway; it has four exits labelled Telford East, Telford Centre, Telford West and Wellington. The town is also serviced north-south by the A442 Queensway (locally known as the Eastern Primary or EP). Telford train station is situated on the Birmingham Airport-Birmingham-Wolverhampton-Shrewsbury line and there are frequent services to surrounding areas. Telford can also be accessed by bus from many nearby areas. Get around The M54 motorway and A5 main route pass through Telford giving access from North Wales , the South, East and North East.

The A49 passes nearby to give access from the North West, the South West and South Wales . A train line runs between the main Telford train station and Wellington, via Oakengates. There are also buses that run throughout Telford. See Telford has a long history (see Understand section). As a result there are many attractions ranging from the remains of a bronze age fort, roman romains, medieval markets, examples of victorian industry and living, right up to the brand new town created nearly 40 years ago. The best examples are: The Wrekin A local hill and landmark, with the remains of a bronze age fort on it. Found just west of Wellington. Ironbridge The place where the industrial revolution started and a World Hertiage Site as a result of the first ever Iron Bridge being built there. Wellington A pleasant market town with a market dating back to 1244. The National Trust's Sunnycroft house is good example of how local victorian gentry lived. Buy Telford Town Centre is the commercial centre of the town and is home to the largest indoor shopping centre in Shropshire.

Frankie & Benny's, The Forge Retail Park, Telford The Clock Tower, Donnington Wood Way, Telford Café Giardino, Sherwood Row, Telford Shopping Centre The Fox, Chetwynd Aston, Newport Hadley Park House Hotel, Hadley Park, ☎ 01952 677269 ( info@hadleypark.co.uk , fax: 01952 676938), [2] . Doubles: £85/100 (F-Sa/Su-Th). edit International Hotel Telford, St. Quentin Gate, ☎ 01952 521600, [3] . checkin: 14:00; checkout: 11:45. With 101 well appointed bedrooms over 4 floors, the hotel is the ideal venue for both business and leisure guests and can comfortably accommodate individuals or families seeking a low-cost break in Shropshire. There are connecting rooms for families, business rooms for the professional traveller and fully accessible rooms for those who need them.

The hotel also offers two full service restaurants and bars, a fully equipped gym and swimming pool on-site so guests enjoy all the benefits of a full-service property without the associated cost. The service from the professional and friendly staff is attentive yet 'unstuffy', blending traditional manners with a relaxed and informal atmosphere, thus enabling all of the guests to fully enjoy their time in Shropshire. Using a common sense approach to each situation, the empowered Guest Service Managers with their supporting colleagues are able to tailor your stay to your individual needs. As part of an exciting and progressive company - The Southwater Event Group - the hotel is constantly developing and endeavouring to improve the service it offers the discerning guest. With excellent relationships with many local companies, many of the guests also attend large functions and conferences at the adjacent Telford International Centre, so the demographic blend is wide-ranging and sometimes eclectic. At the end of a successful day, the lively and convivial bar is always open to residents, their guests, as well as non-residents. Doubles: £45. edit Grays Hotel and Conference Centre (Grays Hotel), Forge Gate, Telford, ☎ 01952 425 000, [4] .

checkin: 14:00 hrs; checkout: 11:45 hrs. £55. edit Holiday Inn Telford / Ironbridge (Holiday Inn Telford), St Quentin Gate, ☎ 01952 527 000, [5] . checkin: 14:00 hrs; checkout: 11:45 hrs. from £75. edit Get out Wellington This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow! Watch: The birth of Telford . . . new town, old worries « Shropshire Star Comments In the decades that have followed, Telford has been transformed with new housing, new infrastructure, a huge shopping centre, and much else. But remarkably, for all the physical changes, some of the concerns of those early Telfordians will still resonate with the modern generation of townsfolk.

And now we can look back to relive fascinating television footage recording the birth of the new town, and the incomers who saw it as an opportunity to build a new life, thanks to a compilation put together by the Media Archive for Central England, a charity dedicated to preserving the film record of the Midlands of yesteryear and make it publicly accessible. From Dawley to Telford: Building a Community from MACE Archive on Vimeo . Called “From Dawley to Telford: Building a Community”, it comprises archive ATV film. It is being screened online on Mace’s Vimeo Channel which has clips and montages of some of the archive’s material, including extracts from DVDs which can be bought online. Shining through the online extracts, which run for just over 30 minutes, is the stark division between old and new which characterised the creation of the new town, and the contrast between the more optimistic tone of the new “incomers” and the less enthusiastic view of Telford held by many of the residents of the established communities.

Key dates in Telford's history 1779: Building of the Iron Bridge, the world’s first iron bridge of significant size and a powerful symbol of the status of the Ironbridge Gorge as birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. 1787: Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford became first surveyor of public works for Shropshire. 1955: On February 16 an article appeared in the Birmingham Gazette written under the pseudonym “Octopus” by Wellington Journal & Shrewsbury News reporter Freddie “Scoop” Bowdler, of Dawley, in which he suggested that Dawley could be used as an “overspill” area for Birmingham. The idea is seized on. 1957: On May 1 Government approval given for Dawley Urban District Council to build 200 houses on the Langley Farm Estate for Birmingham overspill population as a pilot scheme. The keys to the first two families to move in handed over on November 15, 1958. 1963: Dawley New Town officially designated January 16. 1966: Work started on building houses at Sutton Hill.

1968: October 23, announced that Dawley New Town is to be greatly expanded to take in Wellington and Oakengates, and that the enlarged town will be called Telford, after Thomas Telford. 1969: The new Ironbridge Power Station began generating, and Wellington Town renamed Telford United in time for the 1969-70 season. 1973: January 5, first edition of the Telford Journal (combining the old Shropshire Journal and Telford Observer) printed. October 2, The first shops, Carrefour and Sainsbury’s, opened at the new Telford town centre. 1977: Ironbridge Gorge Museum wins Museum of the Year Award. 1979: Granville Colliery, Shropshire’s last pit, closed. 1980: October 31, Telford Central fire station officially opened. 1981: Queen opens second phase of Telford town centre. 1983: Telford’s £27m new hospital given the go-ahead.

November 25, the M54, linking Telford to the main motorway network, opened. 1991: September 30, Telford Development Corporation wound up after 23 years, leaving the town to find its own feet. 1998: March 27, Richie Woodhall from Telford became world WBC Supermiddleweight champion at Telford ice rink. On April 1 Telford wins its “independence” from the rest of Shropshire with the advent of Telford & Wrekin Council, a unitary authority. 2006: A £200 million masterplan which would mean refurbishing, rebuilding, or moving almost all the secondary schools in Telford & Wrekin unveiled. 2010: Work started in December on the new Southwater project in Telford town centre, designed to breathe new life into the centre with a new hotel, cinema, shops and restaurants. Footage includes rare views of housing and landscapes which were destroyed to create the new town.

Although none of the footage in the online compilation bears a date, the bulk of it seems to be from the late 1960s into the early 1970s, capturing the pioneering days. Telford new town had been designated in 1968, and represented a major expansion of the original early 1960s concept, which was for a new town based on Dawley and taking that town’s name. The original voiceover for the first extract would probably cause indignation among any of the “old ‘uns” from Malinslee – either then and now. Blatantly ignoring the fact that Malinslee was an ancient community and had a Norman chapel, the commentary ran: “Malinslee, Shropshire, a post box and a handful of houses, not the most likely spot for a new city. Malinslee never was much of a place. Loosely sandwiched between the two towns of Oakengates and Dawley, it’s been a no man’s land deriving no apparent benefit from either town...

Malinslee, the place without a past, is to be the centre of a city of the future, the new town of Telford.” Old Malinslee was simply razed to the ground to create “Telford town centre” – which turned out to be a shopping centre which really was in the middle of nowhere. The ancient chapel was dismantled and the stones numbered. For a long time they were “stored” by the side of Hinkshay Road in Dawley. Happily, the chapel was eventually rebuilt and it is today a feature within Telford town park. There is an interview with the late John Madin, the architect who created the blueprint for Telford new town. “The first thing we wanted to do was take the frustrations out of city life as we know it today. This meant adopting a policy of dispersal rather than concentration,” he says as he peruses a map on the wall. So, if you’re wondering why everything is so spread out in Telford, that’s why. Other officials with their hands on the tiller are also interviewed, but it is interviews with ordinary people which many viewers are likely to find the most telling.

Step forward 25-year-old former soldier Rick Williams, who with his wife and young daughter came to live in a split level house on Sutton Hill. “I was discharged from the Army and we couldn’t find anywhere else to go. Somebody suggested, as it was then, Dawley New Town. Within a matter of hours they offered me a house... We’ve never regretted it... It was a new place. We wanted to start a new life and when we came here we did start a new life and it’s gone from strength to strength.” Asked where he and his wife would go for a bit of excitement, he said “The Red Admiral”, a new pub which had been built in Sutton Hill centre. Views expressed on the quality of the new housing varied, with some thinking they were “lovely”or “fantastic”, and other descriptions being “horrible on the outside, like a prison” and “there’s nothing to the houses at all. You can knock them and they will fall down.

You can hear all that’s going on next door.” A bird’s eye view of Telford showing The Forge Retail Park, Telford Plaza and the Park Inn and parts of the M54 motorway The coming of the new shopping centre, bringing with it a French concept virtually unknown in Britain at that time – a “hypermarket” selling a vast range of food and goods – also provoked divergent views. For Derek Carpenter, who had a jeweller’s business in Dawley High Street, the concept was so new that it was difficult to say how it would affect trade, but he said: “They claim they have sold at 20 per cent under supermarket prices. Well it could affect supermarkets, so the smaller man must look very carefully.” Bill Hoof was one of those of the older generation caught up in the whirlwind. His isolated home – the location is not given – is wanted by the powers that be. Although Mr Hoof is not opposed to being moved, he is not happy about how much he has been offered for his property – just £50! It is a cause celebre and the then Wrekin MP, Dr Tony Trafford, is interviewed on his behalf.

Interviewed in the street, one older resident says: “They haven’t any entertainment in the new town. They should have built a hall or something.” But it is not just the older generation of the early 1970s who are critics. Two girls are interviewed, with one saying: “On a Saturday night and Sunday it’s just dead.” Interviewer: “Are you saying they’ve catered for shopping and forgotten everything else?” “Yeah,” say the girls together, and one adds: “They’ve forgotten the teenagers.” Percy Pointon giving the ‘All Friends Round The Wrekin’ toast in June 1970 Pupils at the Alexander Fleming School at Sutton Hill are more upbeat. A youngster previously from Smethwick says he likes Telford because of “the countryside and nice houses and there isn’t anybody to boss you around and bullies. Fresh air...

you can walk around the estate without main roads.” George Evans of Wellington, who is now in his 90s, is as much a critic of Telford today as he was when he was asked about it on camera around 40 years ago and said: “We thought, well, they can’t make Dawley any worse so let them have a go. “But it’s got out of hand and developed into this enormous new town concept which is an illegitimate misconceived idea and has resulted in a lot of people coming in with what they think are very good ideas and imposing them on the local community and now many of them are out of date.” In saying the original ideas were out of date George has been proven to be right, as many of the things done in the name of Telford in the late 1960s and early 1970s have been undone in recent times. For instance, district centres at Madeley, Woodside, and Sutton Hill have all been knocked down as no longer fit for purpose in the 21st century, and redeveloped – including the Red Admiral at which Rick Williams supped.

Many of the underpasses which were considered space age in those heady days have been filled in because nobody liked to use them. Towards the end of the compilation there is footage of Percy Pointon giving the traditional “All Friends Round The Wrekin” toast with which he was so associated, with a calendar in the background helpfully bearing the date of June 1970. An old regular called Fred Richards ventures his opinion on Telford: “I don’t think it will be a success. “It’s hard to explain but it’s the truth. I don’t think it will work out in my opinion.” But there again, there is an opposing view from another drinker: “It’s going to be beneficial to the younger generation in the years to come.” The closing commentary does not exactly end on an upbeat note, but there will be many who feel the caustic sentiment remains true today, and which the new Southwater centre is trying to rectify. The city of the future which today is little more than a name in search of an identity. Telford, 30 square miles of Shropshire, is a city without a centre.

“There’s no emotional rallying point for the newcomers as there was for the oldtimers in that most ancient of Shropshire monuments, The Wrekin.”

Question: Developed as a new town in 1963 which Shropshire town is named after a Scottish engineer
Answer: Telford