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Telford is the largest town in Shropshire, its sprawling mass spread over a fairly large area in the east of the county. A post-war new town, Telford is home to plenty of new buildings and centres around Telford Shopping Centre which is fairly prominent in the region. The town is, of course, named after the renowned civil engineer Thomas Telford who, though born in Scotland, designed a plethora of roads, canals and bridges in Shropshire in the 18th and 19th centuries. Telford remains one of the fastest growing towns in England and its modern feel contrasts greatly with nearby Ironbridge which is said to be cradle of the Industrial Revolution.
Linking Telford to the rest of the UK’s motorway network is the strategically placed M54 which connects with the M6 to the east. The short motorway was constructed in 1983 and heads further on towards Shrewsbury to the west. While Shrewsbury is 13 miles to the west of Telford, Birmingham is found around 30 miles to the east of the Shropshire new town. At the town’s southern extremities the River Severn flows past while dotted around the area there are a number of woods and golf courses. The domed Wrekin Hill is to be found four miles from Telford while there is also a campus of the University of Wolverhampton within the town’s confines too.
Initially, there was a settlement to the north of where Telford town centre lies, in the region of Weald Moors. During the 11th and 12th centuries a number of monastic houses were installed while in the 13th century there was a spread of urban development in the region. Many years later, plans were made in 1963 to create a new town which was to be named Dawley Town; its new homes were first occupied in 1967. The town was renamed Telford the following year and many residents were re-housed from inner city Birmingham. Now, the town centre is home to several businesses which have sprung up or relocated to this part of the country.
It’s not every day you get a town named after you and so Thomas Telford must have done something special to receive such honour. Poet Southey described the man as ‘more heartily to be liked, more worthy to be esteemed and admired’. For what reason? It was because he was ‘the colossus of roads’ and he built aqueducts or ‘steams in the sky’.
Linking Telford to the rest of the UK’s motorway network is the strategically placed M54 which connects with the M6 to the east. The short motorway was constructed in 1983 and heads further on towards Shrewsbury to the west. While Shrewsbury is 13 miles to the west of Telford, Birmingham is found around 30 miles to the east of the Shropshire new town. At the town’s southern extremities the River Severn flows past while dotted around the area there are a number of woods and golf courses. The domed Wrekin Hill is to be found four miles from Telford while there is also a campus of the University of Wolverhampton within the town’s confines too.
Initially, there was a settlement to the north of where Telford town centre lies, in the region of Weald Moors. During the 11th and 12th centuries a number of monastic houses were installed while in the 13th century there was a spread of urban development in the region. Many years later, plans were made in 1963 to create a new town which was to be named Dawley Town; its new homes were first occupied in 1967. The town was renamed Telford the following year and many residents were re-housed from inner city Birmingham. Now, the town centre is home to several businesses which have sprung up or relocated to this part of the country.
It’s not every day you get a town named after you and so Thomas Telford must have done something special to receive such honour. Poet Southey described the man as ‘more heartily to be liked, more worthy to be esteemed and admired’. For what reason? It was because he was ‘the colossus of roads’ and he built aqueducts or ‘steams in the sky’.