Telford

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Telford is a new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It is named after Thomas Telford, a famous civil engineer.

It was built in the 1960s and 1970s as a new town in a former coal-mining area and enveloped a number of pre-existing towns and villages, such as Dawley, Trench, Muxton, Stirchley, Brookside, Donnington, Oakengates, Wellington, Leegomery, Shawbirch and Madeley. A shopping centre, Telford Town Centre, was constructed at the New Town's geographical centre, along with an extensive Town Park. Telford also incorporates the northern half of Ironbridge Gorge, a scenic tourist destination. Telford has three railway stations - Wellington, Oakengates and Telford Central - on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton Line.

With 138,241 inhabitants, Telford is now the largest town in Shropshire, although it missed the original target of 250,000 by the year 2000. This target was curtailed by Central Government in 1976 when it was realised that it was too optimistic in the long term and migration from the large cities of Birmingham and Liverpool started to have an effect on parts of those cities.

Telford has no town council, it is the major part of Telford and Wrekin Borough Council, and the town is divided amongst various civil parishes, some of which are towns themselves - Dawley, Wellington, Oakengates and Madeley. Therefore the Mayor of Telford and Wrekin Borough is the mayor of the town, although two towns within the borough also have their own mayors, Oakengates and Wellington.

The New Town was first designated in 1963 with no name decided, although suggested names were Dawley New Town, Dawelloak and Wrekin Forest City. It was re-designated in 1968 taking in the historic area of Ironbridge Gorge. Eventually it was named Telford after the Scottish-born civil engineer Thomas Telford who, in 1787, became Surveyor of Public Works for Shropshire.

Most of the infrastructure was installed during 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 the New Towns Commission and most of the property was then handed over to the now Unitary Authority of Telford and Wrekin.

In 1983 the M54 motorway was completed, connecting the town to the M6 and thence the rest of the UK's motorway network. The A5 also runs through the town on its way between Cannock and Shrewsbury. Three years later a centrally-located railway station was opened.

Telford has attracted several large IT companies (EDS, Cap Gemini, Fujitsu and Celestica) who all employ a significant number of staff in the area.

In recent times there has been significant joblosses, with the movement of 500 Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) jobs at the MOD base at Saphire House, Telford, to Bristol and the planned closure of the local sugar beet factory are two recent examples.

The town has its own football club, A.F.C. Telford United. The club was formed in May 2004 by supporters of Telford United when it became clear that the club would cease to exist.

Telford is also the base for the county's only American Football team. The Shropshire Revolution, based at Telford Hornets Rugby Club, in Dawley.