Telford is a planned town in Shropshire, England, that was named after the engineer Thomas Telford. It is administered as part of the Telford and Wrekin unitary authority. The town now has a population of around 160,000 inhabitants against 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.

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

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, Donnington Wood, Oakengates, Wellington and Madeley. Telford also incorporates the Ironbridge Gorge, a scenic tourist destination. Telford has three railway stations - Wellington, Oakengates and Telford Central - on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton Line.

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 opened, 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.

Telford is now the largest town in Shropshire.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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