Telford Then & Now

In 1968 the government decided to enlarge the area previously known as Dawley New Town. It was renamed 'Telford' after Thomas Telford, the 'Father of Civil Engineering', whose influence on the country can still be seen today. The architects and planners of the new town were faced with a daunting task as the area was a range of contrasting landscapes made up of large settlements, villages and hamlets, agricultural land and large areas of disused industrial sites. Another problem for the planners was how to pacify the inhabitants of the five main townships of Wellington, Oakengates, Dawley, Madeley and Ironbridge, who were fiercely independent. The Telford Development Corporation wisely left them as district centres, linking them together with an amazing network of bypasses and roads. Teleford Then and Now charts the town's transformation through a wonderful collection of old photographs, taken between 1890 and 1970, which are compared and contrasted with modern equivalents, unveiling striking changes and unexpected similarities.