Telford

Six Shropshire villages combine and the new town of Telford is born.

Telford is a new town for the 1970s. Gone are the immediate post-war ideas of building high with tower blocks and walkways. This is a new town of red brick and tightly packed uniform houses. The Carrefour hypermarket offers everything under one roof as does the Court Centre for the sports enthusiasts. Having the town centre as a covered shopping centre is a risk and, as the commentary says, there's a risk that new ideas may become outdated before they're even finished.

The New Town was designated in 1963 and originally known as Dawley. In 1968 the project was extended and renamed Telford in honour of Thomas Telford, the designer of the nearby iron bridge over the River Severn.