a case study to assess the development and success of
telford [SHROPSHIRE’S NEW TOWN 1963-1991]
MONA TAMARU MOTUNRAYO SOYANNWO SALLY LOFTHOUSE YESIDE SOBOWALE XINBO WANG
19088290 18060864 19010953 19013800 19089261
Introduction Telford: a third generation new town located in Shropshire,
designated in 1968
“the birth place of the industrial revolution was here and that’s what makes Telford the most unique town in the UK because something happened here that benefited the world…“ STEVE BOWERS Telford Ultimate Guides & Telford resident
Figure 1 - Woodside Estate
THE CASE STUDY This case study aims to interrogate and investigate the process, intentions and social impact behind the design of Telford, a New Town located in the county of Shropshire, England.
In particular we will question how well Telford, as a New Town Development combined and connected with the existing historic settlements of the area. Asking if the idea of: ‘Towns within a town’ was well established at Telford and if so, how well did it work. What made Telford distinct from the majority of the new towns around the time is that Telford was created from the merger of the smaller existing settlements. Before the New Town Development, the area consisted of
With special thanks to : Dr Laura Coucill Dr. Luca Csepely-Knorr Dr. Richard Brook Dr. Janina Gosseye Victoria Jolley Michala Hulme
David Wassell Steve Bowers Participant 1 Sarah Chadwick
scattered settlements throughout, where major facilities were concentrated within Wellington, Oakengates, Dawley and Madeley. Each of them had different characters and had their identities. We employed archival and desktop based research to investigate the new town development from the 1960’s. We also conducted field research to understand the place and legacy that exists today, as well as conducting interviews with residents that experienced the development to gain a
2
better understanding of their thoughts and opinions.
David Cheung Karen Cheung
19 68 t
elford, the towns within a town. Telford is one of the British New Towns, an expansive building program that came out of the Garden City movement and was necessary after the second world war to house the exploding population. Some new towns were satellite towns to larger
cities to incorporate the overspill, others were set up in more rural locations and planned to include everything a new ‘modern’ town or city would need, including transport connections, industry, retail and culture. Telford sits towards the end of the New Towns boom. It was first designated in the second waves as Dawley but later was revised to be much bigger and have a higher population goal. It was designated in 1968 as Telford, a third wave New Town, and the master plan was commissioned by the Dawley Development Corporation from John Madin & Partners. The expansion to Telford from Dawley and huge population predictions influenced the design significantly, as did the increasing popularity of the motor vehicle and affordability of such to everyday people. In this case study we will take a closer look at the history of the New Town movement and how Telford developed around the existing developments, questioning if it ever reached the goals set out in 1968.
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contents History of New Towns
6
New Town Classification
8
A Journey through Time and Telford
10
Existing Settlements
12
The Design Process
The Design Team The Three-Tier System
14 18
The Town Centre and Town Park
Retail and the Town Centre Development Phases & Expansions Telford Town Centre Town Centre Opinions Landscaping Strategy Town Park
How the Districts Function Together Transport Development Process Connectivity Districts and the Town Centre Housing - the existing picture Telford Development Corporation Program Wellington Oakengates Stirchley Sutton Hill & Woodside
20 22 24 26 28 30
32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
Figure 2 - Town Centre from above
Mona Tamaru
Motunrayo Soyannwo
Sally Lofthouse
September
December
Chose Research Methods 1
Analysis of Archive data
Arch. Land. Infra
Comparison of Telford & Milton Keynes 52
Xinbo Wang
Created diagrams and drawings Prepared and developed pages for case study document
October
Model Process Final
56 58
Conclusions
60
Bibliography
62
Appendix A - Interview Transcript 1 Appendix B - Interview Transcript 2 Appendix C - Questionnaire Responses Appendix D - Letter from David Wassell
Yeside Sobowale
65 69 72 74
Researched site, historical and social context Researched online records and Development Corporation documentation in MMU & UoM libraries
January Undertook interviews at University Centre in Telford Southwater Library, transcribed and analysed Distributed and received completed Questionnaires
November Visited Site as a group, explored Telford Town Centre, housing, existing settlements and Library research Visited Shropshire Archives in Shrewsbury Visited National Archive in Kew
3D Model Making Compiled and completed Case Study Document and Presentation Poster Exhibition Preparation
Identified people to be interviews via Facebook page Located Dave Wassell (Landscape Architect)
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5
history of British british new towns Brief Time line Leading up to New Towns:
The British New Towns were part of a major development in UK town planning that had routes in ideas of social economic reforms beginning in the late 19th century, with the concept of Garden Cities.
1898 Publication of ‘To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform’ by Ebenezer Howard
Ebenezer Howard, author of the 1898 book ‘To-Morrow, a peaceful path to real reform’, was the founder of the garden
1903 Founding of the first Garden City: Letchworth
city movement. The book, its revisions and his theories, such as ‘The Three Magnets’ diagram, lay out ideas of utopian-like
1914-’18 First World War
communities, where people live in harmony with city and nature, or ‘town and country’.
1939-’45 Second World War
It was influenced partly by his time spent living in the US, particularly in over crowed Chicago during the 1870’s where he
1944 Publication of Abercrombie Plan for London - moving
witnessed the rebuilding of the city after a devastating fire.
people from the city to the green belt around it
Howard who was a stenographer and journalist by trade, founded the Garden Cities Association in 1899, which we now
1946 Creation of the New Town Act and first New Town:
know as the Town and Country Planning Association**1.
Stevenage Figure 4 - Welwyn Garden City, aerial view
He continued to gain attention and support through his well connected friends for these big ideas and enough so that he eventually gained funding and investment to make them a reality. In 1903 Letchworth Garden City was founded. The initial plan was designed by Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker. It was notable for the influence on housing design throughout the 20th century but less so in terms of Howards ideas for the social and economical rejuvenation that the Garden City would achieve.
Howard also established a second Garden City in Welwyn after World War I. Like Letchworth, Welwyn was also located on the boundary of London and would also never fully realise Howard’s aim of social reform through these newly developed towns and economic structures. The design of Garden Cities ultimately led to what is known as town planning. Although the Garden Cities never achieved Ebenezer Howard’s utopian ideal, they morphed into garden suburbs which still exist and provide a quality of life desired by
1946-’49 First Wave New Towns 1955-’64 Second Wave New Towns 1964 New Labour Government elected 1965 Second New Towns Act passed in Parliament 1965-’70 Third Wave New Towns
many today. The Garden City and Town Planning that followed were intrinsic to the development of the New Towns and planning acts of the post war years. Welwyn Garden City, whilst keeping the full
Figure 8 & 9 Irvine, Scotland a second wave New Town
title was included in one of the mark one designations of New Towns, evidence of the close links between the movements.
Figure 3 - Garden City
6
Figure 5 - Garden City
Figure 6 & 7 - Stevenage, London a First wave New Town
Figure 10 - Milton Keynes a Third wave New Town
7
new town classification It wasn’t until after the Second World War and the need to develop
The designation period for the end of Mark Two and the
the post-blitz landscape of England that the New Town Planning
beginning of Mark Three is not entirely defined, however the
act was passed. This was in 1946, and was swiftly followed by
structure in their design and ambition may be a more telling
the Town and Country Planning act in 1947. These policies were
features. The last alteration in the New Town design was to create
both a result of the creation of the Ministry of Town and Country
towns that were on a grid foundation, this was used to link and
Planning and the new majority Labour Government that took
knit together existing small towns and settlements with new
seat in 1945 (Our history, n.d.).
and improves infrastructure to allow directional growth and fast
The first designated New Town was Stevenage in 1946, like
transport connections. The New Town would then implement
Howard’s Garden Cities it is also located on the outskirts of
residential areas to greatly increase the population density. At
London in an attempt to decentralise the capital.
the same time new town and industry centres were built to provide job opportunities, with the retail centres being large to
The Mark One New Towns, from 1946 to roughly 1954 can be
rival surrounding existing towns and cities so all the residents
categorised by certain design principles, including a focus on
needs were catered for. The predicted end population of these
external green belt of land surrounding the circular design,
towns were much greater, in the region of 200,000 - 300,000
similar to that of the garden city plan. Examples of this are
Probably the best example of a mark three is Milton Keynes.
Harlow and Hemel Hempstead. The anticipated population of
Designated in January 1967 (Clapson, 2017) and despite several
these New Towns were between 30,000 - 50,000 and mainly
financial setbacks it has grown into a successful metropolis that
ended up being satellite towns due to their proximity to larger
was adaptable to modern living and attractive enough to reach
established centres.
its goals and in the 2011 census had a population of 211,062, in
Mark One
Glenrothes ‘48 Mark Two
Cumbernauld ‘55
Mark Three
Livingston ‘62 East Kilbride ‘47 Irvine ‘66
82,175 households (Milton Keynes, n.d.). The Mark Two New Towns came after a break in designations. Cumbernauld in Scotland was designated in 1955 but had a radically different look and design to the previous 9 years of New Towns, the second wave starts predominantly from around 1960
Ballymena ‘67 Derry-Londonderry ‘69 Antrim ‘66
and building on the design ideas and theories used in the plan for Cumbernauld. The separation of pedestrians and vehicles was pivotal as well as the need to be adaptable, be able to sustain continued growth and have a much higher population density.
Washington ‘64 Peterloo ‘48 Newton Aycliffe ‘47
Craigavon ‘65
Irvine and Cumbernauld, both located in Scotland, are great examples of the planners and designers attempts to create a city
Central Lancashire ‘70
on a modular grid system, with the view for constant expansion in all directions.
Skelmersdale ‘61 Warrington ‘68 Runcorn ‘64
Newtown Telford ‘67
‘68
Peterborough ‘67 Corby ‘50 Northampton ‘68
Redditch ‘64 Milton Keynes ‘67
Figure 12 - Image from Telford Town Guide, from TDC
Despite Telford’s original designation in 1963 under a smaller scheme, it was re-designated in 1968 on a much bigger scale, with an ambitious goal of providing a New Town for 250,000 people. This changed the town from being in the second wave to a third wave due to the new ideas and influences which altered
Cwmbran ‘49
Stevenage ‘46 Welwyn Garden City ‘48 Harlow Hemel Hempstead‘47 Hatfield ‘47 Basildon ‘49 ‘48 Bracknell ‘49 Crawley ‘47
the design of the mater plan. The design was influenced by the motorway and new road infrastructure , there was the ambition for large amounts of green space and lots of industry to move to the area to provide jobs for the new inhabitants.
8
Figure 11 - Image of Basildon, London. First wave new town (Rose, 2019).
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a journey through time and telford
10th Century
Believed to be the earliest settlement in the area, on land that sloped up from the Weald Moors towards the line along which Roman Watling Street was built. Extensive arable land surrounded the royal estates at Wellington and Wrockwardine and ecclesiastical estate at Lilleshall.
13th Century
Urban development in Wellington and Madeley. Wenlock priory founded a town. Six monastic houses, founded in 11th -12th century had interest in the area’s economic growth. They acquired half of the area’s land and profited from coal and ironstone mines with their iron smithies
1973
April
9,100 acres were designated as the 18th New Town. It was intended to accommodate 55,000 people from Birmingham and the Black Country Cumbernauld, Scotland first of the Mark Two New Towns
HISTORY OF TELFORD 1800
By 1806 the area boasted Britain’s second largest ironworks. The landscape was transformed by clearance of much of the remaining woodland and the spread of mining spoil, canals, new roads, railways, and sprawling industrial settlements
1787
Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford became first surveyor of public works for Shropshire.
MARK ONE
Housing and Town Planning Act
MARK TWO
The New Town Act was established
1779
1889
The world’s first iron bridge was built over the River Serern. The structure was a powerful symbol of the Industrial Revolution and marked a turning point in British engineering
URBAN PLANNING HISTORY
1914-18
1939-45
1870’s
Public health legislation resulted in bye-law terraced houses but failed to provide green space or community facilities
William Alexander Harvey plans Bournville Low density suburb with central green, shopping parade, community buildings. 1/2 housing stock was available to nonemployees, muted company paternalism, promoted social integration
1946
1890’s
Concept of industrial estates pioneered at Trafford Park, Manchester
1947
1981
Dawley Ironbridge
1949
National parks and Access to the Countryside Act
1963
1968
Dawley designated as a New Town
Dawley New Town renamed to...
Ministry commissioned a report on the possibility of a New Town at Dawley
Madin & Partners commissioned to carry out a larger report for a phase 2
SATELLITE TOWNS
Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker win competition to design Letchworth, the first, Garden City.
1919
Howard bought land at Welwyn to house the second Garden City
2013
1965
1989
1991
Telford campus of Wolverhampton Polytech university opens
1968
Draft plan for Telford published with 6 key points to be integral to the design and implementation of Telford New Town: Freedom
1969
Telford Development Corporation replaced Ministry as client
2018
2000
1990
Milton Keynes New Town Designated
Seecond New Town Planning Act
“ESSENTIAL TO BUILD A VARIED ECONOMIC BASE”*1 (MILLER, 2010:59)
2018 sees the 50th birthday of The New Town Telford and there are celebrations year round organised by the council including a restoration project on Telford square and the Thomas Telford statue
A £200 million revamp project is announced for Telford Shopping Centre to compliment the Southwater scheme
After government consideration the minister approved the New Town, a public enquiry was held in April and the Final Designation Order was made known in October Labour elected into Government
1904
Phase 3 of the Town Centre opened - M&S
TELFORD NEW TOWN
1964
(adjective) : believing or based on the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights, opportunities and access to housing
2018
1987
1965
Town and Country Planning Act
Egalitarian
Railway opened
September 30, Telford Development Corporation wound up after 23 years, leaving the town to find its own feet
1961
1954
Movement initiated by Sir Ebenezer Howard
1986
1991
BIRTH OF A NEW TOWN
1968
Garden City Urban Planning
Phase 2 of the New Town Centre opened
Wellington MadeleyOakengates Hadley Stirchley
DESIGN AND POLITICAL HISTORY
Town and Country Planning Act
1889
Hospital opened
Southwater phase 1 opens to the public including the library
John H. D. Madin and Partners were commission by the newly formed Dawley Development Corporation to prepare a Masterplan
1955
WORLD WAR II
1989
The M54 is linked to the M6
MARK THREE
WORLD WAR I 1895
2014
1983
September
First designated New Town Stevenage, Hertfordshire
1909
900 1200
Phase 1 of the New Town Centre opened, a shopping mall at the geographic centre with 100,000m2 floor area
of choice Mobility Coherent Image and Structure Realisation if Improved Living Standards Flexibility for Growth Maximum use of Existing Resources
1998
On April 1 Telford wins its “independence” from the rest of Shropshire with the advent of Telford & Wrekin Council, a unitary authority
2010-12
Plans for new £250 million regeneration scheme in Telford called Southwater are revealed Approval is granted in late 2012 and work begins on the complex which will house new shops, pubs, restaurants, multi-screen cinema, hotel and community buildings
Existing settlements Wellington Wellington is the most notable settlement in the northern urban district that pre-dated Telford. It is located to the north-west of what is now the town centre between what later become the by-pass roads, the signs for Wellington describe it as the ‘historic centre’. Wellington was home to around 15,000 before the designation in 1968 and the shopping facilities services much of the inhabitants from both the northern area that it is located and those in the south too.
Dawley Dawley was the largest centre in the urban district and is located in the southern area to the south-west of where the Telford town centre was later located. The population of this urban district was around 22,000 before the designation. Dawley centre is made up of mostly buildings from the 19th century and has a high street with shops down either side. This high street is the A442 and it carries rather a lot of traffic, both now and pre-Telford. Dawley had two pre-existing housing regions, one at Langley Farm which is post-war council housing around Malins Lee church and the second to the southeast was mostly post-war private houses, with some council properties. The north of the centre is a ribbon of dwellings which goes to Dawley Bank
Figure 16 - Wellington Market Square
Dawley was the original area covered by and centre of what was chosen for the first designation in 1963. It was later decided that the area needed to be larger and so the grander scheme produced by John Madin Design Group was a new designation area. This engulfed Dawley and all the surrounding settlements and urban districts, hoping to knit it all together into what would become known as Telford.
The main railway station for the area was located in the town, along with the majority of bus routes for local or longer distance trips. The centre of Wellington is that of a traditional old British town, it has bundles of character and charm with winding narrow streets which easily get clogged with pedestrians. Pre-Telford Wellington had a shopping core which was next to the railway, a cattle market and some small industrial areas. Out from the centre was Victorian and housing that bated from between the wars, this was mixed with industry. Around the town the housing topology was all mixed from cottages, terraces, both old and new, and a few large Victorian and Georgian Villas.
Figure 13 - Dawley bus and houses
Figure 17 - Wellington Square circa 1967
It is because of these already established towns, such as Dawley and Wellington, that Telford is know as the idea of towns within a town. (Unknown, n.d.)
Figure 14 - Dawley Centre Circa 1955
Oakengates Madeley Madeley had a population of approximately 4,800 before Telford and was the second largest area in the southern part of what became the designation area. The centre contains some buildings that date back to the 17th and 18th centre. Madeley owes itself to the first half of the 19th where it grew due to the industrial revolution happening and extraction of coal and ironstone locally in places such as Iron Bridge, Coalbrookdale and Coalport. The area then fell into decline to the later half of the century and before the designation there were certain areas that were derelict and obsolete.
This centre was the second largest to Wellington in the northern region, pre-Telford. The urban district housed 14,000 total, with 1,700 being concentrated in the Oakengates centre. The topography of the area is tricky. Wellington lies in a natural dip or bowl in the land and besides a valley. Thus approaching the town from many orientations are constricted, not only by car but rail too.
Figure 18 - Oakengates Market St circa 1949
There was not much of notable interest in Oakengates, the town had a precinct for shopping which opened in 1968 and a new town Hall as well as some residential zones.(Madin, 1969)
Figure 15 - Madeley Peoples Centre, circa 1900
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Figure 19 - Oakengates Square circa 1965
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The Design Process JOHN MADIN
In September 1963 John H. D. Madin and Partners were commissioned by Dawley Development Corporation to prepare a master plan for Dawley New Town, which later became Telford New Town. The team became aware of the implications that could be caused by the existing settlements early in the process.
PRINCIPLE ARCHITECT
‘The economic and social interdependence of the Dawley and Wellington/ Oakengates areas stressed the difficulties of trying to create a plan for a part of the area without knowing the overall strategy for the whole.’ (John Madin Design Group, 1969:1)
Key Problems • DIFFICULT GROUND CONDITIONS DUE TO TOPOGRAPHY AND PAST MINING • SCATTERED PATTERN OF EXISTING SETTLEMENTS • RELATIONSHIP OF THE TOWN (AT THIS TIME DAWLEY) TO ITS NORTHERN NEIGHBOURS
Figure 20 - John Madin with a model of Birmingham City Library
Significant Points John Madin (1924-2012)
His Intentions
Principal Architect, John Madin Design Group Chairman, Telford Development Corporation
In the interview with John Madin from the Media Archive for Central England (MACE), Madin predicts a population of 225,000 for the Telford Development by the year 1991. We know now that this prediction was not met and brings into the question, how the town was developed with this prediction in mind.
Hometown: Birmingham Notable work: Birmingham Central Library
- Significant figure of post war Birmingham architecture - His most notable work the Birmingham Central Library was demolished in 2015 and replaced with a new library - Studied at the Birmingham School of Architecture - Part of the Royal Engineers service during the Second World War
FIgre 21 - Birmingham Central Library Completed: 1974
Demolished: 2016
He states that “the scale of this operation is enormous in comparison to what has been previously done” (Media Archive for Central England) The development proposal spans 8 miles from the north to the south of the site, which is equivalent to the width of the city of Birmingham.
- He set up an independent practice in 1950 - John H D Madin & Partners 1962 - John Madin Design Group 1968
He also states that “one of the important factors is not only to provide for the input of new population but also to integrate the existing urban areas with the new development that will take place”. (Media Archive for Central England)
- He was appointed as architect for Telford (Dawley) in 1963 - Many of his notable buildings have since been demolished
Figure 23 - Interview with John Madin about Telford
Media Archive for Central England. Midlands News: 16.07.1969: Interview with John Madin
Figure 22 - Post and Mail Building
14
Completed: 1964
Demolished: 2005
15
DAVID WASSELL CHIEF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT ALLAN HOWARD PRINCIPLE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT “Here was a part of Britain in decline, a former mining and industrial area going back as far as the Victorian industrial revolution.” “Everything had to be upgraded and in most areas completely built afresh. The resulting landscape had to match and complement the tremendous efforts being made in the building of housing, industry, and the creation of a completely new town centre.” Allan Howard (Neal, 2018:online)
Figure 24 - Telford’s green team
Telford Development Corporation’s director of planning Keith Hadley, left, discussing the tree planting programme in Telford’s Town Park with Dave Wassell, principal landscape architect, in 1978. Neal, T. (2018)
Allan Howard
David Wassell M.B.E
Landscape Architect
Landscape Architect
1973 Began working for the Telford Development Corporation
- Born in Dudley
1982 Head of landscape team as principal landscape architect
- Educated at Warwick School - Landscape Architecture - Diploma, Birmingham School of Planning - Aston Polytechnic 1965-67
Figure 25 - Gardeners Alfred Webb, of Shifnal, left, and Nick Oughton, of Ketley, planting trees and shrubs at Brookside in 1974 as part of Telford Development Corporation’s landscaping master plan.
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17
3 TIER SYSTEM Response to the existing Settlements and how to connect them...
One of the goals defined by the corporation was to; CREATE A COHERENT IMAGE AND STRUCTURE
Town
Retail
Roads
recognisable form and order, to encourage a sense of belonging,
One of the main concepts regarding hierarchy of centres was
PRIMARY DISTRIBUTORS
and to allow people to establish identity with their surroundings.
embracing both the new and existing shopping facilities
Designed to move large volumes of traffic at relatively high
Their aim was to unify the existing and the new into a clearly
speeds over long distances This idea applies to the existing areas as well as the new areas
THE MAIN CENTRE
developed.
and
Includes large shops which would rely on the population of the
DISTRICT DISTRIBUTORS
recreation were intended to each have their own hierarchy.
whole town. The shops would specialise in types of goods which
Catering for large volumes of traffic, but moving at slower speeds
Housing and community groupings as well as the main and
the consumer buys relatively infrequently.
for the shorter journeys
DISTRICTS CENTRES
LOCAL DISTRIBUTORS
These will vary in size according to the distribution of population
Low capacity routes for movements within the district
Transportation,
commerce
social
serves
district centres were to be given “varied and distinctive identities�.
District
(John Madin Design Group, 1969) The diagram shows the town, the focal point of the 3- tier system
within the city and other factors. They will cater for the majority
located at the centre. It highlights how the system is incorporated
of weekly purchases of groceries.
LOCAL ACCESS ROADS Providing access to adjacent uses and property.
into the development. With the districts referring to areas such LOCAL CENTRES
as Wellington and Oakengates, which are regarded by some as
Local
established towns.
Each were intended to serve a population of 6000 - 8000 within easy walking distance and would vary in content according to its particular location.
Open Spaces The green/open spaces are split into 3 sectors regarding the hierarchy system:
Local SUB-REGIONAL This refers to the area of the Severn Gorge and the Wrekin (407 metre hill) CITY Includes major parkland area (Town Park and Apley Castle Park). Also includes golf courses, cemeteries and central sports facilities. LOCAL Refers
to
green
open
spaces
within
the
residential
communities. Figure 27 - New shopping centres built around the area
Town
District
Figure 26 - Illustration of Three-Tier System connections
18
Figure 28 - Carrefour hyper-market checkout
Figure 29 - Example of many pedestrian walkways
19
TOWN CENTRE and Town Park
SHOPPING CENTRES DEVELOPMENT PLAN
RETAIL AND THE TOWN CENTRE
Existing District Centres
Concepts
As it has been the main concentration of commercial and social facilities in the area, it will continue to serve as the largest district centre. There will be limited renewal and development due to its physical restraints on its further expansion. It could also develop into a suitable centre for a range of small-scale specialist businesses.
WELLINGTON
What made Telford distinct from the majority of the new towns around the time is that Telford was created from the merger of the smaller existing settlements. Before the New Town Development, the towns were scattered throughout the area and major facilities were concentrated within Wellington, Oakengates, Dawley and Madeley. The Corporation’s aim was not only to create a core of commercial and social facilities of the new city, but also to redefine the roles of local centres and regenerate them in relation to the new town centre.
OAKENGATES As a small town centre improvement scheme has been completed just before the development, it does not serve such a wide hinterland, but is well placed to act as a district centre for the immediate surrounding area.
The retail provision of Telford was based on the following two concepts: - A hierarchy of centre embracing both new and existing shopping facilities - In the long term, a relative decentralization of functions throughout the urban structure
DAWLEY Corresponding to the new housing developments adjacent to the existing centre, it will be expanded as a district centre for both of the new and existing residential areas to the west of the Town Park.
The hierarchy of centre meant the three types of centre: The main centre, the district centre and the local centre. While the
a large proportion of weekly shopping, thus helping to relieve potential parking and highway access problems in the main
enough to ensure that there will be sufficient trade in the district centres. The establishment of a hierarchy policy was aimed to provide an important basis for the phasing of development in Telford. The town centre was assumed to cover consumers who live
Main Centre
Its centre provided a good basis for the early establishment of a district centre to serve the fairly self-contained area. The expansion was already taking place by the 1970s, containing the construction of the new shopping precinct within the existing core.
Figure 31 - Telford at a regional scale
goods, the district centres were planned large enough to cater
to provide a selection of merchandise for daily needs, but small
*
MADELEY
main centre focused on providing more selective and specialised
centre. Similarly, the local centres were planned large enough
*
*
“What’s really good about Telford is all of these local centres have been regenerated since. So Madeley, they’ve all had, brand new centres rebuilt into them and new shops and stuff like that.”
District Centre (*= new development) Local Centre Residential Figure 32 - Telford, the existing and proposed centres
Lofthouse, S and Tamaru, M. (2020). Interview with S. Bowers. 8 January, Telford.
approximately 15 miles around it, including some existing towns such as Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton.
New District Centres
Local Centres
ADMASTON : Serving the new residential areas to the north and
24 local centres were to be distributed within the major residential
north west of Wellington
units. In the long term beyond 1991, 3 or 4 additional district
STIRCHLEY : Serving the new residential area to the east of the
centres and local centres could be required depending on the
Town Park
form and direction of further growth of the urban structure.
TRENCH : Serving the areas to the north of Oakengates
HIERARCHY: THE THREE-TIER SYSTEM Main Centre This will contain a full range of shops including the largest shops which would reply on the population of the whole city, and to some extent that of its hinterland. The big shops would specialise in types of good, with fairly high unit value and for which a range of choice is important. It will also contain most of the professional offices and educational and cultural facilities.
20
District Centre
Local Centre
It will serve for around 20,000-30,000 people.
Each will serve a population of 6,000-8,000
The size would vary according to the distrbution
within walking distance, and would cater for
of population and other factors. It will Cater
various daily needs accordin to its particular
a
for
location. A typical local centre would contain a small
convenience goods and some durables. Each
supermarket and a number of shops including a
district centre would contain at least 1 and possibly
butchers, greengrocers, newsagents together and
several good supermarkets and possibly a variety
with perhaps 1 or 2 small service establishments.
store. Some will grow out of existing centres and
Where the walking distance to a local centre exceeds
will inherit certain additional characteristics and
half a mile, it will be supported by corner shops.
specializations.
(John Madin Design Group, 1969)
proportion
of
weekly
shopping
trips
21
PHASES AND EXPANSIONS For the overall layout of the town centre, it was emphasised
The aerial views of the town centre are from around 1975 and 1988. This shows the rapid development that was undertaken during
RAILWAY STATION
that the proposed scheme should be able to develop in various
the period. We can observe the expansion of the town centre, not just in the commercial sector but also social and civic service buildings, this
alternative directions, as is indicated on the figure of principle The Corporation intended to reflect this flexibility from the early stage of their design proposal, to enhance its capability to meet changing demand and uses during the growth of the town.
OFFICES LOCAL GOVT.
is shown in a dotted circle - HMR Registry building. The expansion of residential areas between the two images is also evident,
BUS STA.
RETAIL
HOUSING
HOUSING
layout to the left.
SOCIAL
(Telford Development Corporation, 1970)
indicated with the dashed circle. While some greenery is lost through the construction, we can see that the boundary of areas are covered by trees, which follows the original landscape plan. The designated are of Telford was so large that even at the later stage of development, there are still a vast portions of land that may be designated for development or available for future growth.
LEG AL
“When Telford opened, one thing it lacked, was, night life.…Telford centre at night, was, dead. And there was nothing, nothing at all.”
RECREATION
FURTHER EDUCATION
TOWN PARK
Lofthouse, S and Tamaru, M. (2020). Interview with S. Bowers. 8 January, Telford.
Figure 33 - Diagram illustrating the main principle of the layout
When the Telford Shopping Centre opened in 1973, it had a floor area of around 100,000m², including the first notable hypermarket Carrefour. Although it became the largest shopping area in the ceremonial country of Shropshire, there was a lack of facilities especially for the young people. Consequently
over
time
the
Corporation
constructed
entertainment and social facilities such as a leisure pool, a theatre, an art centre, an ice rink and so on, to consolidate the attractions as the town centre. (Soissons, 1995) The most recent development in Southwater area has been Figure 38 - Aerial view of Telford in 1975
completed in 2014, which was designed for the new era of ‘destination shopping’ in the hope to avoid the fate of so many unreconstructed town centres. (Burns, 2018)
Figure 34 - Diagram showing the phasing of the town centre development
1975
1984
1988
Figure 39 - Aerial view of Telford around 1988.
Figure 35, 36 & 37 - Diagram showing the phasing of the town centre development 2, based on National Grid Plans, Dates accordingly.
22
23
TELFORD TOWN CENTRE
DESIGN TYPOLOGIES m
123
130
137
144
151
158
165
172
179
186
193
200
208
Principles
A5 By-Pass
The Development Corporation has established that the optimum
Primary distributor road
location for the Central Area lies in the open area immediately to the
Role
District distributor road
south of A5. The key design principles were as follows:
The aim of the Telford Development Corporation was to create a new city centre which would be the core of both the commercial and social activities, the latter especially to assist in the development of a feeling of identity, as the existing towns were scattered throughout the site. The main centre was not aimed to have the advantage of an immediate supporting population within walking distance as in the case of the earlier new towns. Instead, it was aimed to start life as an 'out of town' centre at the focal point of new communications and convenient for the car or bus borne shopper.
-The proposed main railway station to the north east, at Hollinswood Junction -The Primary Road to the east giving access to the Central Area, and proceeding northward, linking Oakengates and Hadley -High density housing to the east and west -A public transport service which run through the centre of the residential areas and linking with the Central Area and the main employment areas -Attractive landscape and recreational facilities to the south.
Public transport route
Central area Residential area
Primary distributor road
Randlay Lake
Industrial area Town Park
District distributor road
Figure 41 - Diagram of the Design Framework (based on John Madin Design Group, 1969, p166)
Principles in Application The draft plan was then evolved in the Malinslee site. This was based on a grid circulation system, which allowed the space both within and above
Location
to be used in alternate ways. The grid circulation network avoids undue
Regarding the location of the new town centre, few sites were taken into consideration: the existing centres of Wellington or Oakengates, and Malinslee, a previously suggested site for the Dawley New Town. The existing centres, however, did not have a satisfactory capacity for expansion which they required for the new town centre. They were also concerned that the existing building commitments would prevent the the achievement of a satisfactory design solution in terms of land use, circulation and accessibility. As a consequence, the Malinslee site, which is closely situated to the A5 By-pass and contains substantial open land for expansion, was chosen.
concentrations of traffic flows, and its capability of flexibility in form and Public transport route Pedestrian route
phasing fitted well with the Corporation's intentions for the town centre.
the city
The grid plan corresponds with the Dynapolis concept, which
Major traffic intersection
was applied at the early stage of the New Town Movement, where the expansion in one direction
Randlay Lake the centre Figure 42 - Malins Lee Scheme (based on John Madin Design Group, 1969, p174)
Figure 43 - Diagram of the Dynapolis concept
allows the centre to grow without difficulty.
Application Comparison with Phase 2 New Towns The Corporation also had an alternative plan Randlay Lake
called the "Bowl Scheme", which used the less constricted bowl area to the north of the Randlay
Figure 40 - Diagram illustrating the physical characters of the site in 1960s, based on John Madin Design Group, 1969, p169)
Study area
Tip areas
Lake. However the slopes limited its accessibility
Existing roads
Lakes
and the possibility of the future expansion. Furthermore, the Corporation was concerned
Existing Site The site is located and the A5 diversion, and beside the main Shrewsbury/Wolverhampton railway line on the east. It is placed next to the Randlay Lake in the south, where the ground levels gave the opportunity for vertical segregation. Also the adjacent town park, besides acting as a focus for leisure and recreation, offered flexibility for further growth. The basic land form was undulating, sloping generally from north-west down to south-east. The slopes were thought to offer the best site for a centre designed to be visible from and itself
24
Figure 45 - Runcorn Shopping Centre
about the fact that the volume would have to to command views over a reasonably extensive area. It would be particularly prominent from the A5 By-pass, which would be the main access point. In fact, the centre was planned to benefit from this natural fall. In plans, the falls across the site has been exploited so as to provide alternative means of servicing for the retail area from roads at different levels, while maintaining the one main pedestrian concourse level with its direct connections between various buildings, and with the adjoining housing and park areas. (TDC, 1970)
be a 'one complex building, rather than a series Figure 46 - Skelmersdale Shopping Centre
of buildings' John Madin Design Group, 1969). This ethos created a distinct difference from other super block shopping centres which were common at the time, such as the ones in Runcorn, Skermesdale and Cumbernauld. Figure 44 - The Bowl Scheme (based on J. Madin Design Group, 1969, p173)
Figure 47 - Cumbernauld Shopping Centre
25
TOWN CENTRE OPINIONS
which once existed in the local areas and was taken over
“...You know like in Milton Keynes they did it very differently where they created a new village and then they called it ‘new-‘, say Bradwell for instance, and they called it ‘new Bradwell’. They make a new village and then just call it a new something. Whereas here, all of these little towns are all integrated into the whole thing. The town of Dawley or the town of Wellington is as important as the shopping centre. People still live there and these sub local centres and these high streets are really important to the diversity of Telford..”
by the development in the new town centre.
Lofthouse, S and Tamaru, M. (2020). Interview with S. Bowers. 8
How well did the Town Centre fit with the Existing Settlements? While the Corporation does seem to have succeeded to create a new vibrant town centre both for commercial and social needs over time, they were also likely to be the cause of the decline of the local and district centres. From interviews, we can state that one of the biggest factor for the decline is likely to be the expansion of the town centre in leisure and entertainment facilities,
January, Telford.
Before the Town Centre was Built...
“Well, of course for new centre, when it opened, has to take business out of the town...But people realise that after a while, that the stuff there wasn’t as cheap as what they’d made out to be, they weren’t getting the personal service which still goes along with these days...Whereas in Wellington and existing centres, you know, this is exactly what the shop people were doing. They were giving a personal service which a customer still wants and still needs. I would say that Wellington is now busier than it has ever been” (Mace Archives,1978: 00:03-00:42) (Gallyday, Secretary of Wellington Chamber of Commerce:)
Figure 50 - Mace Archives. (1978) A scene in the Wellington Centre.
The existing local and district centres, often consist of high streets, were the focal points of each area. It was not only a place for shopping, but also for gatherings and socialising with the local people. There seemed to be a sense of community among the residents.
After the Town Centre was built... “Well they’ve got a social club in Dawley, a lot of the residents used to meet up there. It was sort of the focal point of the high street really...The main, that (Dawley centre) was where you did your main shop before this place was built. You know so walk up and down the high street, see people there that you knew. ” Lofthouse, S and Tamaru, M. (2020). Interview with Participant 1. 8 January, Telford.
As the town centre grew, although the media has
“It seemed to me at the time, alright I was what? I was only 9 when, or 10 when the town centre itself opened, but I had noticed that shops were closing as this was opening, and I think that’s what the problem was. The first super market down here was Carrefour, and when you could do things, when they could sell things at a quarter of the cost of those selling them in the high street, obviously people are going to come here because they can get it cheaper. I think that’s what’s lead to the decline. ”
promoted the prosperity of the local centre in Wellington even after the opening of the new town centre, it did not seem as thriving as it was broadcast from the residents’ points of view: some residents were feeling the downhill of local high streets, which shows the large impact that the new town centre gave to that of the locals.
Lofthouse, S and Tamaru, M. (2020). Interview with Participant 1. 8
of goods provided which was never there, showing the
“Madeley was a busy town, a central place to shop and meet friends there. ...as a teenager I used to meet my friends at the local youth club or in Madeley Centre...We would buy all groceries, electric goods, toys etc. The local cafes were always good meeting places.”
Corporation’s success on the town centre’s intention at
Lofthouse, S and Tamaru, M. (2020). Questionnaire from Chadwick S.
the planning stage. However, some local people did seem
from Sutton Hill.
Figure 48 - Wellington Library. (n.d.) High street in Telford.
When the Town Centre was Built... From interviews to the local residents, the impact of the new town centre seemed fairly large. There was a variety
of community and friendliness that existed in local retail
“Wellington was not a place I would go shopping. It is filled with charity shops which I do not go to. There are no good cafes there as they are all in Telford Centre. I would only go to my restaurant to eat as it where I am most often. There are not any activities to do there, so I would stay home.”
stores. This revealed the importance of the local and
Lofthouse, S and Tamaru, M. (2020). Questionnaire from Karen Cheung,
to prefer to use the local centre, as there was no sense
district centres at the time, which could not be covered by the new town centre..
“Well my gran for one didn’t like it. My mum brought her down to come to Carrefour, they’ve got automatic doors, and she hated the place, she said there was too many people. There were no sort of friendly faces she could stop and talk to, like she would go into the butchers and she would spend half an hour in there nattering away. But you come down here you sort of do your shopping, out through the checkout and that’s it, she really hated the place, never come back.” Lofthouse, S and Tamaru, M. (2020). Interview with Participant 1. 8 January, Telford.
26
January, Telford.
Figure 49 - Wellington Library. (Date Unknown) Leaftlet promoting the Telford Town Centre.
from Wellington.
Figure 51 - Tamaru, M. (2019) Picture inside the Telford Town Centre.
Now the Town Centre is built... Gradually as the town centre expanded with more social
“A lot of our high streets are, pretty much, 70 % charity shops now.”
and recreational facilities, the decline of the local and
Lofthouse, S and Tamaru, M. (2020). Interview with S. Bowers. 8
of the residents seems to prefer to go to the town centre
January, Telford.
for daily goods, although some local shops or restaurants
district centres became clearly evident. Now a majority
are still in use, often for immediate daily needs. The revitalisation of local and district centres seemed to be in urgent need.
27
LANDSCAPING STRATEGY STRUCTURE PLAN
The 3-Tier System Sub-Regional
Local green spaces
The Corporation wanted to achieve a natural setting, similar to
Town green spaces
“Forest City” theme was introduced, and they planned to do this
existed before the development
District Centre
Telford Development Corporation Capability Brown’s design methods but on a larger scale. The
- refers to the area of the Severn Gorge and the Wrekin which
Town Centre
City - major parkland area (Town Park, Apley Castle Park). These Apley Castle
areas also existed before the development - golf courses
District green spaces Wrockwardine Wood
by planting 800,000 semi-mature trees. It was important to the
- cemeteries - central sports facilities
landscape team that Telford developed a ‘Green character’. This was achieved, however we are unsure of how many trees were
Local
actually planted.
- green open space within residential communities. This was one of the main elements that the corporation added as part of
“The initial landscape plan coined the phrase — forest city — and was supported by ecologists and industrial archaeologists.”
the development.
Local
(Wassell, D. 2020 , see appendix D)
The 3-tier system that was introduced by the Corporation ensured that green open space was not only provided on a town
Green corridors were created along the paths of the new major
scale but also within the local communities. Every residential
roads. The landscaping was used to emphasise or create strong
Town Park
edges and delineating roads. Trees were planted to dominate
shared amongst the residents, shown in the diagram (right).
visually and link different parts of the town together.
Town The diagram (left) shows the main green spaces that were
“The reason for planting trees was to link together visually different parts of the town. In other words the trees would dominate visually. ”
dispersed across Telford New Town. The Town Park - one of the largest green spaces - sits in the middle and acts alongside the town centre as an anchor for the town.
(Wassell, D. 2020 , see appendix D)
The Corporation promoted Telford as a place for a healthier life.
District To serve the recreational needs of the Wellington and Admaston
Figure 53 - Diagram showing landscaping strategy concerning roads.
Districts a large communal park was planned to link Orleton Park
The Town Park and golf courses were used as selling points of the new town, see promotional material below.
area, was provided with a communal green space that would be
with Apley Castle Park. Between Hadley, Trench and Oakengates
How did the Mining History Affect the Landscaping Strategy?
a large area of spoil at present reserved for clay extraction was planned to become available for open space and residential use.
Physical restraints to development: - past and present mining activity - geology and topography - drainage and engineering services - existing built-up area, other committed land and areas not available until the initial use has ceased
The Severn Gorge to this day serves the surrounding subFigure 53 - Diagram showing green space around designation area
How well did TDC establish a green character within the new town? Does the three-tier system work?
region as well as Telford itself. It was planned to become a major recreational and amenity area, preserving areas of scientific and ecological interest, which it did.
Telford to this day still has many large green spaces and heavily
Figure 52a - Promotional booklet created by TDC
Trees were planted around built up elements. The illustration below shows the forest element taking form and enveloping the new buildings of Stafford Park industrial estate.
Past and Mining Activity:
landscaped roads. Although developers are now building
Spoil deposited on the surface, old mine shafts, areas with
on many of these open green spaces, during the time of the
shallow underground galleries and open cast workings either
development and even after the Corporation shut down, there
restored or presently being worked on.
was a good provision of these spaces. How often the Town Park was and is used is questionable in terms of the amount of space
Geology and Topography:
that has been allocated to it. This will be explored later on in the
The broad geological structure of the area means that no major
study.
development can be planned where these conditions occur. The 3 tier system meant that residents were able to experience
Figure 52b - Diagram showing landscaping strategy concerning roads.
28
“[The plan] was based mainly on tree planting and creating woodland areas. This was design led by the landscape architects. The main problem was early industrial areas in decline with many eyesores.”
green living whether they were shopping in the town centre
(Wassell, D. 2020 , see appendix D)
large open playing field sitting adjacent to it,
or going on a walk in their neighbourhood. Our field research undertaken in Telford shows there is a strong green character within the Town. The roads are heavily landscaped and the residential area we visited was also heavily landscaped with a
Figure 54 - Diagram showing concept of provision of a central green and open space within a residential community.
29
TOWN PARK The Town Park is the Green Space that is provided on the town scale of the Three-Tier System
The town-long footpath Silkin Way runs through the park, almost creating a forced but natural interaction with the park. Before the industrial revolution, the town park was agricultural land. The park holds a lot of history with sites such as the Randlay Chimney and the remains of an old ironworks still there today.
Bird bath detail Timber pergola
Timber walkway
Metal shelter
Pool
It also hosts woodland, heathland, grassland and pools that have developed as a result of the Park’s industrial past, see figure 57c.
Entrance Pool
The northern end of the Town Park was extensively landscaped with wide areas of
Pergola
planting. There were also some formal gardens including the Chelsea and Maxwell Gardens. The Chelsea Garden includes a gazebo, water feature and summer house. The Maxwell Garden acts as a small oasis of tranquillity promoting the idea of green
Figure 57a - Diagram of Maxwell Gardens Layout
Figure 57b - Diagram of Chelsea Gardens Layout
living, see figure 57a and 57b. Randlay Pool Withy Pool
Blue Pool Silkin Way
Hinkshay Pools Figure 55 - Diagram showing the town and district centres in relation to the town park
Grange Pool
Figure 57c - Diagram to show Silkin Way
Town Park
MAIN CENTRE
The corporation wanted to provide ‘Green Living’ for the people
Figure 58a - Layout of an area of the Town Park
Figure 58b - Present day entrance to the Town Park
Resident’s opinions on the Town Park According to residents who lived in Telford, there were very few facilities besides the parks that were
of the new town. The Town Park was provided as a green open
provided. “There was very little, there was a park in Dawley itself and that was about it facilities wise”.
space, right in the centre of the town. The park alongside the
When asked where they would go to enjoy the outdoors, one resident said they would go for a walk
Town Centre provides an anchor for the new town and the
“probably around the Wrekin” or to Ironbridge. This brings into question whether enough was done
different districts that it hosts.
with the design of the Town Park to make it a more desirable location compared to the existing outdoor
It sits south of the A5 By-pass at 600 acres, containing lakes,
spaces.(See Appendix A)
natural amenity areas, a major recreation and sports complex and linking with the joint use schemes for the Stirchley, Madeley
Another resident of Telford - Steve - when asked about his favourite place in Telford mentioned the
and Dawley Districts.
What were the main principles for the design of the Town park?
DAWLEY
Town Park. Its location besides the town shopping centre makes it a prime spot to visit. The history
TOWN PARK
of the park land which is celebrated in its design, could be a reason why it is successful amongst the residents, with Steve referring to the “symbolisation of the history” being a key feature.(See AppendixB)
The town park was the central feature of the landscape plan,
How well does the Town Park anchor the Town?
unique in that it was adjacent to the town centre and also
The town park today is a popular area amongst the residents in Telford, being voted “UK’s best park’ in
provided a hub for all cycleways and footpaths from around the
2015. The latest development in Telford - the Southwater development , promises to bring regeneration
town to meet.
to the town centre and this could also increase the use of the park.
David Wassell Questionnaire (See Appendix D) STIRCHLEY
The Area now referred to as the Town Park was labelled as
Amongst the residents who lived in Telford at the time of the development and shortly after. There
‘Romantic landscape’ as this area of landscape existed before
is a mixed response to how often the park is used. However it is a significant part of the town that is
the development. “It is characterised by smaller, sharper
regarded by many and its close proximity to the centre helps.
undulations, a more intimate scale and a greater variety of natural topographical features creating intricacy.” (John Madin
However it is questionable as to whether enough of a variety in terms of the green spaces was introduced
Design Group, 1969:18)
and what age ranges it caters to. The location of the town park next to the town retail centre as well as its scale, meant that it had the capacity to provide green living on a town scale with regards to the 3-tier
Figure 56 shows the Town Park - one of the largest green spaces - which sits in the middle and acts as an anchor for the town.
30
Figure 56 - Town park and local centres
system. It was and is still used by residents from different areas and creates a space where residents from different districts can meet.
31
Transportation DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSPORTATION The past communications system required major alteration to accommodate the level of movement anticipated in Telford. Rail facilities have been and were being modified by the concentration of necessary services on fewer lines. These lines must be considered as fixed elements of the transport system and are important for both currently carries the vast majority of the urban and inter-urban traffic, and it is here that primary attention must be focused. The major traffic movement is concentrated in the northern part of the Designated Area on the: A5, A464, A518 and A442.
Figure 59 - Telford connectivity Figure 63 - Traffic Structure
The accompanying sketches show the evolution of the basic road network up to 1991. The first scheme shown in figure 60 was based upon the proposal of the Ministry of Transport at that time for the Wellington by-pass to be an extension of the St. Georges at Priorslee. The interchange with the A464 was to be at Hollinswood. This scheme was later abandoned because physical limitations made the design impracticable at this location. However, the scheme established several fundamental concepts, which were carried through to subsequent network. The second scheme, figure 61 incorporated the revised proposals for the Wellington by-pass which provided for a bifurcated junction of the A5 and A464 immediately to the east of the Designed Area boundary. The Dawley primary extension northward were much as before, but the 'Sankey link' was modified in relation to the primary.
Figure 60 - Scheme 1
Figure 65 - Road network now Figure 64 - Application of Transportation
This Scheme had several disadvantages, but the major one was the relationship of the eastern primary to the bifurcation of A5 and A464. The
All major land uses are linked by the primary box
junction required a large amount of land within the Priorslee area - a problem
built to urban motorway standards which runs
intensified by the closeness of a junction of the eastern primary and the A5
from Halesfield Industrial Area in the south, past
by-pass. It was found that the level of movement through the Stafford Park
the Stirchley residential areas and Stafford Park
and Randlay interchanges, as well as on the intervening primary link, could
industry, then north-west through the narrow
be substantially reduced by the introduction of an additional half interchange
valley along the line of the disused railway to
on the by-pass at Hollinswwod orientated north. This had disadvantages with
the east of Oakengates centre and past Trench
respect to interchange spacing, but it substantially reduced the land needed
Pool to link with the realigned A518 running east/
in Stafford Park and Randlay.
west to the north of Sankeys. The A518 forms the
The extension of the eastern primary north from the existing A5 could not
northern bar of the box and joins the A442 by-
be justified on planning grounds prior to 1991. Development along this route
pass to the west which forms the western side of
would be slowed by physical conditions requiring adjustment of the primary
the box and continues south to link Wellington
system and a change in the location and distribution of crossing between
Figure 61 - Scheme 2
areas north and south of the A5 By-pass.
and Admaston with the Central band, Dawley, Lightmoor Industrial Area and then east back to Halesfield.
Scheme 3, figure62 finally evolved in conjunction with other requirements, it extends the Dawley Western primary north as previously, but the eastern
In the figure 66 it shows the recommended
leg continues through Hollinswood to the Sankey industrial complex. The
revised basic plan road network in the future. The
system is closed on the north to create a tight box to which all development is
A5 would be extended and changed to today’s
joined by the district distributors. The primary box is bisected but the regional
M54 and the A442 would be developed much.
primary road and intersections are located on he east and west sides providing major access points to the city. The existing A5 is treated as a district distributor for major traffic flow north of the by-pass. A similar distributor south of the by-pass strengthens the entire central corridor, or band, along which the most intensive land uses are located. The 1991 Road Structure and the application of traffic analysing diagram are
32
shown in figures 65 with the hierarchy of routes. Figure 62 - Scheme 3
Figure 66 - Recommended road network in the future
33
THE RELATIONSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS OF A5, M54 AND M6
Figure 67 - Development and construction of the road network
34
35
Connectivity Wider View Telford is conveniently located in relation to the transportation network serving Great Britain and Midland Region. The connection to the inter-regional system is such that much of the movement occurs around rather than through the Designated demand upon the local road network and possibly upon the rail linkage serving the new town. M54, which crosses Telford, stretches east and borders M6, which connects to Birmingham. The M6 will pass Stafford northward and extend eastward through Birmingham to southeast England, including London. From the junction of M54 and M6, a new highway M5 has been developed to the south of England.
Figure 70 - Roads at a district scale
The proposed location of the bus station and the number of
Traffic Volume
Flow
Car Park
Bus Station
buses entering the Town Centre on each access road are shown in Figure Vehicle Bus Station. It was recognised that although the one-way inner box road would facilitate private transport, it Figure 68 - Roads at a regional scale
would imply high operating costs for buses due to extra running distances and times. Several solutions were considered for this problem: i: A contra flow bus lane on the southern side of the Town Centre box. ii: The bus station could possibly be relocated on the outside of the inner box. iii: Different access points to the bus station from the inner box road. The 24 hr traffic volumes derived from the transportation study model are illustrated in Figure Traffic Volumn. The peak hour traffic on roads in the area was estimated to have three component parts:
i: Traffic originating from of destined for a
car park. ii:Through traffic. iii: Buses Figure Car Park shows the preferred road network and the car parks required in high and low growth situations. It is estimated that a further reduction in flows of 700 vph could be obtained on the inner box road by providing access to the three car parks inthe south of the area direct from Spout or Wharf Interchange. In order to assess the revised road network proposal, it was necessary to examine the effects of evening peak hour traffic flows. These were derived from all day vehicle flows and the parking space estimates by consideration of the rate of discharge of Town Centre car parks in the peak hour and by the calculation
Figure 71, 72, 73 & 74 - Diagrams to demonstrate relation of roads around the town centre
of the amount and destination of ‘through’ traffic within the Town Centre in the peak hour. From this data a matrix of evening peak hour traffic movements within the Town Centre was derived
may be more intense than predicted for short periods within the
and assigned to the revised road network. The assigned flows
peak hour, and the free flow of traffic on the outer distributor may
are illustrated in Figure Flow and show that the network would
be disrupted by the access to individual car parks. It may thus be
function well, requiring only single carriage-ways except for the
desirable to consider the provision of 11m single carriageways
link from the inner circulatory box to Wharf Interchange which
on this road instead of the more 7.3m.
would require a dual carriageway. However, the level of peaking
36
Figure 69 - Roads at a wider scale within the midlands
37
Districts and Town Centre The Town Centre road and public transport systems were considered in detail in the main transportation study. Since that work, and at the time the review work was being carried out, the Town Centre was the subject of a conceptual design study. The network for the Town Centre in the Transportation Study is illustrated in these figures. It consisted of a dual carriageway link on the periphery of the Town Centre between Spout roundabout and Forage and Hollinswood Interchanges, with a single carriageway 3 lane one-way inner box linked to Wharf and Hollinswood by dual carriageway roads and to Spout, Hall, Forge, and Hollinswood Housing by single carriageway.
Figure 76 - Transportation system
Public Transport System Figure 78 - Seperate the Pedestrain and Road
The public traffic system comprises only 11 basic routes compared with over 40 routes currently operated. The pattern of
After separating the sidewalk from the
route consist of :
sidewalk, it can be clearly seen from the
1. A form route from Wellington, via the hospital site, Hadley,
picture that the road leading to each
the Town Centre and Halesfield to Sutton Hill and Woodside,
community ends in a cul-de-sac. Each
continuing via Dawley and the Town Centre to Trench and
community has one or two main entrances
Donington.
and exits that connect to the main road,
2. A circular route from Wellington to Donington and Muxton,
and each community is restricted to
to St. Georges, the Town Centre and Brookside returning via
individuals with more privacy.
Dawley to Wellington. 3. 5 cross-town diagonal routes, all passing through the Town
Select
Centre, and linking: Shawbirch and Wellington to Stafford Park
comparison. The following picture shows
and Priorslee / Stirchley and Woodside, Bridgnorth and Broseley
some housing estates of the 1970s and
to Donington and Newport, Coalbrookdale and Horsehay to
modern Dawley Bank and Stirchley. It can
Donington and the Hunbers, Little Dawley and Princes End to
be clearly seen from the figures that for
Priorslee and Donington.
the past, the past communities are more
4. 4 regional services: Shrewsbury to the Town Centre,
Figure 79 - Part of Housing Estates in Stirchley
Figure 80 - 1970s
two
communities
for
time
open, and basically every public road
Shrewsbury to Birmingham, Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton,
can reach the inside of the community,
Admaston to Wolverhampton.
even in front of each house. Better openness and greater mobility. However, the classification of roads and sidewalks in modern Telford is more obvious.
Figure 75 - Model Photo
The driving road connects each large community, and the sidewalk connects
Connectivity at a Smaller Scale
each house in a group. Basically, there is a cul-de-sac leading to each housing
All districts of Telford are closely connected to each other by
group. Although such transportation
bus and rail systems of different densities. The public traffic
networks can make communities more
system is illustrated in the upper figure. And the lower diagram
closed, they greatly improve community
is about the density of the traffic line between two districts. It is
safety. Compared to Dawley Bank in
obvious that the routes between Wellington and Town Centre
the 1970s, a highway runs through it,
and between Stirchley and Town Centre are most active.
forming a high street, which drives the Figure 77 - Transport System
38
Figure 81 - Part of Housing Estates in Dawley Bank
Figure 82 - 1970s
community's economy.
39
How the districts function together the Existing picture
C.O.D CINEMA
DOTHILL FLATS 18
A5
HADLEY FLATS
DONNINGTON
ALL SAINTS WELLINGTON CHRIST CHURCH
WALKER
WROCKWARDINE WOOD TECHNICAL
COLLEGE
OAKENGATES
KETLEY
HADELEY
WELLINGTON
OAKENGATES
MALINS LEE TIPS ST. LEONARDS MOUNT PLEASANT DAWLEY RANDLAY CHIMNEY
The Existing Population
HORSEHAY WORKS
A5
existing administrative areas of Dawley and Oakengates Districts. The 69,000 (1966) inhabitants of the area were
DAWLEY
MAJOR PATHS
land.
MINOR PATHS
IRONBRIDGE WORKS POWER STATION
S
groups of residencies and communities to the north of
LUKES
the watershed, containing the two largest districts known
HAY FARM
THE IRON BRIDGE
MINOR EDGES
STIRCHLEY
TIP
TST.. MICHAELS
MAJOR EDGES
The majority of the population were settled in major
MAJOR NODES
as Wellington and Oakengates. Approximately 47,000
MINOR NODES
people resided in these major groups and linked them via
MAJOR LANDMARK
a vague mass of small communities’ clusters along the
MINOR LANDMARK
A518 and A5.
Figure 84 - The Existing image of Telford
major
employment units based in Hadley, Donnington, Ketley
MADELEY
and Oakengates. The area to the south of the watershed comprises of
The Existing Characteristics IRONBRIDGE
Dawley, Madeley and Ironbridge and was much less densely developed holding a population of roughly 22,000. The remaining plateau area was identified by major industrial and residential expansion which dated from the 19th century. The plateau consisted of large disturbed spoil banks as a result of past mining activity, however between this and the settlements, ‘agriculture retained a tenuous hold’. Leaving a dry, sparsely populated and least disrupted eastern fringe of the plateau surrounding
40
HALESFIELD
COALBROOKDALEMADELEY
across the plateau and towards the northern part of the
Stirchley.
ANSTICE HALL
MAJOR DISTRICTS
allocated over a loose sprawl of settlements distributed
the
ST. JAMES
TRINITY
MINOR DISTRICTS
Urban Districts, as well as Wellington Urban and Rural
contained
NEDGE HILL
HOLY
The initial Telford Designation was composed by the
areas
PRIORSLEE HALL
BAPTIST CHAPEL THE WREKIN
these
SNEDHILL WORKS
LILLESHALL WORKS
ST. JOHNS
Furthermore,
HOLY TRINITY
SCHOOL THE ERCALL
ST GEORGES
Figure 83 - The Existing population distribution
100 people
Depicting the character of Telford, the existing image diagram
EDGES: To the West, The Wrekin/Ercall barrier. The River
initiates the identification of define spaces such as landmarks
Severn to the south and part of the railway system infiltrating
and various features which are perceived and associated with
the area in the north and east. The minor edges with substantial
the boundaries and thresholds of the area.
influence include the railway system and the edge of the plateau
The existing image of Telford displays that there are a few major
touching the Severn Gorge and Wrockwardine Wood.
paths and a strong reliance on the boundaries of the landscape to define district areas.
DISTRICTS: Hem Valley is composed of the already existing settlements unified with the landscape. Minor prominent
PATHS: The major paths were the A5 and A464. Alongside a
districts consist of areas such as Old Park and Hadley.
few well-defined minor routes at the neighbourhood scale.
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TELFORD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION PROGRAMME
THE CONTINUITY PLAN
Post-War led to a steady growth of both population and employment within the ‘Designated Area’. In 1966 there was an estimate of just
The three district centres, each with two ‘satellite’ residential
over 69,000 people and the total employment in the area had increased from 31,000 to 40,000. This growth was based on an emphasis
units. Each district centre was to have churches, schools,
in the economic format with a gradual descent in agriculture and mining and major expansion in services and manufacturing
recreational and social facilities and a local shopping precinct.
“Change in the physical fabric in the last five years has comprised large scale residential developments in the northern area together with a steady growth of new private and council housing in centres such as Dawley and Madeley.”
Dawley, Madeley and Stirchley
Each of the residential communities were to have small centres including primary schools, a church, public house, community centre and health
STIRCHLEY
clinics and surgeries.
As known these major recent developments were as a result of the Development Corporation’s Continuity programme. Sir Reginal
With Existing boundaries in place, such as the Severn Gorge, the
Pearson, the first chairman of Dawley New Town had stated in his first annual report that ‘it is confidently expected that Dawley will
continuity plan worked itself around its constraints in order to
prove most attractive to industry and commerce’.
provide 3 main district centres within the chosen sites.
The programme involved the development of two entirely new residential areas at Sutton Hill and Woodside, as well as the expansion of Madeley as a ‘District Centre’ and residential area. In the area the existing population was estimated to be 9,500. The projection of the plan was to accommodate 26,000 persons. The project constraints included the existing development being taken into
WOODSIDE
consideration, including those of the towns Madeley, Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale, and various planning permissions, inclusive of housing development and 47 acres (19 hectares) of clay working.
HALESFIELD MADELEY
SUTTON HILL
Industrial Area Residential Area
Severn Gorge Site Boundary Railway
Major Path
Local Centre
Public Transport Route
District Centre
Figure 86 -Diagram to show the continuity plan
The Radburn Principle Figure 85 -Dawley masterplan by John Madin published in 1965
The Master plan This was an adaptation of Gordon Cullen’s theoretical new town ‘Alcan’ which was planned in linear form on either side of a dual carriageway serving as the primary road. Housing estates were placed along this primary route with road junctions at appropriate distances and measures to tailor suitable enough access and traffic safety. The master plan conceptualized a ‘curvilinear’ town with a U-shaped urban motorway. Secondary roads would feed the primary circuit road from residential areas and pedestrians were given freedom to roam on safe walkways and green ways. As for forming communities it was proposed that there would be nine residential units with approximately 8,000 people, assembled in threes and towards the north of the site would be the town centre. There was also access from the heavy scale commercial traffic
42
directly into industrial estates without having to go near the town, district centres and residential areas.
Dominating the housing design in the 1960s, the Radburn concept originating from New Jersey consisted of groups of dwellings arranged in arrays of ‘cul-de-sacs’ embodied in a ‘superblock’ which was encircled by a main road. This left the Pedestrian and road traffic systems independent of each other, allowing residents to walk everywhere and without formally crossing a road. Sutton Hill and Woodside were adaptations of the Radburn principle, however modified due to site restrictions, high densities, and feedback from residents. Figure 87 - Diagram to demonstrate the ‘Radburn Principle
43
Wellington Wellington Urban District - Existing
There was a substantial change in attitude toward housing by
Initially the Wellington Urban District served as the main
Programme developed an interest in architectural matters
concentration of social, recreational, entertainment and facilities
affecting this. New housing settlements comprised of smaller
in the area as a host for 50,000 amidst a shopping and service
groups of dwellings of different tenure – co-ownership, rented,
centre.
owned.
1977. Lord Northfield, chairman of Telford Development
Wellington’s nature was solid and straightforward, classed as a small market town it had an agricultural heritage and hinterland.
What was the intention of this?
Its housing was a mixture of old and new and the town was
To provide a housing ladder for those who wished to someday
notable for its enclosed and narrow streets.
become homeowners and to stir greater informality. 321 homes (16 to the acre/40 to the hectare) were commissioned
Urban District Boundaries
at Leegomery, designed around common green spaces of
Wellington
different sizes creating a ‘green connection’. A strong effort was made to co-operate with private developers in generating better layouts and housing designs. There were twenty different housing types from single storey 1 and 2 bedroomed dwellings to 3,4 and 5 bedroom dwellings. Figure 92 & 93 - Pictures of Leegomery, Designed by TDC Architects.
Figure 90 - Wellington within the Telford designation area
Figure 88 - Early 1990s, Market Square at Wellington
Wellington Housing - Leegomery The Leegomery housing planning suggested a population target of 8,100 within a total of 226 acres (91 hectares). 130 acres (53 hectares) of this land was to be used for private
LEEGOMERY POOL
development with an estimate of ten houses to an acre (25 to the hectare) and the remainder of The Development Corporation (TDC) housing will be 13 dwellings to an acre (32 to the hectare). As a Community, the area suggested to include a local shopping centre, two primary schools and a green element within the centre to make a strong use of landscape facilities. The image below shows 3 and 4 bedroom family homes built for rent by TDC at Leegomery it was two storey traditional construction, materials included cladding, brickwork and rendering.
Green Spaces
Area of Study
Connections between Green Spaces Connections between Residential Areas and Green Spaces Connections of Green Spaces within Residential Areas
Green Core Figure 94 - Leegomery, Estate plan diagram
School & Local Centre Figure 91 - Wellington area plan
44
Figure 89 - Leegomery housing
45
Oakengates Oakengates Housing - Priorslee Marked as an industrial town and smaller than Wellington, Oakengates held a population of 14,000 with 1700 of that being in the centre. Despite being said that the centre had little to offer it had shopping and service facilities which lied ‘near the neck of a narrow valley between the higher land of Ketley’. This convergence was an obstacle towards improving access from the south, in the same way approaches form the east and north too were somewhat constricted. Therefore, settlements
Urban District Boundary Telford Designated Area
meandered north towards Wombridge whilst towards the west and east the distribution of new residential development were
Priorslee
more compact.
Figure 97 - Oakengates in the designation area
Water’s Edge, Priorslee Built for sale by private developer Whelmer (Chester) Ltd Vernacular Style Maisonettes
Figure 95 - Oakengates in the 1940s
12 acres, 85 dwellings, 7 to the acre (18 to the hectare) Continued growth was presumed to be employment led and therefore confirmed Telford’s economic growth.
Housing Typologies: 2,3 and 4 bedroomed dwellings with garages and one parking space.
Land reclamation proceeded northwards with work commencing at Priorslee where 171 acres (69 hectares) was excavated and redistributed, alongside an artificial recreational lake.
THE FLASH Figure 98 - Oakengates housing
Artificial Green Space (Lake) Residential Area
46
Figure 96 - Oakengates estate plan
Figure 99 - Oakengates housing by the Flash Opposite page: Figure 100 & 101 - Housing from promotional material, (Telford Town Guide, Wellington Library)
47
Stirchley - The District Local Cluster
Uniquely, Stirchley was the only large area within the existing
Early Brookside housing was adapted following the Radburn
Dawley Designated area comparatively free from building
principles. However, the TDC’s architects were aiming for more
Briarwood, Brookside
constraints. Its selection for one of the next stages of development
traditional forms of layout with a lower density. Curved roads on
TDC Housing for Rent developed in 1968/69.
was highly natural in its circumstances. The proposals gave
the north side and narrows carriageways were implemented.
Designed by the Development corporation Architect’s Department . Briarwood was a part of the first phase of Brookside
Dawley its first chance to design a ‘District’ without any problems of an existing settlement pattern or physical constraint. Three
Why was this? It reduced the speed of vehicles to no more than
residential units of 8,000 persons each was focused on a District
15 miles per hour. Therefore allowing pedestrian and vehicular
Centre merged with a Senior School facility. The proposals were
traffic to co-exist, despite pedestrian interests being dominant.
residential estate.
Brick Housing
developed on Radburn principles, however with reservations for
Slightly shying away from the traditional Radburn layout seen
a public transport network within the normal road system.
at Sutton Hill and Woodside, an experimential layout involving curved bends to allow slow traffic and pedestrians on the same roads.
Stirchley developed from a local cluster of 1500 people, to these
Community Unit 200-400 Dwellings
clusters being formed repeatedly to create a community of 8000 alongside a local amenity. This community unit having
Site Area: 33 acres (14 hectare), 471 dwellings, 14 to an acre (35 to the hectare), 716 car spaces, 303 garages.
Community Cluster
multiplied increases the population of an area to form an entire
Housing Typologies: 2,3,4 and 5 bedroomed houses.
district with a local district area accompanied with a Senior School facility. Local Centre Figure 103 - Brookside Housing
8000 population
District
Green Area 24,000-30000 population
Main Road (Brookside Avenue
Figure 104 - Three-tier scales of housing arrangements
Pedestrian Walkways Vehicular Walkways Figure 105 - Briarwood, Brookside Path Diagram
Area of Study
Local Centres Figure 102 - Brookside Estate Map
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Figure 106 - Briarwood, Brookside Path Diagram
49
Sutton Hill East of Madeley, and to be built on agricultural land was a mixed development of houses for rent and houses for sale. It was initially planned at first for just over 2000 settlements. Prices ranged; 133 units were between 6000-10000 pounds, 466 units around the
Local Centre including primary school, green & play area etc.
4000 pound mark and 1,440 in the 2000 – 3000-pound range.
What was the intention of this effort? To try and attract a cross section of individuals in different tax brackets and income groups as residents. Density of public housing was 14 houses to the acre (35 to the hectare) with Maisonettes rising to 33 dwellings to the acre (82 to the hectare). A total of 1233 dwellings for rent were built. The local centre was situated in the centre of the housing;
Large Local Centre
allowing pedestrians to only walk a quarter to a third of a mile. Photo Location
It included a ‘community centre, pastoral centre, library, play crèche, primary schools, a premise for medical and dental
Small ‘News Agents’
Figure 110 - Woodside Estate Plan
practices, mini-supermarket, pharmacist and a news agent.’ There were 40 parking spaces. However, this large local centre was not mimicked as a result of the ongoing development of
SUMMARY
the town centre and district centres in Madeley, Dawley and Stirchley.
Sutton Hill:
Woodside:
However, the Radburn layout was for detached dwellings but
Feedback from the earlier housing units, brought in radical
the higher density public housing had shorter access roads and
changes in later development.
these did not meet all houses. These access roads had garage
The third residential typology was the reconstituted Madeley
blocks at the end of them meaning residents had to walk up to
with more traditional housing layout. Increasingly becoming
150ft to their cars.
popular this eventually totalled towards the 8,000 people to give a complete district of 24,000 people.
Figure 108 - Sutton Hill Estate Plan Figure 107 - Aerial Photograph depicting construction of the first residential estate at Sutton Hill & Pedestrian Route through the housing to the local centre
Woodside
Local Centre Primary School
Woodside design and consideration was undertaken on a larger
Housing typologies: The majority are two storey terraces with
Green/Play Area
scale and initially held 2400 rented houses within a ‘Radburn
only one grouping of three and four storey maisonettes and flats
superblock’ with a local centre in the centre. To keep everyday
for a taller scale and varied roof line. Twenty houses were built
needs within reach two small ‘news agents’ were planned in
with 5 bedrooms to accommodate large families.
Public Transport Stops and Route Vehicular movement Residential Area Pedestrian Path
Local Centre
the eastern and western areas of the block. Densities mimicked those of Sutton Hill and again with government pressure a
Landscaping: Careful planning of trees and shrubs was to give a
timber-framed industrialised method was chosen.
welcome visual break to elevations and roof lines.
Residential Area Local Clusters (population of below 1500)
The aerial photograph to the left is of the Woodside estate and shows the
Community Unit (8000+ population)
‘lonzenge’ unit. This displays the typical Radburn layout of a ‘superblock’ encircled by a primary road. Settlements were arranged in a series of cul-de-sacs, which allowed pedestrian and vehicular systems to be independent
50
Figure 109 - Woodside Estate
of each other.
Figure 111 & 112 - Diagrams to demonstrate the links and varied movements between the housing and facilities based on various populations
What was Telford’s intention with their housing? With projections based on population and employment, Telford aimed to cater for rising numbers and their identities in the various residential areas. As much as physically adhering to traditional housing, it was a known task to re-identify these areas in means of their density and sense of feel. It concludes that their efforts were to transform local clusters into communities, and further into well sought districts by the people. Carefully considering, Telford aimed to look at the movement and connections at a local scale between various mediums, Green areas, amenities, residential houses etc. They catered to form a range of movements and connections that can possibly occur between the residential area and facilities that can be provided at different population levels.
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Telford & Milton Keynes A BRIEF HISTORY OF MILTON KEYNES... Milton Keynes, like Telford, was one of the third wave British New Towns and was designated during the late 1960’s. Milton Keynes is not only the largest* by designation area and population, but is also probably the most well known. It could be said that Milton Keynes is the most well known due to its success. This success was achieved by a design team that included architects and planners, it consisted of consultants such as: Walter George Bor, an Austrian born British urban planner and architect, John de Monchaux an Australian born urban
Figure 114 - Netherfield Housing estate 1972-1977
planner /engineer and, Richard Llewelyn-Davies a Professor at
SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES
The Bartlett. Professor Derek Walker was the Chief Architect and Planner at the development corporation from 1970 to 1976. (‘The New Town Travel Guides’, 2017) When the New Towns act passed in the 1940’s, many of the first wave towns were to accommodate overspill from London. The last few of these were in Basildon and Bracknell which were designated in 1949, it wasn’t until the development of Milton Keynes that more over spill from the capital was deemed necessary. The location of this New Town however was very strategic, not only could it accommodate the growing conurbation from London but it was also equidistant from Oxford, Cambridge and Birmingham, therefore also enabling it to gain inhabitants from the industrial midlands. The Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC) was set up in 1967 and commissioned the mater plan, they started advertising for the New Town in 1968, after the publishing the ‘Plan for Milton Keynes’ in 1970, development started getting under way in 1971.
Housing
Telford and Milton Keynes have many similarities. They were conceived around the same time and their designers were aiming to reach similar goals with their mater plans. The housing that was deigned in each one however had stark differences. While both have large traditional estates, Milton Keynes was used as a playground for experimental housing designs and to try out new and modern ideas by many architects practicing at the time. The range of typologies that can be found in Milton Keynes is vast, however one of the reasons that the corporation allowed these ‘experimental’ and ‘modern’ housing trials was due to a shortage in certain building materials and strikes in the brick industry (‘the New Town travel guides,’ 2017). Foster’s Beanhill housing is a typical example of this. Although this housing is now not as desirable and has required lots of refurbishment the area is still a desirable place to live and growing rapidly. Observing the housing in MK reveals a story of the evolution of city architecture over the past 50 years, conveying different ideas as they developed. In Telford, on the other hand, the designers were a little more reserved, the housing stock may be regarded as traditional or “better quality” (Bowers, 2020) but there are many areas that are now sit in the 10% most deprived in the country (Borough of Telford & Wrekin, 2016). This deprivation is particularly prevalent on the large estates (Borough of Telford & Wrekin, 2016), such as Woodside, Sutton Hill and Bookside. These were designed based on Radburn Layout principles; roads hierarchy, separate footpaths, ‘green fingers’ and the cul-de-sac layout. This has led to unkempt problem areas, unsafe underpases, accessibility issues due to bad pedestrian to vehicular relationships and a structure which “is not good for the maintenance of social order.”
Figure 115 - MIlton Keynes promotional document
(David Wright, 2002). While inner town estates succumb to this deterioration, new ones are still being constructed on the edges and beyond the original designation area. Figure 113 - Ariel view of Milton Keynes before development
52
* Milton Keynes was the second largest of the British New Towns, to Central Lancashire New Town, designated 1968, however the CLNT scheme was abandoned and the new town never fully realised, therefore meaning Milton Keynes is the largest by default.
Both of the new towns require investment in the original housing provided and more maintenance as was originally intended by the development corporation.
53
The Town Centre
“...in terms of the bus service, it’s always been a bit shaky in Telford. The prices have been hiked up, but serving all of these new estates... really put strain on the transport... they wanna... keep the price as reasonable, but then they’ve actually got more of a service to provide... the transport system does need a vast amount of improvement... our road network does as well.”
Both towns had a hierarchy of the centres provided for public use and convenience, in Milton Keynes these centres often housed a primary school. The structure applied to the centres in MK was not based on
Lofthouse, S and Tamaru, M. (2020). Interview with S. Bowers. 8 January, Telford.
creating estates of houses that looked inwards and contained retail in the middle. Instead it was designed so that the “activity centres” were “on the spots where main pedestrian routes
One significant difference between the road design is the grid
crossed the mid-point of each length of a city road.” (‘the New
system which was well implemented in Milton Keynes’ road
Town travel guides’, 2017;25). This may be a reason why they have
network. Having seen how the centralised design of Ebenezer
sustained business even as the main town centre has grown and
Howard’s garden city caused congestion, the designers
reliance on vehicular transport has increased. In Telford it was evident that through the implementation of
employed a 1km square grid system upon which the town was built up from. Each junction would be a roundabout to remove Figure 116 - Internal sketch of MK Shopping centre
a hierarchy of centres the smaller or ‘local’ centres have gone
traffic-light-congestion, the grid could also be tweaked ever so slightly to align with existing terrain.
into decline. We found out that many the population would now
The initial road layout for Telford was re-designed and altered,
choose to travel to the main town centre to complete all their
the original plan was never executed. This is regarded by our
shopping tasks in one place. It can be concluded that this has
interviewees as one of the reasons why there are traffic problems
contributed to the decline, closure and shrinkage of these local
experienced on a daily basis now in Telford:
centres (See appendix A and B), however there is still investment in local businesses to encourage development and reduce unemployment. Milton Keynes knew that their centre needed to contain activities as well as retail opportunity and host cultural events and social interaction. It seems as though Telford was late in realising this,
Figure 117 - Concept aerial view of MK town centre
as the extensions to the town centre to include more of these
was more flexibility and the centre has been able to grown in
facilities to enable visiting both during the day and night was
this linear direction. It is more of a ‘superblock’ style centre with
only invested in during the 2000’s.
hints back to the second wave new towns. Telford’s centre has continued to expand too however the growth
Both town centres employed similar principles in separating
is not as regimented and has resulted in building towards the
pedestrians from vehicles in the retail and shopping districts but
town park, it is questionable if the town park will continue to
the implementation of the grid layout in MK meant that there
diminish with more development.
“...they left enough room to expand it, so... [the] roads are future proofed already... I don’t think the infrastructure is growing quick enough... it will get to a point where you won’t be able to go anywhere. It will be too busy. And I think they need to start putting the new infrastructure in place NOW.” Lofthouse, S and Tamaru, M. (2020). Interview with S. Bowers. 8 January, Telford.
Both the new towns continue to develop and expand, however it seems that the infrastructure is not receiving as much investment as it should to cope with the continued population expansion in Telford, evidently affecting the population.
Figure 121 - Photograph of Milton Keynes today, note all the green space and greenery surrounding roads
centre with the new estates circling round it. The aim was to keep them well connected with a network of footpaths, this was initially a success however the newer estates are no longer within easy walking distance and driving incurs parking charges (Participant 1, 2020) It was clear that in order to develop an ‘attractive’ town, as was one of the corporation goals, lots of green space is required and in MK 2000 hectares of greenery was designed into the master plan which meant that residents were only 800m or less away from the greenery (‘the New Town travel guides,’ 2017). The largest park in MK is called Campbell park and is centrally located too, they also have greenery running linearly. Now as the towns both continue to expand the green space is being “eaten up” (Bowers, 2020) and becoming scarer. Most notably is the development on Campbell park in MK by UrbanSplash (Campbell Park, Milton Keynes, n.d.). It is easy to forget that until 50 or 60 years ago, what we now regard as long established towns, were also green land occupied by a scattering
Green Space
of usually historic villages.
Transportation
Both towns aimed to incorporate large amounts of green space,
Why MK?
integrating the new modern constructions into their rural
In 2002 Milton Keynes was in the running to become a city as part
Both Telford’s and Milton Keynes’ Development Corporations
settings.
of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations. Telford has not flourished in
anticipated a well connected transport system that linked the
Telford’s designers ensured that the new population would be
the same way and neither have many other new towns.
whole town easily, reliably and quickly. Most importantly this
close to green space with the inclusion of the extremely large
Both towns continue to bid and require large sums of money
public transport system would work for the inhabitants of the
town park right by the town centre. The park was in the very
for development and regeneration in their centres and housing
towns and not just offer travel to the centres but to connect each
estates. MK has strived to be labelled as a green city and has many
neighbourhood and district as easily. Unfortunately both town’s
eco-friendly initiatives, whilst some Telford residents think the
populations experience expensive and infrequent services,
town is lacking behind on this front (Bowers, 2020).
meaning they rely heavily on individual travel and owning a car.
Although the master-planning and design ideas in each wave of new towns were similar, what made MK such a success story and manage to reach its population goal? In 2017 Milton Keynes had 13 people moving to the area each day (Jeffries, 2017) and, although people may disagree, it seems sensible to conclude that the proximity and transport links to capital city is the main reason why MK is such a success story amongst British new towns. This constant attraction can also be attributed as to how it the continued to growth in population, commerce and the industry and service sector is sustained.
Figure 118 - Grid concept for Milton Keynes
54
Figure 119 - Grid system applied at Milton Keynes
Figure 120 - Photograph of Milton Keynes today, note all the green space and greenery surrounding roads
55
MODEL PROCESS The Three-Tier System The model highlights the corporation’s strategy regarding the new development and how they incorporated it with the existing settlements (districts). The 3-tier hierarchy across the roads, retail centres and green spaces unites the different areas across the new town. This approach meant that the corporation dealt with design elements and issues on a town scale as well as a neighbourhood scale.
TOWN
The abstract model of Telford was split into the
Industry
Existing Settlements (Districts)
New residential settlements
following sub-sections:
The lowest level presents the industry (both existing
The model focuses on the Existing Settlements
The next layer represents the areas that the
- Open space
and new). The two main industrial areas were set on
of Wellington, Oakengates, Madeley, Dawley and
corporation developed as residential areas.
- Industry (Existing and New)
the outskirts of the Telford boundary.
Stirchley.
Town Centre and Town Park
Centres
Main Road Network
Hierarchy
The darkest layer represents the central area of
We used wooden dowels of different thickness to
We elevated the road network to highlight it as a key
We used white string to highlight the connection
Telford which acts as an anchor for the town.
highlight the town centre, district centres and local
feature of connectivity between the different areas
between the town centre and the district centres.
centres. With the town having the thickest width and
of the new town.
This highlights the corporation’s aim to connect the
- Existing Settlements - New residential settlements - Town Centre and Park DISTRICT
LOCAL
56
Figure 122 - 129 - Photographs of construction of model
the local having the thinnest.
different areas.
57
FINAL MODEL
Figure 130-135 - Photographs of model
59
was Telford a Success?
Conclusion conclusion What what have we learnt
Town Centre
closer to the town centre, and transportation has become more
as districts and the mass development and construction that
The importance of the initial plans for the retail was that the
convenient. But the single railway system reduces efficiency
occurred over the next 20 years after designation.
TDC aimed for a hierarchy of centres embracing both new and
and brings certain obstacles to people’s travel.
existing facilities, rather than focusing on only creating and
From a smaller perspective, each community forms its own set
Telford, in relation to other third wave new towns, seems to have
investing in the main town centre, which was common in other
of transportation grid that connect to the main road leading to
had a unique take on the principles and ideas that were being
new towns during the time. A notable operation was that the
the town centre. But too many cul-de-sac roads still make every
developed at the time.. Architects and deisgners experimented
Corporation undertook regeneration of the existing centres,
community look inactive.
with different layouts, as discussed throughout this document,
looking at various approaches for each centre to meet their
Figure 136 - Carrefour first hypermarket in Telford
and it has been very interesting to see now how they have,
individual needs.
Housing
or sometimes have not, worked in the less industrial and car
However the decentralisation of functions from the main town
Using population and employment projections, it was clear that
dominated ‘future’.
centre, which was a fundamental concept from the beginning,
it became Telford’s aim to cater for the continued population
Throughout, we have investigated how the development
did not seem to work as expected. As the recreational facilities
increase, however carefully considering their identities and
corporation’s plans addressed the existing settlements that the
increased in the town centre, people have shifted to use the
not dismissing this important cultural factor. Their efforts were
designation area covered. It is clear to see that although an effort
town centre for shopping and social purposes on a daily basis.
made to take what then was ‘local clusters’ into communities
was made to enhance the already established centres, over time
The centralisation was accelerated even more after 1991 when
that are feasible and practical for anyone and everyone. These
they have still diminished in comparison to the town centre.
TDC was disbanded and the shopping centre sold. For these
communities in the hope of forming districts were catered for in
This, you could say, marks the new town as a failure due to the
reasons we can conclude that while the Corporation succeeded
terms of planning and movement. Equipping these areas with
corporation wanting to decentralise and not have all retail and
to create a new vibrant town centre that continues to grow and
the relative needs and amenities.
commercial facilities focused in one area.
flourish today, they have failed to decentralise functions for
Thoroughly assessing these connections at different scales for
retail, and the centre’s expansion has undoubtedly caused the
different population levels. They were partly successful and
Although we think some of the current population have mixed,
decline of the local and district centres.
partly not, however, within the process they strived to meet the
even sometimes resentful, feelings as to whether the new town
needs of the population, Telford and it’s people.
was a ‘success,’ it is not possible to argue with the amount of
Landscaping Our field research undertaken in Telford shows there is a strong green character within the town. Roads are heavily landscaped and the residential area we visited was also heavily landscaped with a large open playing field sitting adjacent to it and almost all houses incorporating a garden to at least one facade. The use of the Town Park as the primary green space for the residents of Telford, we believe, was a great decision from the design team. It is used by residents from different areas and creates a space where residents from different districts can meet.
jobs and housing it provided for an entire generation over the Before
the
new
development,
the
existing
settlements,
60’s, 70’s and 80’s.
were separated. The incorporation of large new residential
While many residents have issues with particular areas, this
communities, a new road network and a main centre hoped
experimental phase of planning history has left a legacy of a
to bring connectivity, and to some degree, unity between the
culturally diverse town surrounded by green open countryside,
settlements.
whilst still retaining a multitude of hints back to its roots. Back
The Corporation referred to the existing settlements such as
to the industrial past that made chooseing the site of Telford as
Dawley and Welington as districts. Wellington and Oakengates,
a new town so interesting: monuments throughout the town
in particular, had long established histories and many of the
park, in the smaller centres with notable historic buildings or at
residents were not happy with the new town, being referred to
heritage sites like Iron Bridge, Coalbrookdale and in Wellington.
The success of the green spaces provided on the town, district and local scales in terms of variety is questionable. Maybe more could have been done to provide spaces that brought both leisure and pleasure to all ages.
Figure 137 - Telford Ice Rink
Transport Part of the research explores the development and connectivity of Telford’s transportation. Since it was designed in 1968, the development and evolution of the transportation system has not stopped. The old A5 main road was replaced by the M54, which makes Telford more easily accessible to the rest of the county and country. For connectivity, Telford’s traffic is analysed from a macro perspective to a micro perspective. From a macro point of view, the M54 highway crosses Telford from west to east, and extends to the M6 highway running from north to south. The large transportation network makes Telford and the surrounding cities and regions feel as a whole. The development of traffic throughout Telford has been expanding around the town centre and the M54 motorway.
60
Figure 138 - Telford dry ski slope
Therefore, the districts around the town centre have become
Figure 139 - New Town Promotion Telford
61
Image References
Bibliography Citation References Borough of Telford & Wrekin (2016) Index of Multiple Deprivation. Telford, p. 1. Bowers, S. (2020) ‘Interview with Steve Bowers, by S. Lofthouse and M. Tamaru.’ Campbell Park, Milton Keynes (n.d.) Urban Splash. [Online] [Accessed on 16th January 2020] https://www.urbansplash.co.uk/regeneration/ projects/campbell-park. Clapson, M. (2017) ‘The English New Towns since 1946.’ Histoire urbaine, n° 50(3) pp. 93–111. Council, T. & W. (n.d.) Telford and Wrekin Indices of Multiple Deprivation - Telford & Wrekin Council. [Online] [Accessed on 15th January 2020] https://www.telford.gov.uk/downloads/file/4529/index_of_multiple_ deprivation_summary_2015. David Wright (2002) New Towns. [Online] [Accessed on 8th January 2020] https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/westminsterhall/2002/jan/29/new-towns. Day, G. (n.d.) Can New Towns fulfil their early promise? [Online] [Accessed on 6th January 2020] https://www.ribaj.com/intelligence/ planning-housing-new-towns-milton-keynes-internationalgeorgie-day. Fagence, M. (1973) ‘The Radburn idea-1.’ Built Environment (19721975), 2(8) p. 467. Group, J. M. D. and Corporation, T. D. (1969) Telford: development proposals. Vol. 1. Birmingham: John Madin Design Group. Jeffries, S. (2017) ‘50 reasons to love Milton Keynes (what, only 50?).’ The Guardian. Cities. [Online] 20th January. [Accessed on 16th January 2020] https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jan/20/50-reasonslove-milton-keynes-concrete-cows-wd-40. Media, I. (n.d.) Preferred developers appointed for Campbell Park Northside. Insider Media Ltd. [Online] [Accessed on 16th January 2020] https://www.insidermedia.com/news/central-and-east/Preferreddevelopers-appointed-for-Campbell-Park-Northside. Milton Keynes (n.d.) Town and Country Planning Association. [Online] [Accessed on 18th November 2019] https://www.tcpa.org.uk/miltonkeynes. Ortolano, G. (2019) Thatcher’s Progress: From Social Democracy to Market Liberalism through an English New Town. Cambridge Core. [Online] [Accessed on 5th January 2020] /core/books/thatchers-progr ess/97ECB54C1E68BCDAD44B13C79500192B. Participant 1 (2020) ‘Interview with Partcipant 1, by S. Lofthouse and M. Tamaru.’ Planning and Urban Change (2004). 1 Oliver’s Yard, 55 City Road, London EC1Y 1SP United Kingdom: SAGE Publications Ltd. Sunnymead and Selbourne, Sutton Hill, Telford | RIBA (n.d.) RIBApix. [Online] [Accessed on 19th November 2019] https://www. architecture.com/image-library/RIBApix/image-information/poster/ sunnymead-and-selbourne-sutton-hill-telford/posterid/RIBA75315. html. Telford Development Corporation (n.d.) ‘Telford Town Guide.’ ‘the New Town travel guides’ (2017) International New Town Institute (INTI), (1) pp. 1–65. ‘The slow death of the Public Architect’ (2015) The Birmingham Press. 21st July. [Online] [Accessed on 6th November 2019] http:// thebirminghampress.com/2015/07/the-slow-death-of-the-publicarchitect/. THIS IS DAWLEY a tribute to John Madin by Telford Ultimate Guide (n.d.).
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Media Archive for Central England. (no date) Midlands News: 16.07.1969: Interview with John Madin [Online video] [Accessed on 7th January 2020] https://www.macearchive.org/films/midlandsnews-16071969-interview-john-madin
Neal, T. (2018) ‘The green team behind Telford’s landscaping triumph.’ Shropshire Star. [Online] 9th June [Accessed on 10th January 2020] https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/nostalgia/2018/06/09/thegreen-team-behind-telfords-landscaping-triumph/ Telford Development Corporation. (1970) Telford town centre; part one: proposals. New Towns Act 1965, Section 6 (1), Submission no. 33. Telford: Telford Development Corporation Soissons, M. (1995) Telford: The Making of Shropshire’s New Town. Devon: Swan Hill Press
Figure 1 ‘Woodside’ (2014) Telford Our New Town. 3rd November. [Online image] [Accessed on 5th December 2019] http://www.telfordournewtown.co.uk/towns/woodside/
Figure 33 Diagram illustrating the main principle of the layout. (Based on Telford Town Centre; Part One; Proposals, 1965:32)
Figure 4 ‘Hollinswood’ (2015) Telford Our New Town. 27th February. [Online image] [Accessed on 5th December 2019] http://www.telfordournewtown.co.uk/towns/ hollinswood/
Figure 34 Diagram showing the phasing of the town centre development. (Based on Town Centre Document, Shrews-bury Archive, Accessed 2nd November 2019)
Figure 3 & 5 Garden Cities of To-Morrow, by Ebenezer Howard--The Project Gutenberg eBook (n.d.). [Online] [Accessed on 18th November 2019] http://www.gutenberg.org/ files/46134/46134-h/46134-h.htm Figure 4 aerial-WGC-books-1949-2-4 (n.d.). [Online] [Accessed on 13th January 2020] http://cashewnut.me.uk/WGCbooks/aerial-WGC-books-1949-2-4.php. Figure 5 - See above
Burns, P. (2018) Telford is 50 years old: so is it still a new town?. BBC. [Online] [Accessed on 13th January 2020]https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ uk-england-44685914
Figure 6 & 7 Dreams, M. (2013) ‘Stevenage New Town: “Building for the new way of life.”’ Municipal Dreams. 5th November. [Online] [Accessed on 13th January 2020] https://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/stevenage-new-townbuilding-for-the-new-way-of-life/
Mace Archives. (1978) Image taken from ‘ATV Today: 03.01.1978: Telford New Town’. [Online video] [Accessed on 14th January 2020] https://www. macearchive.org/films/atv-today-03011978-telford-new-town
Figure 8 & 9 ‘Original drawings for Irvine New Town’ (2013) Avocado Sweet. 23rd September. [Online] [Accessed on 6th January 2020] http://www.avocadosweet.com/originaldrawings-for-irvine-new-town/
Wellington Library. (Date Unknown) Telford, the Place to Grow. Publisher and Place Unknown.
Figure 10 ‘The Point, Central Milton Keynes’ (n.d.) Living Archive. [Online image] [Accessed on 6th January 2020] https://www.livingarchive.org.uk/content/local-history/ areas/milton-keynes/title-of-photo-goes-here
Telford Development Corporation (no date) Suggested Housing Layout at Dawleybank [Map] National Archives. Kew. David Wright (2002) New Towns. [Online] [Accessed on 8th January 2020] https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/westminster-hall/2002/ jan/29/new-towns Borough of Telford & Wrekin (2016) Index of Multiple Deprivation. Telford, p. 1. Campbell Park, Milton Keynes (n.d.) Urban Splash. [Online] [Accessed on 16th January 2020] https://www.urbansplash.co.uk/regeneration/ projects/campbell-park. Jeffries, S. (2017) ‘50 reasons to love Milton Keynes (what, only 50?).’ The Guardian. Cities. [Online] 20th January. [Accessed on 16th January 2020] https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jan/20/50-reasons-lovemilton-keynes-concrete-cows-wd-40.
Figure 11 Rose, S. (2019) ‘Sterile or stirring? Britain’s love-hate relationship with new towns.’ The Guardian. Cities. [Online Image] 15th May. [Accessed on 14th January 2020] https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/may/15/sterile-or-stirring-britainslove-hate-relationship-with-new-towns Figure 12 Telford Development Corporation (n.d.) ‘Telford Town Guide.’ [Online image] [Accessed on 11th November 2019] p.2
Figure 35, 36 & 37 Diagram showing the phasing of the town centre development 2, Based on National Grid Plans, Dates accord-ingly. Figure 38 University of Cambridge. (1975) Panorama near Oakengates, looking SE from Telford Newtown. [Online image] [Accessed on 13th January 2020] https://www. cambridgeairphotos.com/areas/telford+and+wrekin/page3.html Figure 39 Telford 50. (no date) Aerial view of Telford around 1988. [Online image] [Accessed on 13th January 2020] https://www.telford50.co.uk/milestones Figure 40 Diagram illustrating the physical characters of the site in 1960s, Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:169) Figure 41 Diagram of the Design Framework (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:166) Figure 42 Malins Lee Scheme (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:174) Figure 43 Diagram of the Dynapolis concept. Taramu, M (2020) Figure 44 The Bowl Scheme (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:173) Figure 45 SkyscraperCity. (Date Unknown) Runcorn Shopping Centre. [Online image] [Accessed on 10th December 2019] https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread. php?t=342217&page=29!2z44K544Kx44Or44Oe44O844K644OH44O844Or!3b1!8 m2!3d53.5503519!4d-2.77637!3m4!1s0x487b10be2fca4b05:0xcf2320c5b745b69a!8 m2!3d53.5496531!4d-2.7735329
Time line figures: ‘Photographs - Telford History’ (n.d.) Telford Our New Town. [Online] [Accessed on 5th December 2019] http://www.telfordournewtown.co.uk/portfolio-item/ photographs/. Garden Cities of To-Morrow, by Ebenezer Howard--The Project Gutenberg eBook (n.d.). [Online] [Accessed on 18th November 2019] http://www.gutenberg.org/ files/46134/46134-h/46134-h.htm
Figure 46 Google Map. (2020) Skelmersdale Town Centre. [Online image] [Accessed on 14th January 2020] https://www.google.com/maps/place/%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3% E3%82%B3%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A7%E3%83% 83%E3%83%94%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0%E3%83%BB%E3%82%BB%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC/@53.5435045,-2.7638455,546a,35y,315.97h,55.3t/data=!3m1!1e 3!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x487b101482b73b5b:0x790f773ab37bdcf9!2z44K544Kx44Or4 4Oe44O844K644OH44O844Or!3b1!8m2!3d53.5503519!4d-2.77637!3m4!1s0x487b10be2fca4b05:0xcf2320c5b745b69a!8m2!3d53.5496531!4d-2.7735329
Figure 13 ‘Dawley’ (2015) Telford Our New Town. 2nd April. [Online] [Accessed on 5th December 2019] http://www.telfordournewtown.co.uk/towns/dawley-2/.
Figure 47 Joe Blogs. (2016) Cumbernauld Town Centre. [Online image] [Accessed on 14th January 2020] https://wharferj.wordpress.com/tag/cumbernauld-new-town/
Figure 14 & 15 Francis Frith: Old Photos, Maps, Books and Gifts (n.d.). [Online Images] [Accessed on 16th January 2020] https://www.francisfrith.com/.
Figure 48 Wellington Library. (Date Unknown) Telford, the Place to Grow. Publisher and Place Unknown.
Figure 16 The John Madin Design Group. (1969) Telford Development Proposals Volume 1. Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Figure 49 Wellington Library. (Date Unknown) Telford, the Place to Grow. Publisher and Place Unknown.
Figure 17, 18 & 19 Francis Frith: Old Photos, Maps, Books and Gifts (n.d.). [Online Images] [Accessed on 16th January 2020] https://www.francisfrith.com/.
Figure 50 Mace Archives. (1978) Image taken from ‘ATV Today: 03.01.1978: Telford New Town’. [Online video] [Accessed on 14th January 2020] https://www.macearchive. org/films/atv-today-03011978-telford-new-town
Figure 20 Bentley, D. (2015) John Madin. Birmingham Live. [Online image] [Accessed on 11th November 2019] https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/ goodbye-john-madins-brutalist-brum-8447875
Figure 51 Tamaru, M. (2019) Picture taken from the inside of the Telford Town Centre. [Photograph] Telford.
Figure 21 Wikipedia. (2019) Birmingham central Library. [Online image] [Accessed on 6th January 2020] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_John_Madin_buildings
Figure 52a Telford Development Corporation (no date) Telford The Place to Grow [Booklet] Wellington Library Archive. Telford.
Figure 22 Wikipedia. (2019) Post and Mail building. [Online image] [Accessed on 6th January 2020] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_John_Madin_buildings
Figure 52b De Soissons, M. (1991) Telford The Making of Shropshire’s New Town. United Kingdom: Swanhill Press
Figure 23 Media Archive for Central England. (no date) Midlands News: 16.07.1969: Interview with John Madin [Online image] [Accessed on 7th January 2020] https://www. macearchive.org/films/midlands-news-16071969-interview-john-madin
Figure 53a Diagram showing landscaping strategy concerning roads. (based on John Madin Design Group, 1969;75)
Figure 24 & 25 Neal, T. (2018) ‘The green team behind Telford’s landscaping triumph.’ [Online Images] 9th June 2018. [Accessed on 13th January 2020] https://www. shropshirestar.com/news/nostalgia/2018/06/09/the-green-team-behindtelfords-landscaping-triumph/ Figure 26 Illustration of Three-Tier System connections. Sobowale, Y. (2020) Figure 27, 28 & 29 Futuristic Telford 40 years ago | BFI (n.d.). [Online] [Accessed on 13th January 2020] https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/futuristic-telford40-years-ago Figure 31 Telford at a regional scale. (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:Foldout 1) Figure 32 Telford, the existing and proposed centres. (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:75)
Figure 53b Diagram showing green space around designation area (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:75) Figure 54 Diagram showing concept of provision of a central green and open space within a residential community. (Based on Suggested Housing Layout at Dawleybank,(n.d.) National Archives. Kew) Figure 55 Diagram showing the centres in relation to the town park. (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:75) Figure 56 Town park and local centres. (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:75) Figure 57 a, b &c Garden Diagrams, Sobowale, Y (2020) Figure 58a Telford Development Corporation (no date) Telford Town Park A history and guide [Booklet] Wellington Library Archive. Telford.
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Figure 58b Lofthouse, S. (2019) Telford Town Park Entrance [Photograph] Telford.
Telford Town Guide, (n.d) Telford Development Corporation, p.29, Viewed at Wellington Library, 11th November 2019
Figure 59, 60, 61 & 62 Telford connectivity, scheme 1, 2 & 3. (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:183)
Figure 102 Telford Development Corporation. (1973). Brookside Estate Plan. [Map]. Wellington Library Ar-chive. Telford.
Figure 63 Traffic Structure. (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:67)
Figure 103 De Soissons, M. (1991) Telford The Making of Shropshire’s New Town. United Kingdom: Swan Hill Press
Figure 64 Application of Transportation. (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:66) Figure 65 Telford: development proposals. Vol. 1, 1969, John Madin Design Group: 198) Figure 66 Telford Transportation Study, 1977, Colin Buchanan & Partners,;29
Figure 104 Three-tier scales of housing arrangements (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:53) Figure 105 Briarwood, Brookside Path Diagram (Based on De Soissons, M. 1991:89)
Figure 67 contract1, ‘M54 Brings World to Telford’, Jun.1986
Figure 106 & 107 De Soissons, M. (1991) Telford The Making of Shropshire’s New Town. United Kingdom: Swan Hill Press
Figure 68 Roads at a regional scale.(Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:75)
Figure 108 Telford Development Corporation. (1975). Sutton Hill Estate Plan. [Map]. Wellington Library Archive. Telford.
Figure 69 & 70 the lower diagram: (from a brochure) The Telford Motorway Figure 71, 72, 73 & 74 (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:151) Figure 75 Sobowale, Y. (2020) Picture of model process and completion [Photograph] Manchester Figure 76 Telford Transportation Study, 1977, Colin Buchanan & Partners, p.96 Figure 77 (based on Telford Transportation Study 1 & 2, 1977, Colin Buchanan & Partners:35) Figure 78 Telford Transportation Study, 1977, Colin Buchanan & Partners, p.96 Figure 79, 80, 81 & 82 (based on Telford Transportation Study 1 & 2, 1977, Colin Buchanan & Partners:35) Figure 83 The Existing population distribution (based on John Madin Design Group, 1969, p75) Figure 84 The Existing image of Telford (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969, Foldout 8) Figure 85 De Soissons, M. (1991) Telford The Making of Shropshire’s New Town. United Kingdom: Swan Hill Press Figure 86 Diagram to show the continuity plan (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:35) Figure 87 Diagram to demonstrate the ‘Radburn Principle (Soyannwo, M, 2020) Figure 88 De Soissons, M. (1991) Telford The Making of Shropshire’s New Town. United Kingdom: Swan Hill Press Figure 89 De Soissons, M. (1991) Telford The Making of Shropshire’s New Town. United Kingdom: Swan Hill Press Figure 90 Wellington within the Telford designation area Telford (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969, Foldout 5) Figure 91 Telford Development Corporation. (1979). Leegomery Estate Plan. [Map]. Wellington Library Archive. Telford. Figure 92 & 93 De Soissons, M. (1991) Telford The Making of Shropshire’s New Town. United Kingdom: Swan Hill Press Figure 94 Leegomery, Estate plan diagram (based on Leegomery Estate Plan. [Map]. Wellington Library Archive.) Figure 95 De Soissons, M. (1991) Telford The Making of Shropshire’s New Town. United Kingdom: Swan Hill Press
Figure 109 De Soissons, M. (1991) Telford The Making of Shropshire’s New Town. United Kingdom: Swan Hill Press Figure 110 Telford Development Corporation. (1977). Woodside Estate Plan. [Map]. Wellington Library Ar-chive. Telford. Figure 111 & 112 Diagrams to demonstrate the links and varied movements between the housing and facilities based on various populations (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969:51) Figure 113 January, 23 and 2017 (n.d.) AJ archive: Milton Keynes planning study (1969). Architects Journal. [Online] [Accessed on 6th January 2020] https://www. architectsjournal.co.uk/news/culture/aj-archive-milton-keynes-planningstudy-1969/10016661.article. Figure 114 ‘Netherfield Housing’ (n.d.) Living Archive. [Online] [Accessed on 13th January 2020] https://www.livingarchive.org.uk/content/local-history/topics/streets/ netherfield-housing. Figure 115 Day, G. (n.d.) Can New Towns fulfil their early promise? [Online] [Accessed on 16th January 2020] https://www.ribaj.com/intelligence/planning-housing-newtowns-milton-keynes-international-georgie-day. Figure 116 & 117 ‘Image 8. A “covered piazza” (The Plan for Milton Keynes, March 1970)’ (n.d.) Living Archive. [Online Images] [Accessed on 13th January 2020] https://www. livingarchive.org.uk/content/catalogue_item/the-story-of-the-original-cmk-2/ images-used-in-the-book-the-story-of-the-original-cmk/image-8-a-coveredpiazza-the-plan-for-milton-keynes-march-1970. Figure 118 ‘the New Town travel guides’ (2017) International New Town Institute (INTI), (1) pp. 1–65. Figure 119 January, 23 and 2017 (n.d.) AJ archive: Milton Keynes planning study (1969). Architects Journal. [Online] [Accessed on 6th January 2020] https://www. architectsjournal.co.uk/news/culture/aj-archive-milton-keynes-planningstudy-1969/10016661.article.
appendix - a Interview with Participant 1 - 8th January 2020 02:00 Sally
02:12 Participant
02:46 Sally
02:59 Participant
03:28 Sally 03:39 Participant 03:41 Mona 03:46 Participant
04:09 Sally
04:32 Participant 04:34 Sally 04:38 Participant
05:21 Sally 05:24 Participant
05:46 Sally 05:54 Participant
Figure 120 Day, G. (n.d.) Can New Towns fulfil their early promise? [Online] [Accessed on 16th January 2020] https://www.ribaj.com/intelligence/planning-housing-newtowns-milton-keynes-international-georgie-day. Figure 121 Media, I. (n.d.) Preferred developers appointed for Campbell Park Northside. Insider Media Ltd. [Online Image] [Accessed on 16th January 2020] https://www. insidermedia.com/news/central-and-east/Preferred-developers-appointed-forCampbell-Park-Northside. Figures on pages 56, 57, 58 & 59 Figures 122-135 Sobowale, Y. (2020) Picture of model process and completion [Photograph] Manchester Figure 136, 137, 138 & 139 Futuristic Telford 40 years ago | BFI (n.d.). [Online Image] [Accessed on 13th January 2020] https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/futuristic-telford40-years-ago.
07:00 Sally 07:13 Participant 07:18 Sally 07:19 Participant
07:41 Mona Participant 07:47
Figure 97 Oakengates in the designation area (Based on John Madin Design Group, 1969, Foldout 5)
07:48
Figure 100 Telford Town Guide, (n.d) Telford Development Corporation, p.29, Viewed at Wellington Library, 11th November 2019 Figure 101
64
Well I was born in 1962 on the 8th of April, about 10 minutes away in a private house. Lived in Telford all my life, my wife’s from Torquey. I think apart from two jobs, all my jobs that I’ve had have been in and around Telford. What? 50, 58 this year. 4 children, 10 grandchildren, we’ve been promised there’s no more. *laughs* That’s about it really.
Mona Participant
Mona 08:30
No as I say, if you liked drinking then yeah there were plenty of pubs for you to drink in but that
Participant
was really it.
08:38 Mona
apparently The Cosy was demolished before I was born, and where The Royal was that then become a bingo hall, which has since been demolished and they’ve built houses on it. 09:03 Okay, so do you think before this town centre was made, do you think your Dawley centre had
Oh yeah, there were loads of shops up there I think there’s about half a dozen left now
And, was there anything else about the area, what the area has to offer that has made you stay, or was it just the unknown?
09:20
How many do you think there were before?
Again, I think it’s just the fear of the unknown. So, you like the people here? And the community?
enough goods to sell, enough places to go 09:13
Sally 09:24
There must have been a good thirty or forty. At one point there was four butchers up there they
Participant
were always busy.
09:35 Sally
Majority of them. They’re easy enough to get on with, just the odd one or two they just don’t want to know. If you fell down in the street, they would just walk past you. You know, so. I suppose that’s the same anywhere you go really, there’s always going to be someone like that, it’s just one of them things
Was it a steady decline in the shops? Or do you ever recall when
09:39 Participant
No, I think it was just a steady decline. The one shop was a milliner and as people then stopped making their own clothes, there was just no call for it, so sadly that went.
09:56 So, if we could go back to your experience as a child. Obviously whilst the town was still being developed, I guess when you moved, when you were younger you were still here whilst it was being built, so you might not remember that, but do you have any like really vivid memories of Telford and how it felt when you were a child?
Mona
Do you think that could have been because this new town centre was brought here, or?
10:02 Participant
I think it was because the. It seemed to me at the time, alright I was what? I was only 9 when, or 10 when the town centre
When you come from the station, did you come through the centre?
itself opened, but I had noticed that shops were closing as this was opening, and I think that’s what the problem was. The first super market down here was Carrefour, and when you could
We drove so we just parked Right, well in the centre of the town centre itself is, in the main square is a Greggs outlet and the first place I ever remember living was roughly there and it was just a two up two down cottage but my mum and dad liked it so we lived for about four years. Well obviously, that’s gone. Two of the schools I went to have gone. The first job I had in Telford, that factory is now gone. And they seem to be eating up a lot of the green space now with housing and a lot of it, it’s just not affordable housing
do things, when they could sell things at ac quarter of the cost of those selling them in the high street, obviously people are going to come here because they can get it cheaper. I think that’s what’s lead to the decline. 10:43 Mona
So, after this town centre was made, what were the people’s reaction at the beginning? Did they like it?
10:51 So, as a child was it quite different?
Participant
Well my gran for one didn’t like it. My mum brought her down to come to Carrefour, they’ve got automatic doors, and she hated the place, she said there was too many people. There were
Yeah, it was very very different to what it is now. There was a sense of community then, you know, you got on with your neighbours, everybody knew everybody, it was safe to play outside. I would play outside on my own for hours and my mum and dad didn’t worry about it.
no sort of friendly faces she could stop and talk to, like she would go into the butchers and she would spend half an hour in there nattering away. But you come down here you sort of do your shopping, out through the checkout and that’s it, she really hated the place, never come back.
And the facilities and activities that there were available when you were a child, do you recall them, how they were. There was very little, there was a park in Dawley itself and that was about it facilities wise, there was nothing else. There were two cinemas in Dawley at the time, the one become a bingo hall but if you didn’t want to go up pictures or play bingo that was it. Unless you like drinking because in the late 60’s early 70’s if you asked somebody in Dawley how to get somewhere the directions always via pubs there was that many of them. And now I think there’s about half a dozen left. But I was reading online a couple of weeks back that in 1886, from a place called heath hill down to a place called Southall which is about 5 miles, if that, there was 37 pubs, and some of them were next door to each other and now, as I says, there’s half a dozen left. Okay, and when you were a child/ teenager growing up did you have a favourite place around Telford, would that have been in Dawley? Or in Telford? Yeah, we seemed to meet up at the town centre on a Saturday with my school friends. Sorry, is that this town centre, or Dawley? Yeah, this town centre. No, this town centre here, well, all of this wasn’t here, it was just the basic town centre at the time. They had a fountain in the square, and we just used to meet there for a couple of hours then disappear home
11:20
Really? So even after this was brought about, did you still shop in your local high streets or how
Mona
often did you come here? And how often did you use your local?
11:35
Well when the town centre opened, we’d moved, and we were literally only just the other side
Participant
of the mound *points to mound in town park through window from library* So, it was easier to get down to here than it was to get down to Dawley, which I don’t think helped either
11:50
Okay so you used to come here more?
Mona 11:54
Yeah
Participant 11:55
Okay, so did you do most of your shopping and did you have, did you go to pubs in the town
Mona
centre?
12:03
There wasn’t any. Not down here there wasn’t, it was literally shops and that was it. When it first
Participant
opened there was Carrefour and then Sainsburys moved in, there was a butcher, Halfords and a few clothing stores and that was it. And it has slowly expanded.
Yeah so, I believe you were born in Dawley
Yes
And you still live in Dawley?
12:22
Okay so if you wanted to go to pubs or socialise with people where would you, where did you
Mona
go?
12:28
Well they’ve got a social club in Dawley, a lot of the residents used to meet up there. It was sort
Participant
of the focal point of the high street really.
12:40
Did you not enjoy, do you think there was not much activities at the time and there was only
Mona
shopping places in here?
12:53
Well as I say, I was only about 9 or 10, for me it was a bore to be honest. I only went because I
Participant
had to. You know, because at the time, I wouldn’t say I couldn’t be trusted but I wasn’t really old
Well I now live at Dawley Bank but it’s all part of Dawley. To walk from where we live now to
Okay so, I’m sure there was a Dawley town centre, I mean the local centre?
Not really it was just a high street and that was it. You shops down each side
08:08
enough to be left at home alone. Do you ever go there, did you ever used to shop?
08:14 Participant
There used to be, there was one called ‘The Cosy’ and the other was called ‘The Royal’. But
Participant
08:04
Mona
Because I heard you said there were two cinemas in Dawley?
08:42
Mona
where I was born, you could do it in about 5 minutes.
Participant
So were there social activities as well not just shopping in there?
I think, fear of the unknown. You know, I’ve grown up in Telford, I’m comfortable in Telford, and I think it’s the fear of moving somewhere and finding you don’t like it, you don’t get on with people and you might not make new friends. Two of my daughters have already left actually, one’s in Coningsby and the other lives in Nuneaton, but the two boys are still around. The girls couldn’t wait to get out.
07:57 Mona
08:25
Participant Okay so, obviously you’ve got a long history and relationship with Telford, you’ve always lived here. What’s made you stay in Telford? Do you think, is there anything?
07:46
Figure 96 Oakengates estate plan (Based on De Soissons, M. 1991:128)
Figure 98 & 99 De Soissons, M. (1991) Telford The Making of Shropshire’s New Town. United Kingdom: Swan Hill Press
up and down the high street, see people there that you knew. If we could just start off a bit of your back ground, if you could just tell me a little bit about yourself, like when you were born, where you were born, and jobs that you have had in and around Telford and areas you’ve lived and experienced?
The main, that was where you did your main shop before this place was built. You know so walk
13:12
And since then, you’ve mentioned you’ve had kids, would you bring them here? Where would
Sally
the social activities be that you’d take them to?
65
19:18 13:21
It’d be in this area where the cinema is, the library, there’s quite a few places to come to eat if
Participant
you want to eat. So, if I was going to bring them here, we’d come down to this side of if rather than the other side
Participant 19: 33
Yeah, we rented from TDC then when TDC closed down all the houses went to the Werkin Are there many paths, are they well maintained?
So, you would’ve done that when they were little, when they were growing up?
Sally
19:38
And did you ever, as a child and teenager, obviously it could have been new to yourself, did you
Participant
ever feel lost or like it was unsafe anywhere around Telford?
13:44
No, so I got married in ’81. Just trying to think, Southwater as this part wasn’t here in ’81 so we’d
19:45
Participant
take them here, there and everywhere really. They hated shopping as well.
Sally
…. 19:55
There seems to be more plants and trees but apart from that it hasn’t changed a great deal at all.
Sally
They’ve got an amphitheatre down there but I don’t ever remember that being used. …
26:00
So, do you think it was an enjoyable place?
Council, so we’re renting off them now. 33:11 Sally
Yeah, yeah, the footpaths now are well maintained that’s not too bad either.
Sally 13:36
25:52
Participant
Participant Yeah, well it is a nice place to go…
I think it’s something like rent to buy scheme. We did look into it a couple of times but every time we thought about it something would happen work wise, and I found myself out of work
33:29
26:18
Was there ever the buy your own house that Thatcher brought in?
33:17
No. I think being born here you see it changing and you sort of keep up with the changes. As I
Mona
So, you’ve touched on Ironbridge and these certain areas, as Telford continues to develop has Sally
said in my original email to you some of the changes are for the better some are for the worse.
26:22
there been anything that distinguishes these heritage places from the developments?
I think that’s the same everywhere really though.
Participant
33:39
so I’m glad we never bought it. And all the housing and the estates that there are, are they easy to navigate around?
Participant In what way?
14:12
So, you mentioned that you would walk quite a bit. Is that because of the, of how close Dawley
Sally
is to here?
14:21
Well that and the fact that until about 1985 I hadn’t actually passed my test. So it was a case of
20:16
Well I always walked. I had got a bike but I never used to ride it much at school but because the
Participant
either walk, catch a bus, or in rare occasions get a taxi.
Sally
one house that we lived at, I’d come out the back garden, across the field well one of the rugby
27:14
20:20
pitches and I was at school so that wasn’t too bad.
Participant
No, you sort of just pass from one to the other, you don’t really notice it, it sort of blends in well Participant
lives now, I can’t remember the name of the street, but I could get there. He lives at 18 here and
27:17
with each other. You know they’ve recently demolished the cooling towers for the power station… 34:08
over the road there’s another number 18 but that’s’ a different road although they’re on the same
26:52
Participant And when you were younger, how would you have got to school?
No. No, Woodside, Brookside and Sutton Hill, it’s almost like a rabbit warren.
Sally I guess sort of architecturally speaking, are they right next to each other? Are they overlooking? Or 33:54
14:33
So, did you use the bus system quite often?
Participant
Sally
And if you were to go away for the weekend for an activity or with your children, where would
14:38
Yeah, at the time then the buses were quite reliable, and they would connect anywhere. But over
Participant
the last 10 possibly 15 years they’ve reduced services…
15:05
27:27 Well we used to go to Barmouth a lot, well either Barmouth or Rhyl…
You mentioned when the services were good. Was that in the early 80’s?
Sally
20:53 Yeah. Early to mid 80’s.
Participant
And with the housing can you describe what the estates are like that you’ve lived on?
How would you get to those places?
Participant 21:17
Well you’d have to go by car. We did try by train once, and its only 80 miles but it took 4 and a
Participant
Well I’ve never actually lived on an estate.
27:57
Well I say not, we live on a little estate now, everybody knows everybody else but the big estates
Sally
like Sutton Hill, Woodside, Brookside, to me its just faceless housing each house is identical and
28:05
unless somebody’s done something to it to make it distinguishable from everybody else’s its just
Participant
rows of houses. Nobody seems to know anybody else, there’s no real sense of community down
Are they, there the big ones aren’t they?
Sally 33:59
Sally
you like frequently visit, in around the 80’s or 90’s? 20:38 Sally
15:00
is there a distinction between the old and the new?
They’re the three big ones, yeah. Then they had Stirchley and Randlay and its like where my son
Sally
road, it’s so confusing.
34:10
And it’s the same with the bigger estates, you can look at a house here number 10 to 2 but over
Participant
the road you’ve got number three hundred and something. Are they all cul-de-sac developments? Yeah, there’s not one road where you can get from one side straight through to the other. So if you don’t know what you’re looking for you could be there for hours.
15:07
Okay so you say that you drive now. Since passing your test, did you then switch from the buses
Sally
half hours by train, because you’ve got to go over one way, to come back another and change
there.
Sally
to driving, or was there still a mixture?
21:19
at about 3 different stations. But if you drive there you can do it in 2.
And they had a bike shop in Dawley, and me dad went in to buy a chopper for me and the first Sally
34:42 So are, they are difficult to navigate then if you’ve never been there?
thing the bloke who owned the shop said, “Do you live at Woodside?” Me dad said, “No, why?” he 34:45
Participant 15:17
Still a mixture. Depends where we was going really. You know, sometimes if it was just down
Is there anywhere that you’d go from here if you wanted to go for a hike or for a walk, that you
said, ‘Well that’s alright but if you’d have lived in Woodside there’s no way I’d have give you credit” Participant
Yeah because each cul-de-sac has got a different name. And if it’s on Woodside they all begin
Participant
here, it was just easier to walk.
know of?
and that was not long after Woodside had really opened. But most of the big estates were built to
with ‘W’, Sutton Hill all begin with ‘S’ and Brookside all begin with ‘B’.
take in people coming in from Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton areas.
21:38 15:30
And how did you used to get to work?...
Sally
… A lot would depend on where the works was. My first job was at the Eveready, well I used to
21:47
Participant
walk down there, took about half an hour.
Did you enjoy living and growing up in Dawley and in the houses?
runs down to Kidderminster…
35:00
With the houses that you’ve lived in and experiencing the other estates, is there sufficient
Participant
parking?
Yeah, I did.
Participant So, I would like to ask about the major activities and a bit about green spaces. I think you did
estates you can’t always get an early or a late bus if you needed to so you needed transport to
mention a bit about what you do on weekends or but, where would you go, drink, when you
29:19
You have mentioned about, you felt there was a ‘community spirit’ as you were growing up. And 35:20
number 61 by us he runs a business, but according to the council he doesn’t. But we know he
had a free day, would you come here or would you go any somewhere else?
Sally
has that continued, do you still continue to feel that through the houses you’ve lived in, and the Sally
does and he’s got *whispering* … he’s got three large vans that he parks, a trailer, a horse box
29:24
areas that you’ve lived?
and until recently he had a van that was declared SORN that he was keeping in a parking area
22:08 Mona
Participant
Bridgnorth. Sometimes we’ll head up to Shrewsbury because they’ve got a nice park and quarry
30:02
Well where I live now, yes. But not so much with previous places
22:27
there but if the weather’s not too bad, well if the weather’s bad and we just want to get out
Sally
It was a case of, well me mum’s still living in the house that they’ve lived in now for 40 odd years,
Participant
the house, we will come down here, you know have a wander round have a cup of coffee,
and there’s only 8 houses down there so there everybody does know everybody else. But some
Do many of the houses have parking spaces and garages? Or is there like you mention, many
something to eat sometimes.
of the places we’ve lived, if you saw somebody walking in the street you’d wonder who it was but
residential parking areas?
16:10 Yeah
16:13 Participant
And have you noticed a change in the roads, or the amount of traffic and the systems over the
16:18
years?
There used to be. But where we are now there’s not, because we’ve got, one of the residents’ at
Depends on the weather. You know if the weather’s nice we’ll either go to Iron Bridge or
So, it was almost essential for you to drive when working there?
What about when you were a child where would you, where did you used to go on the weekends?
Sally
30:17
you wouldn’t sort of go out and say hello to them or nothing like that.
Participant
Well if you saw someone knocking on the door and you knew nobody was in, nobody would go
And do you say you’ve noticed a difference in the bus system as well?
35:27
for storage. And the council say well if the vans are taxed and MOT’ed insured there’s nothing
Participant
we can do. Which I can understand, but it’s supposed to be residential parking not commercial.
There’s a few garages dotted around which you can rent but there’s now sort of specifically lined
and say “Oh they’re out, can I help?”.
Well there’s certainly a lot more traffic and the roads are getting worse. They’re full of pot holes … 16:22 Participant
22:57
It was very few and far between when we did go out when I was a child…
Mona
When we did go out, we’d sometimes go down the town park or we’d get on a bus and go into
area which is belongs per house, you just come in and you park where you can 36:14
And was there space around the houses to play out as a child and as a teenager?
Sally
Iron Bridge or Shrewsbury so there was places to go. Yeah, the fact that they’ve reduced services on some routes, but they haven’t increased any
23:05
Sally
on the more popular routes. So, if you miss one bus you might have to wait for an hour, or
Participant
16:55
particularly with first thing in a morning, there’s two buses that run up to Shrewsbury, the X4
to make sure that there was enough green space around the town, but do you believe, do you
31:00
Participant
and the X5. And if you got before 9 o’clock in the morning you’re standing most of the way
think there was enough green space, or did you ever benefit from
Sally
because its full of students…
Mona
thousand houses on it. 17:31
Fall in passengers. You know I can see the point, if there’s not passengers using it then it just
23:48
Mona
doesn’t make sense to keep running it.
Participant
17:40
It’s like a lot of pubs have closed down and people get
18:09
I don’t use trains that often. But for me, you can go up to Shrewsbury and get connecting trains
24:11
Sally
one way, or you can go to Wolverhampton Birmingham the other way and get connecting
Participant
18:17
trains the other way there. We’re sort of, in Telford, you’re sort of in the middle, you’ve got to go
Participant
one way or the other.
24:24
We did have a direct link to London, and again because of fall in passenger numbers they got
Mona
rid of that service.
24:31
So, you feel like now there’s not enough green spaces compared to what it used to have?
So, you mention about the town park, do you go? Do you come here frequently?
Mona
And did you like the design of the houses, if you can recall?
36:58
Well when it first opened, I was sort of down here
Participant
*gestures height of a young child*
Participant
31:25
Yeah, I think I did. Well I don’t remember much of the first one which was down here but the rest 37:10
Everything seemed rather large. And although it’s still big now but it is getting bigger. They’re
Participant
of them I remember quite well and they were all okay
still developing part of here now, there’s a hotel just over there I think it’s the Premier Inn, that
minutes from here depending on how quick you walked.
Mona
18:50
The good thing i, that because of the two footbridges you don’t have to cross any roads and
25:11
Participant
they’ve got a regular bus service down that way as well.
Participant 25:20
37:24
My biggest gripe is they keep changing the road layout, it always used to be two way round the
Participant
central square of the road. Then they decided no that was far too easy we’ll make it one way
Yeah well there’s only me mum, me dad, me and me sister so yeah well three-bedroom house was
which caused problems and after about 3 or 4 years, “no we’ll reopen as a two-way again.”. It
quite adequate at the time.
was an absolute nightmare.
Mona
And since having children of your own, were you able to find larger houses more easily, or as
So, do you feel like it’s just keep expanding?
31:55
easily?
31:51
32:05
mum and dad and it was 3-bedroom. At the time the wife’s mother had a 5-bedroom house and
Sally
their family’s getting smaller and ours getting bigger so we got in touch with the council and 38:17
building other things as well as the houses, or just houses? Like any infrastructure or other
arranged a swap.
Mona
community amenities?
And we’ve been there ever, now 30 years this year.
38:20
Okay so did you used to come quite often before? 32:14 Yeah, we used to bring the children down and have a few hours there if the weather was nice
It does. Well when we first got married, we were literally over the road from where I was living with me
Participant What was it that made you want to move and swap, was it the size of the house?
25:09
Sally
When you’re travelling by foot, is it quite easy to get around Telford?
was only opened about a year ago. Did you have enough spaces for all of your families?
31:40
and they used to enjoy it. Well when you go through the town centre you can actually walk over a bridge, take about 10 15
Mona
31:31
To be honest with you, no we don’t…
24:48
Participant
Was it a popular place for families to come?
Do you feel like, obviously you’ve mentioned that they’re building a lot of houses, are they
Participant
Well where we are, they’ve got two nursing homes which are recently built. There’s an
38:22
undertakers over the road, which at the time seemed very peculiar because they’ve got a pub
Sally
a Morrisons supermarket then this undertakers. Then over the other side of the road they’ve
Just the size of the house basically and there got a 5 bedroom house and using two bedrooms and
got the two nursing homes they’ve got a couple of schools built there but there all now for
we’ve got 3 bedrooms… just getting overcrowded and at the time, well it was TDC at the time and
integrating two or three schools into one and making them an academy.
It still is, there’s some nice walks down there, plenty of pools if you want to go fishing, there’s a
32:41
they said well we’ve got nothing available but if you can find someone who’s willing to swap let 38:38
In some points that is a good idea because the one school they haven’t demolished it but they
lot of industrial heritage round as well, in Coalbrookdale particularly they’ve got the remains of
Sally
us know and we’ll see what we can do.
could do with demolishing it because it’s been there since about 1880. And it is literally falling
the blast furnaces there from Abraham Derby’s days in the 18 somethings, 17 hundreds.
32:46 Participant
Mona 19:14
Oh yeah, it is very easy on foot as long as you don’t mind walking. You know, it can seem a long
25:22
And have you seen much change of the town park of when it was first established when you
Sally
way to get from one side of the centre to the other, it’s not that far really.
Participant
were a child to how it is today
66
31:21
Participant
24:43
18:48
impression of Telford when you were a child and has it changed over the years?
Well the only real big space left now is the town park and I can’t ever see them building on that but who knows.
Participant
And where abouts is that located?
Sally
Participant
Is there a train station in Telford?
18:47
Kind of going back to what we were talking about at the beginning, but what was your
Apart from the block of flats we lived in, yes, they all had front and rear gardens.
Sally
24:09 Mona
Sally
36:39
Participant
Sally So, they are still developing? Oh yeah, they’re still developing…
Participant
Yes there is.
Can’t say there’s anything to be honest… Did many of the houses have gardens?
31:07 Well there was enough green space then but now it is disappearing.
on and lived in?
Participant
Where we live now at Princes’ End there used to be a huge field and they’ve started building a
Do you know why they’ve decreased the number of buses?
And is there much of a train service around Telford? Is it connected on the trains?
wanted to. Use to play football in the street, nobody every minded.
I think during the movement of the new town in Telford the Development Corporation tried
23:31
That seems quite odd to houses being built today many of them come with the drive way and garage. And do you have any favourite things about any of the houses or estates that you lived
Oh yes, there’s plenty of space garden wise and that. There’s little areas you can go to if you 36:25
16:50
18:44
So it can be an absolute nightmare, particularly for delivery drivers if they’re new to the area.
Once I passed my test and I’d got a car I could go further afield. Because some like the industrial get to them. I think *inaudible* was the worst one to get to, the buses don’t go down there at all.
Sally
34:56 Sally
wander round there, because you’ve got the Severn valley railway there as well which helps that
Sally 15:39
Probably round the Wrekin, it’s very nice there. Or we’ll go down to Bridgnorth and have a
Participant
apart so they’ve closed that one down and integrated that into this academy. Did TDC own all the houses and they were rented?
But I’m just trying to think, and they’ve got a play group down there as well so they are catering for people’s needs. But as I say not always for the better though.
67
It just seems to be “oh we’ve got a bit of land there, how many houses can we get on that?” and then they build these houses and put ridiculous price tags on them…
Okay so if you were to give one thing, one best thing about Telford, what would that be, can you think of anything? Easy access to everything, I think that’s about the best thing about Telford at the moment, well easy access and you’ve got a choice of facilities down here… 41:29 Mona
Is that easy access by car?
41:39
Yes…
Participant And the easy access is that around Telford and further afield like getting out of Telford to other 41:58
places?
Sally 42:00
Yeah, access in and out of Telford is very good, it’s just the state of the roads really. The fact that
Participant
some of the roads aren’t designed for the amount of traffic that they’re carrying. Apart from that
42:17
it seems okay.
Sally So, do you think cars is essential to live in Telford 42:23 Participant
It depends whereabouts you live. Like the big housing estates, they do get a good bus services they run about every 15 minutes, but to get a bus from where we live it’s about once an hour so if you miss one, you’re stuck for another hour then before you can go back out if you’ve got
42:41
the rely on public transport. Taxis are easy enough to come by, there is one company called ‘Go
Mona
Cars’ they’ve got about 200 taxis on the road. Makes me wonder how they’re keeping business
42:46
to be honest with you but.
Participant In contrast if there is one thing you could change about Telford, what would that be? I would try and get back the ‘community spirit’. As I said before, many a time, we’ve come down here and we’ve not seen one person we know. And yet there’s something like 15 or 16 thousand people apparently come down here everyday… 43:26 Mona
If I could change anything, that’s what I would change.
43:32 Participant
Taking it back to more how you felt when you were younger? And what you remember? Yeah
44:16 Participant
Overall in your opinion do you think this whole new town movement in Telford was successful,
44:20
do you think you benefited from this movement?
Sally 44:23
I think overall yes. I think people have benefited from it because it’s obviously brought jobs into
Participant
the area which was a big help at the time.
44:28
Yeah, I think that’s all really. If you didn’t want to go into factory work, or work in agriculture
Mona
there was nothing really here to do, work wise. There was just the odd shop that might want to take some body on, but then it was a case of well “my mum knows your dad and he’s working in
44:37
that shop so do you think he can get me a job there?” and that’s how it worked at the Eveready
Participant
as well it was all little families *coughs* at the time I’d got, well me dad worked there, and I think 4 of my uncles worked there and 2 of my aunties worked there and my mum did work there for a while as well, if you knew somebody that worked there then fine you was in.
END OF INTERVIEW
appendix b Interview with Participant 2 - Steve Bowers, 8
January 2020
Town centre/local centre
0:33 Sally
th
If we could just start off with you just saying a bit about yourself like, age, jobs that you had,
where you lived in Telford…just a background about yourself?
19:56
Steven
Mona
So did you say you live, sorry, which part of the - ?
Steven
I live in a place called Randlay, which is just around the outskirts - .
estates that were being built. Then, we’ve grown up in Telford, everything you need is in Telford, so
20:42
What’s really good about Telford is all of these local centres have been regenerated since.
really there’s not much of a universe outside of it really, because you’ve got everything you need, you’ve
So Madeley, they’ve all had, brand new centres rebuilt into them and new shops and stuff like that.
I was born in 1973 and Telford back (here) was quite a new place, it was only 10-12 years old by
then. So it was very much under the development. I am at the age of 46 now, so I’ve lived in Telford pretty much my entire life. And growing up in a new town, lived on a lot of the different Corporation housing
got the shopping centre, when you’re growing up you’ve got that. And I started a business in Telford, a landscape gardening business around 1999/2000, so I stated a small
21:11
business and it grew and grew. And then I met somebody and we then moved to (Stoke on Trent), which
been, in Stirchley for decades, it’s been ripped down today, and you know, Stirchley was a big sub
I think from 2000 to today, the local centres have been one of the recreation centres that’s
is a much bigger deprived city. And you know, Stoke badly needed regenerating, but you know, that
local centre.
made me really appreciate Telford, so I moved to Stoke and carried on my business.
And then my relationship broke down, and then I found myself in a position of going ‘What’s the next
was Sutton Hill, the local centre in there was huge. It was bigger than anywhere else in the country.
feasible step?’
You had the shops, (pull day), the pastural centre, it had so much, a dentist, a doctor. And as the
It’s funny though, when the town was built, the first estate which was in the 60s, which
town has been built, they realised that they couldn’t keep up with spending that amount of money. 3:49
That comment that I made in that see of negativity (in Stoke) was picked up by one person,
So progressively, as the town has been built in order, those centres have got smaller and smaller
who’s my wife now. And basically she saw that and she messaged me, and we met here (Telford). So I
and smaller, to the point where, if they wanted to build a doctor (surgeral) or a dentist, they preferred
came all the way from Stoke to here, and all of a sudden we just ended up, you know, we met a couple of
to take up existing buildings. I mean, this is what’s happening at the moment, they’re trying to
times, and one day she said ‘Why don’t you move in with me?’ But she lived in Shrewsbury at the time
revitalise the high streets really, because a lot of our high streets are, pretty much, 70 % charity
but worked in Telford. So I then moved from Stoke to Shrewsbury. What I loved about Shrewsbury was
shops now.
that I could come back to Telford, I knew it was just a car, 20 minutes up the road. And so, when I lived in Shrewsbury, I started to get to know Telford again. And even I thought of 10-15 years that I was away,
22:39
it had changed so much, it was unrecognisable. It was busier…And eventually, because Shrewsbury
Sally
wasn’t enough for me, but when you’re a new (towner) like me, and you like the (vibraty) of a new town,
Steven They are the new high streets yeah. They are what they call ‘the convenience shops’
Shrewsbury’s not the place to live…So we decided, we ended up this (moving to Telford), we bought
though. They were focused on the middle of the housing estates, so every part of the housing
a house, and we live right next to the town park, so I went on this whole discovery of learning about
estates you had the same amount of distance towards the shop. So it was really important that
Telford!
people had somewhere that they can just walk to get any groceries or anything that they required.
Would you class these local centres as the high streets?
13:42 Sally
And, when you were a child, growing up here, how were the facilities that were available to
you? Steven
23:23 Mona
So did you go to the town centre quite often?
Initially growing up, there was a lot of what we call a “new town boredom” where you didn’t
Steven Yeah, I mean, the town centre, when I was growing up, was quite small really. There
have community, say, you didn’t have youth centres or anything like that into the 60s and the 70s, so
wasn’t that great deal here. But what was the key to making the Telford centre a success and get
there wasn’t an awful lot for kids to be able to do. But in our generation, we’d find our own fun and we’d
people in, was the fact that it was that home to the first hyper market. So, Carrefour was built as a
go off for miles and explore. But during that early period, a lot of the housing estates that were being built
first hyper market in the early 70s, and that was like a game changer. Imagine you’re in these high
at the time, we’ve completely vandalized all the empty houses, because they couldn’t get people early
streets and there’s a little Co-ops, and that’s all people shopped in. And then you came to a French
enough when there was acres and acres of the houses that were empty, and so these got vandalized and
hyper market that had EVERY-SINGLE-THING. You know I’ve got a video (of a footage) of them, of
stuff like that, and that’s where I think (he cut) on that they needed to build these youth centres for these
people just wondering around on this open day, just gazing at things like, ‘You can buy tires!’ and
children to go, they were just vandalizing out of boredom. But then, things like the town park came,
things like that! And that was the game changer, that was. And that’s where people started leaving
450-acre-park, you know, it’s been voted one of the best parks in the country now, and that’s right in the
high streets.
heart of the town where any child would be able to easily walk to it, and you know where they are for the day…and you would have a lot of things that they did when they were younger is that we go out to the
24:58
town centre and hang out at the shopping centre, you know, it was all enclosed, and one of the greatest
Mona
past times were really funny was, because the town centre was all in one level, all of the trollies used to
Steven Yeah. People from outside the area like, even people from Shrewsbury would come to
be just scattered everywhere, and you know, them days we used to take them back and you get about
Telford, to get to shop in that hyper-market!
So after this was built, people started - ?
10p, so that was being business back in the day. 25:33 15:54
But today, what the kids do today in Telford, I think we’ve got a lot of facilities now, I think the
Mona
Were there any social activities in the town centre, at the time?
leisure industry in Telford has really really peaked over the last 2 years, where we’ve got the trampoline
Steven When Telford opened, one thing it lacked, was, night life.…And then, another one opened,
parks, we’ve got much more cycle courses and BMX courses, we’ve got the ice rink, all have been
but they were just played with troubles. So even now, a bar is open, few months later, it will close,
revitalized, so I think we’re in leisure (…) I think we’re in really a good place at the moment.
and it’s just the same thought of thing. So there was nothing here. Telford centre at night, was, dead. And there was nothing, nothing at all.
Sally
But they weren’t available when you –
Steven
No. (…)
27:35 Sally
16:49
And the local district centres, did they have pubs, and activities for children?
Steven Yeah. It was important that they had their own play areas and (etc.). …but then really,
Sally
And, do you have a favourite place in Telford anywhere around and why is that?
Steven
I think it’s the park, you know, it’s right in the middle of everything, and you could be in the
because when they built the schools, a lot of the schools were integrated into leisure centres so they were almost like ‘campuses’ where they had all the sports you could think of doing, swimming
middle of the park and you wouldn’t know you’re in the middle of the town. And it’s very different from
pools etc, so, a lot of people went to those really. And they had a little bar in there, and, tennis courts,…
a lot of the other parks which is Milton Keynes where it’s a fairly man-made landscaped kind of a park with just grassy banks, this has got industry, like we’ve got the chimney just over the near distance
29:14
there, that’s the symoblisation of the history of this scared area originally where there was a brickworks’
Mona
furnaces, the industrial revolution was here, and there’s lots of relics like that surrounded there. Milton
Steven What they were before is, what they call ‘(preasings)’, which mean they were enclosed
Keynes is very clinical, clinical park. Telford is diverse where it’s got this industrial kind of, cements every
underneath, covered. A lot of them have been opened up now, so they’ve rebuilt them, and they’re
little bit together. (18:01-could not understand well)…So I think the town park is definitely my favourite.
all like parades now, a parade of shops. And they’ve got a local shop, and a chip shop, and maybe
When you say ‘town park’, it’s much more than a park, it’s ‘THE park’.
a tanning salon. That’s (…, )Telford local centre now. No facilities. But they did invest heavily on
community centres and stuff like that now, so we’ve got a lot of, what we call ‘hubs’ now, like
18:38 Sally
Southwater downstairs, just somewhere you can rent a room…. I think Telford has really improved And is there a lot of that around Telford, can you tell the old and the new, like if you’re in
Wellington the Wellington centre or down to Dawley, and how is it distinguished as well? Steven
68
So what is the local centre like now that everything’s in here (town centre)?
in terms of social activities, for adults mainly, and (groups of) things like that, that’s really kind of opened up, that has.
When you go to Telford, imagine having a necklace, you’ve got the string that goes through,
and all these little beads. And all these beads are all the little towns like Madeley, like Dawley, Oakengates
Connectivity
–
31:06
Sally
The local centres?
Sally
Steven
So, about the transport, do you drive, and when did you learn to drive?
Yeah. And they’re all, on this beads, and they all work seamlessly together, and, you know like
Steven I’ve actually learned to drive, maybe 2000, that was quite recent. But, living in Telford
in Milton Keynes they did it very differently where they created a new village and then they called it
you don’t really need a car! I was quite happy to get anywhere on a bike. I can jump on a bike
‘new-‘, say (Bradwill) for instance, and they called it ‘new (Bradwill)’. They make a new village and then
now, and I would be in Brookside in probably less than 15 minutes, in any direction. So Telford’s
just call it a new something. Whereas here, all of these little towns are all integrated into the whole thing.
got this really great network of footpaths and, what made footpaths really good is, because they
The town of Dawley or the town of Wellington is as important as the shopping centre. People still live
were built on the old railway lines, so they integrated the landscape features into long-distance
there and these sub local centres and these high streets are really important to the diversity of Telford.
footpaths and, if they needed to run a long (sui) down to the river Severn, they’d build a path over
69
it. So we’ve got this long-distance footpaths in Telford such as the (Silken Way), (the…Telford fifty
route) and stuff so, you could get anywhere. But in terms of the bus service, it’s always been a bit (shaky)
was designed to be in walking distance. So you could actually walk to school. It’s a bit funny now,
is not so bad. So the layout is really really important. In terms of the housing, the private housing, a lot
01:08:04
in Telford. We’ve had various operators but predominantly it was Midland () in the early days. The prices
even though people are able to walk to school, and I work in the school environment now, with
of developers come in. What happened is, why all the houses in Telford look the same is because one
Sally
have been hiked up, but serving all of these new estates that have been built in Telford, because bear
care takers, so many people still bring their kids to school by car, on short journeys.
developer had the monopoly. And it was the Tarmac group. They have 3 different house building arms,
in now?
and they bought most of the land in Telford. So a lot of the housings look the same, because of the same
Steven
developer. It was only much later on, when somebody said ‘Hang on, you need to stop this. You need
Its even worse on housing estates which are the private housing estates that aren’t council houses
in mind that we’ve got, (Lowry) Village, and Lightmoor Village, two new villages have been built within
And is there any community spirit in the estate that you live in, the housing that you live No. I don’t even speak to my neighbours. I don’t even know their names, its just like that.
the town itself, which really put strain on the transport, because they wanna be able to keep the price as
45:40
reasonable, but then they’ve actually got more of a service to provide. I think people really really forget
Sally
If you were to everyone to go out and walk, like hike, where would you go?
to give it to all the developers’ And then in the 90s, big developers like David (…,B…way), all came in to
because…
that we’re in a growing town and it is growing, it still is. I do believe that the transport system does need
Steven
The most hiked place here where everybody goes is the Wrekin, it’s the landmark. It’s the
Telford, and started building (Parsley), the new estate over there, so we had the shift in houses. And then
So there is no community spirit, he moaned because I parked on my grass once. Next door he’s
a vast amount of improvement. But also I think our road network does as well. The original network and
(beak) in Telford. It’s there, isn’t it? And a lot of people would go walking up there.
went to this whole phase were big housing estates were built with big executive houses for the business
retired so they’ve nothing to do, nothing to do.
owners that were coming in. Then, it went completely full circle and then it started building small boxes
It is weird because there is a lot of rivalry between people you know. We’re in a thriving town, sink or swim here.
how Telford was gonna work in its road system had been changed due to money. That original road network would have worked fine here. But what it did do is that they made, the roads, instead of making
46:38
We have got country parks, and what Telford has really invested in is green spaces:
and terraced houses during the recession trying to save a bit of money. And then all of a sudden, we’ve
() they made them a single carriage way. What they actually did was they left enough room to expand
‘(Eleanors)’ I think they call, local nature reserves, and we’ve got those all over the place now where
come back around full scale now, where we’ve got (red road) now back building, detached houses. So
it, so actually a lot of Telford’s roads are future proofed already. But I’d say, to be honest with you, there’s
big sways of land which was designed for housing and now being allocated for open space and
actually Telford’s houses’s come a full circle, and I think we’ve come to where we’re in the 80s but a lot
01:10:03
a lot of car owners. We’ve got two cars in our family, you know, ‘cause we’ve got two different jobs, we
wild life. So, we’ve got Granville Country Park, we’ve got Telford, we have Rough Park. So what
more quality houses.
Mona
do separately, these people who are moving into these new houses probably have the same, same for
they’re trying to do is all of the different housing estates does actually have a country park near
Telford, maybe when you were a child, and how has that changed?
every new home built. That’s potentially two new cars on the road in Telford, and if you’re thinking
to them, that they can just go and get out of the estate and actually go and enjoy the countryside.
1:00:33 I would love to see the standards of Milton Keynes’ houses here. We may be in a tradition I
Steven
about how many houses are built and completed every single year across Telford, that gives you an idea
And that’s what I love. Some of the most greatest photos I see are taken at housing estates, because
know but we’re still in a new town…I would like to see modern houses being built now, with the (mono)
telford, and I just remember looking out the window and just seeing this massive building site, all
of what you (gonna do with them) really. And we’re actually gonna become, you know, the victim of our
they’re surrounded by the countryside, they all are. And you could be in Telford and you wouldn’t
pitched roofs, and you know, we’re not gonna get here now because…It’s just sad that we don’t get all
the crane and it was exciting and I look at it now and… I feel like its all grown up now. But it’s still as
own congestion…Try finding park spaces now here, its, it’s GROWING. I don’t think the infrastructure is
know, you could be anywhere in the country. Because when you are standing in the middle of our
that.
exciting because you never know whats going to pop up next…
growing quick enough with it.
park you can’t hear no traffic, nothing, it’s silent.
I did an experiment. I drove from the east of Milton Keynes to the west of Milton Keynes, and
I did it in less than 20 minutes, and that’s pretty good, that is the grid system with roundabouts. Each
47:42
It looks like everything’s been planned within the forest, doesn’t it? And I think in the
Summer, the view is beautiful, and then Autumn as well.
roundabout approaches, one lane for left, one for straight over, one for right, as simple as that. What they’ve done here is, originally, there’s meant to be a (dual) carriageway right the way, a ‘(curvenicular)’
Green spaces
they call it, all the way round, but they scrapped it because the top of Telford had nothing in there,
Its funny, my first impression was actually a bus tour with school they took me around
IT has, its grown up and its kind of grown up with you really and its almost like an close friend 1:01:01
35:08
So you’ve been in Telford for quite a long time, so what was your first impression of
that you know well and that you can trust… they’ve all got that one little story, haven’t they, that all
Sally
So these estates, were they difficult to move around, by cars or - ?
Steven
Yeah. The whole point was that the streets were actually laid out with footpaths between them
connects us here to the new town.
and the roads were at the rear. So there were straight roads in, access to all the garages, parking spaces.
01:11:41
But what happens then, with streets like that is that people decide they wanna fence their bit off. So
Mona
they decide to fence their garden off. The housing estates work when they uniform. When people start
Steven Yeah its still exciting. It’s vibrant, it’s a growing new town. People seem to think… you
putting personality into uniformity, that looks alright for a bit, but then things get change and things
should stop now that’s it, you should stop leave it there, its done. It’s not over. It’ll grow and grow
So you feel like its still developing and has the potential - ?
you know, that was all future-development. So they just put a single road in. So a couple of (dual)
48:06
carriageways had been added into them. But the roundabouts, the problems comes at where you put
Mona
get old and stuff like that you got this whole kind of mix-match of everything and that’s what makes
and grow until everything in the town then it’ll grow out.
the traffic lights in. The box roads here(town centre) have changed a lot because, originally, that was
there’s enough green space around Telford?
housing estates look so untidy. The new housing estates now, they’re very very fixed on what you can
If you look at what Milton Keynes was, look at those expansions areas that are like small towns. One
traffic lights, roundabouts and stuff like that. But what it’s done now is it’s done that ‘(shed)’, it’s gone
Steven
do, you can’t do anything in the front garden, it has to stay, uniform. They don’t even give you a front
of Milton Keynes expansion towns could probably swallow half of Telford in one go… They never
with, the kind of like Barcelona principle, where it shared services. And these shared services run so
there’s housing development’s in, allocated areas where it hasn’t been finished yet. Like Milton
garden. So that uniformity is what I think should have been done in Telford.
moan there, they just accept that’s what its like. Here they are a bit of a harder bunch to please…
smoothly now around the town. ‘Cause originally it was only one way and now it’s both ways…Blind
Keynes, it’s all on grid square, so once a grid square is being built they move on to the next one.
people are in the minority, but, they have actually started putting some crossings in now, with audible
Telford’s not like that. It’s lots of pockets that haven’t been developed yet. But because schools have
1:02:21
crossing points. But if I could say to you what’s gonna happen in Telford in the next 10 years, I think, it
been knocked down, we now have lots of land available, brownfield land, which is quite weird in a
Sally
will get to a point where you won’t be able to go anywhere. It will be too busy. And I think they need to
new town to have brownfield sites. So any bit of green space now they’re straining on it now, ‘Oh
individual gardens?
start putting the new infrastructure in place NOW. And, like you say, there’s roads that are wide enough
you can’t build houses there’, but how funny it was, is there house was built on a greenfield anyway!
Steven
to take (those) dual carriageways and the bridges are, they’ve just gotta build them, and I think they’ve
So, no one’s got a right to review.… I think it’s not that bad…I think people need to remember that
space! So this (Parkermall) Standard meant that you have a big house, and there was a certain amount
Mona
gotta kinds (of look at) that, really.…There are points where I find myself cueing at where I previously, 15
the town’s still growing and we still need to attract people in there and businesses, because we
of square footage that you were allowed to build in to the house. And the actual fact, the council houses
about Telford, what would that be?
years ago, I wouldn’t be.
need to be seen to be progressive and expanding all the time.
(private developers weren’t interested in Parkermar, it wasn’t relevant to them, so the council houses)
Steven
were being built bigger than the private houses that have being built.
I think it’s location. I think the location. You can be on the motorway network within 25 minutes,
I know that the Corporation has invested quite a lot for the green space, so do you think Yeah I do. What they’re trying to do now is grab as much as they possibly can, whenever
37:42 Sally
It’s just progress. We can start moving forward with the change and pushing Telford forward… And did many of the houses that were built when you were growing up, did they all have Yeah every house had its own individual garden. A good size garden as well…We had a lot of
50:20 And going back to the bus services, were there more frequent and reliable and cheaper when
Mona
Conclusion 01:15:17 You might have mentioned, but what would you say if you were to give one best thing What is the best thing about Telford?
you can be on the M6 to Birmingham. I just think its like living in a new town in the middle of no So also you’ve talked about the Town Park, I’m sure it’s the heart of the green space in
1:03:02
where. But what I think makes Telford really good is that you are literally in the country side. You
you were growing up?
Telford, was it a place where you would come as you were a kid, for weekends or-?
Sally
And with the Radburn plan, was there sufficient parking in for the houses?
can drive from one part to another and as soon as you get in your car, within a few minutes you’re
Steven Yeah. I mean, in those days, when I was growing up, it’ll be 3 pound 75 and you could go
Steven
Steven
In them days, most of the people who came to Telford didn’t even drive, but then eventually
back out in the countryside in whatever direction you go…
ANYWHERE on the whole entire network. It was that cheap…But I think now, the thing is with diesels,
that I think what it was. Because we were brought up on these council housing estates and, yeah,
they learned to drive, they’d get a car. Then you’d have this change in the 80s where it wasn’t just the
What do you like about Telford and most of them say it’s the green open space that’s the most
vehicles, the pollutants and…With that they get penalised a lot for that, for having dirty vehicles.
it was all sorts coming on there like gangs and things like that. But here was somewhere you could
man that went work, the lady did as well. And so, she would need a car. You know, Telford had a big
popular answer to the question and I would agree with that, location for me primarily.
be on your own, I was quite alone there. You could come into the park and be on your own, be
female workforce. So slowly but surely, you ended up having a family with 2 cars, when you’ve only got
38:45
The park was, yeah, you could come at all weekend, you could lose yourself in the park,
yourself. I think if it wasn’t for the park, I know I’d have gone to a different direction you know, and
one parking space. So that’s what happened. That’s been one of the problems on that council estates
01:16:18
Sally
And the bus systems, when you were growing up, could you get to places that you wanted to?
be someone else, and not have made a success of myself. But that park there is somewhere where
for a long long period of time. And what happens now, is that a lot of them decides to park on the main
Mona
So in contrast, if you were to change one thing what would that be?
Steven
It was one of those things where, like (show bits), the top of the town, it was awful, you have to
people go to escape.
roads around the housing estates. But now the council is doing a program where they’re basically eating
Steven
I think it would be the road network. I think it should have been done as it was planned
the green spaces out between the houses, and putingt in the parking in there. And do you know why the
because I think that’s a recipe for future disaster. I think that’s the only thing that they’ve got wrong
do that? Because it costs less money to cut the grass when it’s tarmac, and it’s kind of win-win for them
here is potentially could create a problem in the long run. Its alright doing roundabouts but that
really.
doesn’t stop the flow of traffic the volume of traffic where we need dual carriage ways all the way
call about 3 buses just to get there. There is even now no direct link through. 51:17 40:45
Mona
Sally
And trains. How is it to get up and down the country and how easy?
Steven
If you wanna (build) the town centre, the problem was, you’ve got the bus station, you’ve got
So has that been like that until now?
Steven Yeah!...
round. 1:04:30
the railway station, the line was already there- Why didn’t they just build it more towards it? You’ve got
51:55
this really awkward walk, all the way up. We’ve always had problems here. One minute, we’ve got the
could stand in one park, Campbell Park, and look to the other, VISUALLY, that’s how big it is. And
Steven Yeah, the difference with my family where they were already established back before, pre-
Mona
train (R&P) Lucy, had got us a direct train to London, now that’s gone. And we’re always struggling, and
Milton Keynes’s massively bigger than Telford. I am (…of filming) in the the summer with a drone
Telford, which was the original town was going to be called Dawley. My grandad, not so far away from
town movement was successful and did you benefit from it?
she’s always struggling in Parliament to trying to get Telford a voice heard.…I think we should have just
for the Council, and actually, it looked amazing. I just couldn’t believe how busy it was. Children
here, owned a lot of land, especially on Dark Lane, and what happened was he had his own scrap yard,
Steven
a direct route straight through to Wolverhampton.
have been brought up here like we were, I mean, they’ve probably had a very different childhood to
well respected business man, and so everybody lived here anyway in the town before it became Telford.
which is what you are, an optimistic place to live and people are genuinely optimistic about the
what we do now but, ultimately, the park has never changed. And it’s still being used for the same
When my mum left home she just walked straight into a house, that’s just how easy it was, you could get
future. I do think they’ve got it right here, I do think its one of those, and all these other new towns
purpose, as well as it was used for when we were kids, 50 years ago.
a house and a job straight away. So she went to work in a factory they were giving them away.
and stuff like Stevenage and Runcorn and Redditch and places, this Telford is the birth place of the
In actual fact they were going to Birmingham and begging people to come over, the “come to Telford”
industrial revolution and that is one thing that no one can take anything away is that the birth place
campaign – “we’ll give you a job”, “We’ll give you a house” and what’s not to like about that. And that’s
of the industrial revolution was here and that’s what makes Telford the most unique town in the UK
what makes Telford why you’ve got such a diverse… You’ll know because you’re not from here but the
because something happened here that benefited the world… everything you touch, anything you
accents…
walk on is all related but comes from here now that’s the important thing here…
42:36 Sally
That park there is not just that play area…450 acres, that’s massive! Milton Keynes, you
And when you were growing up, where would you go out on weekend visits, and how would
you travel there?
53:43
Steven
here are more traditional. Milton Keynes is like an architectural playground…But I love it!
I wouldn’t travel personally on a bus, because I know I’ve got a bike and I could get anywhere,
Actually, we’ve got a lot to offer here (Telford), but Milton Keynes is different. The houses
you know. I think a lot of people think like that, a lot of my friends have got bikes and they don’t have
Sally
Do you know what age your parents moved to the estate that they moved to?
cars. There’s been times when I ride to Wolverhamtpon, you know, I would ride everywhere because,
55:51
you just could. Actually, people use taxes more than do buses here, I think. We’ve got history of good taxi
Sally
companies and stuff like that and I think we’re well served in that respect.
enjoy living there?
Sally
Steven
there a community sipit?
43:32 Sally
And, walking around Telford, you’ve mentioned before there’s good footpath system. Have
So with the housing, can you describe what your houses have been like, and did you The council houses that were being built, they were basically just boxes ultimately. There
Did you have a good relationship with your neightbours growing up? And your family, was
was this standard called the Parker Morris Standard. This is what the houses were built to. The
Steven No. I don’t think there really was, because everybody was so diverse and they come from
initial houses were built do the Radburn Layout, the Radburn Principle, which is an American
different areas and they didn’t want to mix with each other really and there wasn’t much events where
principle of actually separating people from cars. But in Radburn itself where it was first conceived,
you did mix and there was always a lot of rivalry.
Steven
When we were younger, there were still those, what they used to call ‘weirdos’ about back in
it was different there because the houses were detached. And they related that principle to houses
If you had a car and they didn’t. Ultimately you’re in the same council house block, but ultimately you
them days, there were flashes and things like that…And I don’t think they’re any different now…You could
in Telford, and actually tried to make it work with terraced houses. And what it actually did was
had your own goals and even back then I knew what I wanted to do and go about it and then you’ve got
walk from here, to any of the housing estates and probably not meet anybody, you know. And I think if
created rabbit warrens of houses, pretty much like they do, you know, it’s called the full circle.
people who’ve got no ambition what so ever and they just go work straight in a factory and that’s what
you wanna walk places like (that) it’s fairly safe. And you can get pretty much anywhere, almost like the
And those actually then kind of got them to mini ghettos really, within the town. But what those
they want. So there was always that rivalry between other neighbors.
footpath is kind of like a motorway in Telford really, a motorway where you can just go off everywhere
houses were built like with the Parker Morris Standard, meaning they had big windows, there’re
I don’t look fondly on living on estates like that really. I just don’t because I think the people that i knew,
and be able to get anywhere.
plenty of light coming in, and people have described them in the early films going ‘Oh I really
they were really people that I wanted to be associated with so my growing up was, the Pet Shop Boys’
love living in here, it’s like a palace’. Can you imagine actually saying your house is a palace?! That
song sums it up it says:
nice. Then they realized by the time they built Brookside by 72 the Radburn plan wasn’t working.
“I was a lonely boy, no strength no joy, on my own at the back of the garden”
It was causing more trouble than anything. So then they scrapped the Radburn plan and decided
That was me, but that was the best thing to do. I didn’t really like living on those estates and estates like
school and - ?
to design the housing estates with another architect and it was the (Elklines) Partnership. And
that.
Steven Well, the good thing is, every new housing estate that you lived on had the school within
they started building houses where they were just, a little bit unusual. And they went with this
My mum and dad used to look at the new houses being built and they used to call them the private
walking distance. So if I’d take Brookside for instance which I lived on, there was an infant school, and
kind of Dutch feel, but the streets were really windy and informal, (coupled) streets and stuff like
houses and I thought one day, I’ll have one of those. Because I had that ambition – and I have got a
you’ve got to the junior school, and just around the corner you’d have the bigger school which would
that. And that was the precedent for the rest of all the housing estates that were all built. So there
house now that’s really nice…
be at Stirchley, the recreation, the high school as you call it, so you wouldn’t have far to go, everything
was this big shifting change, where actually some of those houses now, where you’ve got the
Sally
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And when you were growing up, how would you get to school, primary school and high
Radburn houses, we have the most statistically crime one, we have the most trouble, the other one
So this will be the last question. So in your opinion, overall, do you think this whole new Growing up in a new town shapes who you are. Okay. It’s, if you grow up in optimism,
01:06:19
you ever felt lost when you were younger, and have you always felt safe?
44:38
01:17:05
END OF INTERVIEW
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appendix c Questionnaire responses:
Questionnaire responses: David Chung Sarah Chadwick
TELFORD QUESTIONNAIRE Thank you so much for wanting to take part and giving us an insight into your experience living and/or growing up in Telford. Our project focuses on the development of Telford as a new town from 1963-1991. We are conducting a case study to examine the history of the town, study the architectural characteristics and understand the lived experience of residents. YOUR BACKGROUND Name: Ethnicity:
Sarah Chadwick White British
Current address (town): History of living in Telford:
Age: Occupation: Telford Since birth (1970)
49 Careers Advisor & also a Town Councillor for Madeley Town Council
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, including where you grew up? Can you describe your experience of Telford as a child - teenager - adult - parent? I grew up on Sutton Hill, my parents moved there from Birmingham in July 1969 when it had just been built. My childhood was great, we used to play out all day with the other kids in the street, as a teenager I used to meet my friends at the local youth club or in Madeley Centre. As an adult, I bought my first 2 houses in Sutton Hill, before moving up to the new Woodside/Bellway estate 2 years ago. CONNECTIVITY Do you drive, if so, how easy was it for you to access your school - work place - regular social spaces? Has your experience of the road network changed over the last 50 years? I got my driving licence in 1987 and have driven ever since. The roads have changed dramatically over the years, the only set of traffic lights used to be in Wellington, now they are on every corner! I used to walk to school, Primary School was just across the road, and walk 2 miles to Secondary School (Madeley Court) with my friends. I now walk to work (school) each day as I only live 10 minutes away. Do you use the public transport system often? Not very often as I drive. Are the transport stations and bus stop easy to navigate too? Yes there are plenty. Can you describe your experience with the public transport system, was it easy to locate and use? I have been lucky to have been driving since age 17 so never really used it. Was it reliable and were the routes well connected, to housing and the town centre? Did you face any difficulties getting anywhere?
Was it an enjoyable space, do you have any specific memories of being in the park? Super Saturdays were great fun as a child. I now love taking my dog and meeting sister/niece and children up there. Was it easily accessible? Yes TOWN CENTRE & AMENITIES Can you describe what your local district centre was like? Madeley was a busy town, a central place to shop and meet friends there. How often do you go there? Walk, it was only 2 miles from home. Do you feel the centres contained everything you needed? Yes at one time. What would you buy and what activities were available? We would buy all groceries, electric goods, toys etc. The local cafes were always good meeting places.
How would you access the town centre? Few times a year How often would you visit the shopping centre? Same, few times a year What is the best thing about the town centre? Under one roof so good in bad weather HOUSING Can you describe what your house and housing estate was like? It was clean, safe and a great place to live and grow up. Did you enjoy living there? Yes What made you want to move to that area? My parents, Dad had a new job with TDC (Telford Development Corporation) How did you move around the estate? Walking How was your relationship with your neighbours? Great, they were like extended family
CONCLUSION In your opinion, did you, your family and friends benefit from the development of the new town? Absolutely, we built friendships for life, with our neighbours and school friends. There were lots of job opportunities when leaving school because of the new industrial estates. If there was one thing you could change about Telford, what would it be and why? Stop focusing everything around the Town Centre, the smaller towns have almost been forgotten when it comes to funding for local activities etc. The Town Centre is great, but it would be nice to see more things going on at a more local level, for those unable to get to the Town Centre.
TELFORD QUESTIONAIRE
Thank you so much for wanting to take part and giving us an insight into your experience living and/or growing up in Telford. Our project focuses on the development of Telford as a new town from 1963-1991. We are conducting a case study to examine the history of the town, study the architectural characteristics and understand the lived experience of residents. YOUR BACKGROUND Name: David Cheung
Age: 51
Ethnicity :Chinese (Hong Kong)
Occupation: Chef
Current address (town): Wellington, Telford
History of living in Telford: Around 30 years
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, including where you grew up? Can you describe your experience of Telford as a child - teenager - adult - parent? I have moved around a lot when I was younger all over UK. I stayed in Telford from when I was a young adult until now. Before coming to the UK, I lived in Hong Kong in a village but the conditions were not good so my family wanted to move to have a better life. CONNECTIVITY Do you drive, if so, how easy was it for you to access your school - work place - regular social spaces? The area I live in is a place you must drive. It is all residential areas and the closest big supermarket is around a 10-minute drive. The main shops are in Telford Town Centre which is around 15 minute drive or a 20 minute walk to the train station and a 10 minute train. There are many schools around my area so it is popular for families to live in. My niece Emily walked to her secondary school in 10 minutes from the house which is good. For work, we used to have a restaurant which was a 5 minute drive from the house and it had parking, so it is a must to drive there as it is more easier for us. Has your experience of the road network changed over the last 50 years? There has not been much change with the road network. The biggest change would be the amount of new housing and construction in the centre so there has been some disturbance with traffic in some places. Do you use the public transport system often? Are the transport stations and bus stops easy to navigate too? Can you describe your experience with the public transport system, was it easy to locate and use? Was it reliable and were the routes well connected, to housing and the town centre? Did you face any difficulties getting anywhere? When my car broke down, I travelled on the train a lot to the town centre. It is not convenient for me as it is a 20 minute walk to the station and the commute is not that safe (lots of alleys with no lighting, some people get robbed there). The train system is reliable as it always comes every 10 minutes. Sometimes the ticket machines and office are not great (Wellington only has 2 platforms so it is not the best station) When travelling by foot, do you find it easy to get around Telford? Do you ever feel lost? How safe do you feel moving around Telford? It is easy if you are familiar with the area. For me it is safe as people would not bother me, but it is sometimes dangerous for kids to walk around by themselves as there are a lot of dodgy people in the area that want to bother you.
When travelling by foot, do you find it easy to get around Telford? Yes, lots of footpaths Do you ever feel lost? No How safe do you feel moving around Telford? Perfectly safe
GREEN SPACE Did you use the town park? If so, how often would you visit the park? Was it an enjoyable space, do you have any specific memories of being in the park? Was it easily accessible? There is a park in the town centre (behind the town centre exit) it is a new park as it was not there a few years ago. It is a man made park so it is not as realistic and not that fun. I don’t have memories of the park as I never went to that area. It is not that easily accessible as it is at the back of the town centre and it does not have directions to go there. TOWN CENTRE & AMENITIES Can you describe what your local district centre was like? How often do you go there? Do you feel the centres contained everything you needed? What would you buy and what activities were available? I go there at least once a week. We went as a family usually on Thursdays and Sundays (which were better rates for parking). We did some grocery shopping there as there is a big asda there and we went shopping mostly. There are some other activities there such as bowling, ice skating but they are old and not great so we never went to those. How would you access the town centre? How often would you visit the shopping centre? Whats the best thing about the town centre? I visited at least once a week. The best thing about the town centre was there were more options for shopping than Wellington. Wellington only had local shops, sometimes we would want to go to high street shops to buy things such as gifts or clothes etc. HOUSING Can you describe what your house and housing estate was like? Did you enjoy living there? What made you want to move to that area? How did you move around the estate? How was your relationship with your neighbours? The housing area was mostly filled with families as we were close to a lot of schools. It is also next to a hospital so there were many jobs for the parents to work at. We moved there as it was a new housing area and the prices were quite affordable at that time. We moved by car around town and we walked to Wellington town or the schools as it was around 10-20 minutes to get there. Our relationship was not that good with the neighbours as they moved around a lot. So we would get new neighbours every few years and weren’t able to develop a good relationship with them. CONCLUSION In your opinion, did you, your family and friends benefit from the development of the new town? If there was one thing you could change about Telford, what would it be and why? We did benefit from the town as it was convenient for us and we were able to build a good reputation in our restaurant business due to opportunities there. It was a good area to easily access school and amenities such as supermarkets via car. I would say that there should be better accessibility to Telford Town Centre as it is inconvenient to get there from our house via bus or train. Living in Telford requires you to use a car to fully enjoy the town.
GREEN SPACE Did you use the town park? Yes If so, how often would you visit the park? Often spring/summer months
Questionnaire responses: Karen Chung TELFORD QUESTIONAIRE
Thank you so much for wanting to take part and giving us an insight into your experience living and/or growing up in Telford. Our project focuses on the development of Telford as a new town from 1963-1991. We are conducting a case study to examine the history of the town, study the architectural characteristics and understand the lived experience of residents. YOUR BACKGROUND Name: Karen Cheung Ethnicity :Chinese (Hong Kong) Current address (town): London
Age: 43 Occupation: Manager History of living in Telford: Less than 10 years
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, including where you grew up? Can you describe your experience of Telford as a child - teenager - adult - parent? I lived in Hong Kong for most of my younger years, I then moved to Telford to work in a restaurant. I moved to Telford as one of my relatives lived there so I was able to live with her. After living in Telford and starting a family, I moved back to Hong Kong. I then moved back to the UK and started working in London. CONNECTIVITY Do you drive, if so, how easy was it for you to access your school - work place - regular social spaces? I did not drive until later on so I did not go out much. For two of the years I was in Telford, I was pregnant, so I did not go out much. The accessibility to other areas was not great so I did not want to go out. To go to work, I had a lift to get to the restaurant, so it was easy for me to get there within a few minutes. Has your experience of the road network changed over the last 50 years? I did not experience that much change when I was living in Telford. The only changes I could remember was that there were many new developments around the town centre, but it did not affect the area I was living in. (Wellington) Do you use the public transport system often? Are the transport stations and bus stops easy to navigate too? Can you describe your experience with the public transport system, was it easy to locate and use? Was it reliable and were the routes well connected, to housing and the town centre? Did you face any difficulties getting anywhere? I did use the train sometimes to get to the town centre or to go to Birmingham. The fares were reasonable at the time and it was often. I never took the bus though as it went through a lot of different areas and took a lot of time.
I did not use the town park as it was not close to us and was not convenient to get there. I would just let my children use our garden as it was easier. It required a drive to get to the town and then I would have to walk to the park. The park should be for kids but there are a lot of older kids that hung around there which I did not like. TOWN CENTRE & AMENITIES Can you describe what your local district centre was like? How often do you go there? Do you feel the centres contained everything you needed? What would you buy and what activities were available? Wellington was not a place I would go shopping. It is filled with charity shops which I do not go to. There are no good cafes there as they are all in Telford Centre. I would only go to my restaurant to eat as it where I am most often. There are not any activities to do there, so I would stay home. How would you access the town centre? How often would you visit the shopping centre? Whats the best thing about the town centre? I access the town centre by car mostly as we would go grocery shopping there. I would visit about once a week. The best thing about the centre is that there are a lot of shops compared to Wellington and it is a good place to go with family HOUSING Can you describe what your house and housing estate was like? Did you enjoy living there? What made you want to move to that area? How did you move around the estate? How was your relationship with your neighbours? The housing estate we lived in (Apley) is a good area. It used to be called Wellington but it was renamed as there is another area called Wellington which is filled with council houses that the area did not want to associate with. It is a safe place for families to live in. You would need a car to travel as there is no shops near the area. We did not have a close relationship with the neighbours as we kept to ourselves. CONCLUSION In your opinion, did you, your family and friends benefit from the development of the new town? If there was one thing you could change about Telford, what would it be and why? I did benefit a lot from the development. I was young (around 16-17) when I moved to Telford, so I did not have a lot of money. The area was cheap to live in and was a new area that was growing. I found that it was a good place to start off a business and attract a lot of local customers. When I grew older, I moved to London as my career was progressing and Telford could not really be the place to work in. I think that Telford is a good place for families to live or to retire, but I don’t really see it as a place to progress, which is why I moved out.
When travelling by foot, do you find it easy to get around Telford? Do you ever feel lost? How safe do you feel moving around Telford? I did not feel lost when I walked around as I got familiar with the places there. Not many things changed during my time there.
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GREEN SPACE Did you use the town park? If so, how often would you visit the park? Was it an enjoyable space, do you have any specific memories of being in the park? Was it easily accessible?
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appendix D Written response from David Wassell
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