Name	Thomas Telford
Nationality	Scottish
Citizenship	Great Britain
Birth date	August 09, 1757
Birth place	Glendinning, Westerkirk, Eskdale, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Death date	September 02, 1834
Death place	24 Abingdon Street, Westminster, London
Education	Westerkirk parish schoolApprentice to a mason at Langholm (1772-9)Self-taught engineer
Spouse	Unmarried
Parents	John Telford (d.1757)Janet Jackson (d.1794)
Discipline	Civil
Institutions	Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1803)Founder and first President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (1818)Fellow of the Royal Society of London (1827)
Significant projects	Caledonian CanalGöta CanalEllesmere CanalPontcysyllte AqueductShrewsbury CanalMenai suspension bridge A5 road
Significant awards	}}

Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE (1757–1834) was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.

Early career[link]

Telford was born on 9 August 1757 at Glendinning, a hill farm 3 miles west of Eskdalemuir Kirk, in the rural parish of Westerkirk, in Eskdale, Dumfriesshire. His father John Telford, a shepherd, died soon after Thomas was born. Thomas was raised in poverty by his mother Janet Jackson (d.1794).

At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a stonemason, and some of his earliest work can still be seen on the bridge across the River Esk in Langholm in the Scottish borders. He worked for a time in Edinburgh and in 1782 he moved to London where (after meeting architects Robert Adam and Sir William Chambers) he was involved in building additions to Somerset House there. Two years later he found work at Portsmouth dockyard and — although still largely self-taught — was extending his talents to the specification, design and management of building projects.

In 1787, through his wealthy patron William Pulteney, he became Surveyor of Public Works in Shropshire. Civil engineering was a discipline still in its infancy, so Telford was set on establishing himself as an architect. His projects included renovation of Shrewsbury Castle, the town's prison (during the planning of which he met leading prison reformer John Howard), the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Bridgnorth and another church in Madeley. (Called in to advise on a leaking roof at St Chad's Church Shrewsbury in 1788, he correctly warned the church was in imminent danger of collapse; his reputation was made locally when it collapsed 3 days later, but he was not the architect for its replacement).

As the Shropshire county surveyor, Telford was also responsible for bridges. In 1790 he designed a bridge carrying the London-Holyhead road over the River Severn at Montford, the first of some 40 bridges he built in Shropshire, including major crossings of the Severn at Buildwas, and Bridgnorth. The bridge at Buildwas was Telford's first iron bridge. He was influenced by Abraham Darby's bridge at Ironbridge, and observed that it was grossly over-designed for its function, and many of the component parts were poorly cast. By contrast, his bridge was 30 ft (10 m) wider in span and half the weight, although it now no longer exists. He was one of the first engineers to test his materials thoroughly before construction. As his engineering prowess grew, Telford was to return to this material repeatedly.

In 1795 the bridge at Bewdley, in Worcestershire was swept away in the winter floods and Telford was responsible for the design of its replacement. The same winter floods saw the bridge at Tenbury also swept away. This bridge across the River Teme was the joint responsibility of both Worcestershire and Shropshire and the bridge has a bend where the two counties meet. Telford was responsible for the repair to the northern Shropshire end of the bridge.

Ellesmere Canal[link]

Telford's reputation in Shropshire led to his appointment in 1793 to manage the detailed design and construction of the Ellesmere Canal, linking the ironworks and collieries of Wrexham via the north-west Shropshire town of Ellesmere, with Chester, utilising the existing Chester Canal, and then the River Mersey.

Among other structures, this involved the spectacular Pontcysyllte Aqueduct over the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen, where Telford used a new method of construction consisting of troughs made from cast iron plates and fixed in masonry. Extending for over with an altitude of above the valley floor, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct consists of nineteen arches, each with a forty-five foot span. Being a pioneer in the use of cast-iron for large scaled structures, Telford had to invent new techniques, such as using boiling sugar and lead as a sealant on the iron connections. Eminent canal engineer William Jessop oversaw the project, but he left the detailed execution of the project in Telford's hands. thumb|left|The Longdon-on-Tern aqueduct The same period also saw Telford involved in the design and construction of the Shrewsbury Canal. When the original engineer, Josiah Clowes, died in 1795, Telford succeeded him. One of Telford's achievements on this project was the design of the cast-iron aqueduct at Longdon-on-Tern, pre-dating that at Pontcysyllte, and substantially bigger than the UK's first cast-iron aqueduct, built by Benjamin Outram on the Derby Canal just months earlier.

The Ellesmere Canal was completed in 1805 and alongside his canal responsibilities, Telford's reputation as a civil engineer meant he was constantly consulted on numerous other projects. These included water supply works for Liverpool, improvements to London's docklands and the rebuilding of London Bridge(c.1800).

Most notably (and again William Pulteney was influential), in 1801 Telford devised a master plan to improve communications in the Highlands of Scotland, a massive project that was to last some 20 years. It included the building of the Caledonian Canal along the Great Glen and redesign of sections of the Crinan Canal, some of new roads, over a thousand new bridges (including the Craigellachie Bridge), numerous harbour improvements (including works at Aberdeen, Dundee, Peterhead, Wick, Portmahomack and Banff), and 32 new churches.

Telford also undertook highway works in the Scottish Lowlands, including of new roads and numerous bridges, ranging from a 112 ft (34 m) span stone bridge across the Dee at Tongueland in Kirkcudbright (1805–1806) to the 129 ft (39 m) tall Cartland Crags bridge near Lanark (1822).

Telford was consulted in 1806 by the King of Sweden about the construction of a canal between Gothenburg and Stockholm. His plans were adopted and construction of the Göta Canal began in 1810. Telford travelled to Sweden at that time to oversee some of the more important initial excavations.

The 'Colossus of Roads'[link]

During his later years, Telford was responsible for rebuilding sections of the London to Holyhead road, a task completed by his assistant of ten years, John MacNeill; today, much of the route is the A5 trunk road. Between London and Shrewsbury, most of the work amounted to improvements. Beyond Shrewsbury, and especially beyond Llangollen, the work often involved building a highway from scratch. Notable features of this section of the route include the Waterloo Bridge across the River Conwy at Betws-y-Coed, the ascent from there to Capel Curig and then the descent from the pass of Nant Ffrancon towards Bangor. Between Capel Curig and Bethesda, in the Ogwen Valley, Telford deviated from the original road, built by Romans during their occupation of this area.

On the island of Anglesey a new embankment across the Stanley Sands to Holyhead was constructed, but the crossing of the Menai Strait was the most formidable challenge, overcome by the Menai Suspension Bridge (1819–1826). Spanning , this was the longest suspension bridge of the time. Unlike modern suspension bridges, Telford used individually linked iron eye bars for the cables.

Telford also worked on the North Wales coast road between Chester and Bangor, including another major suspension bridge at Conwy, opened later the same year as its Menai counterpart.

Further afield Telford designed a road to cross the centre of the Isle of Arran. Named the 'String road', this route traverses bleak and difficult terrain to allow traffic to cross between east and west Arran avoiding the circuitous coastal route.

Telford improved on methods for the building of macadam roads by improving the selection of stone based on thickness, taking into account traffic, alignment and slopes.

The punning nickname ''Colossus of Roads'' was given to Telford by his friend, the eventual Poet Laureate, Robert Southey. Telford’s reputation as a man of letters may have preceded his fame as an engineer: he had published poetry between 1779 and 1784, and an account of a tour of Scotland with Southey. His will left bequests to Southey (who would later write Telford’s biography), the poet Thomas Campbell (1777–1844) and to the publishers of the ''Edinburgh Encyclopaedia'' (to which he had been a contributor).

In 1821, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The 'Telford Church'[link]

An Act of Parliament in 1823 provided for the building of up to 40 churches and manses in communities without any church buildings (hence the alternative name: 'Parliamentary Church'). The total cost was not to exceed £1500 on any site and Telford was commissioned to undertake the design. He developed a simple church of T-shaped plan and two manse designs - a single-storey and a two-storey, adaptable to site and ground conditions, and to brick or stone construction, at £750 each. Of the 43 churches originally planned, 32 were eventually built around the Scottish highlands and islands (the other 11 were achieved by renovating existing buildings).

Late career[link]

Other works by Telford include the St Katharine Docks (1824–1828) close to Tower Bridge in central London, where he worked with the architect Philip Hardwick, the Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal (today known as the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal), Over Bridge near Gloucester, the second Harecastle Tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal (1827), and the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal (today part of the Shropshire Union Canal) — started in May 1826 but finished, after Telford's death, in January 1835. At the time of its construction in 1829, Galton Bridge was the longest single span in the world. He also built Whitstable harbour in Kent in 1832, in connection with the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway with an unusual system for flushing out mud using a tidal reservoir.

In 1820, Telford was appointed the first President of the recently-formed Institution of Civil Engineers, a post he held until his death.

Telford's death[link]

Telford's young draughtsman and clerk 1830-1834 George Turnbull in his diary states: :''"On the 23rd'' [August 1834] ''Mr Telford was taken seriously ill of a bilious derangement to which he had been liable … he grew worse and worse'' … [surgeons] ''attended him twice a day, but it was to no avail for he died on the 2nd September, very peacefully at about 5pm. … His old servant James Handscombe and I were the only two in the house'' [24 Abingdon Street, London] ''when he died. He was never married. Mr Milne and Mr Rickman were, no doubt, Telford's most intimate friends. … I went to Mr Milne and under his direction … made all the arrangements about the house and correspondence. … Telford had no blood relations that we knew of. The funeral took place on the 10th September'' [in Westminster Abbey]''. … Mr Telford was of the most genial disposition and a delightful companion, his laugh was the heartiest I ever heard; it was a pleasure to be in his society."''

Telford the poet[link]

George Turnbull states that Telford wrote and gave him a poem:

:''On reading an account of the death of ROBERT BURNS, the SCOT POET''

::::''CLAD in the sable weeds of woe, :::::''The Scottish genius mourns, ::::''As o'er your tomb her sorrows flow, :::::''The "narrow house" of Burns.''

::::''Each laurel round his humble urn, :::::''She strews with pious care, ::::''And by soft airs to distance borne, :::::''These accents strike the ear.

::::''Farewell my lov'd, my favourite child, :::::''A mother's pride farewell! ::::''The muses on thy cradled smiled, :::::''Ah! now they ring thy knell.

::::: ---- ten verses and then ----

::::''And round the tomb the plough shall pass, :::::''And yellow autumn smile ; ::::''And village maids shall seek the place, :::::''To crown thy hallowed pile.

::::''While yearly comes the opening spring, :::::''While autumn wan returns ; ::::''Each rural voice shall grateful sing, :::::''And SCOTLAND boasts of BURNS.

::''22nd August, 1796. T.T.

(Turnbull includes notes that explain nine references to Burns' life in the poem.)

Turnbull also states:

:''"His ability and perseverance may be understood from various literary compositions of after life, such as the articles he contributed to the Edinburgh Encyclopædia, such as Architecture, Bridge-building, and Canal-making. Singular to say the earliest distinction he acquired in life was as a poet. Even at 30 years of age he reprinted at Shrewsbury a poem called "Eskdale", … Some others of his poems are in my possession."''

Bridges designed by Telford[link]

Thomas Telford designed a number of bridges during his career. They include:

Bannockburn Bridge

Bewdley Bridge (1798)

Bonar Bridge (1802)

Bridgnorth bridge (1810)

Bridge of Keig (1827)

Broomielaw Bridge, Glasgow (1816)

Buildwas bridge (1796)

Cantlop bridge (1820)

Chirk Aqueduct (1801)

Clachan Bridge (1792)

Conwy Suspension Bridge (1826)

Coundarbour Bridge (1797)

Craigellachie Bridge (1815)

Dean Bridge, Edinburgh (1831)

Dunans Bridge (1815)

Dunkeld Bridge (1809)

Eaton Hall Bridge (1824)

Galton Bridge (1829)

Glen Loy Aqueduct on the Caledonian Canal (1806)

Harecastle Tunnel (1827)

Holt Fleet Bridge (1827)

A proposal for London Bridge

Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct (1796)

Menai Suspension Bridge (1826)

Montford Bridge (1792)

Mythe Bridge (1826)

Over Bridge (1827)

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (1805)

Potarch Bridge

Telford Bridge (1813)

Tongland Bridge (1808)

Waterloo Bridge, Betws-y-Coed (1815)

Places named after Telford[link]

Telford New Town[link]

When a new town was being built in the Wrekin area of Shropshire in 1968, it was named Telford in his honour. In 1990, when it came to naming one of Britain's first City Technology Colleges, to be situated in Telford, Thomas Telford was the obvious choice. Thomas Telford School is consistently among the top performing comprehensive schools in the country.

Telford, Pennsylvania[link]

The Borough of County Line in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania changed its name to Telford in 1857, after the North Pennsylvania Railroad Company named its new station there "Telford" in honour of Thomas Telford.

Edinburgh's Telford College[link]

Edinburgh's Telford College, one of Scotland's largest colleges, is named in the honour of the famous engineer.

Autobiography[link]

Telford's autobiography, titled ''The Life of Thomas Telford, Civil Engineer, written by himself'', was published in 1838.

Bibliography[link]

''The Life of Thomas Telford; civil engineer with an introductory history of roads and travelling in Great Britain'' Samuel Smiles (1867)

''Thomas Telford'' L. T. C. Rolt, Longmans (1958)

''Thomas Telford'', Penguin (1979), ISBN 0-14-022064-X

''Thomas Telford, Engineer'', Thomas Telford Ltd (1980), ISBN 0-7277-0084-7

See also[link]

Works of Thomas Telford

Telford Medal

He also completed the ''Grand Trunk'' after James Brindley died due to being over-worked.

References[link]

External links[link]

250th Anniversary 2007

Prosiect Menai — Celebrating the Bridges of The Menai Strait

Revolutionary Players website

The Life of Thomas Telford

{{s-ttl|title=President of the Institution of Civil Engineers |years=March 1820 – September 1834}}

Category:Bridge engineers Category:Scottish architects Category:Scottish civil engineers Category:Structural engineers Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Category:Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Category:People from Dumfries and Galloway Category:People of the Industrial Revolution Category:1757 births Category:1834 deaths Category:Burials at Westminster Abbey Category:Canal engineers Category:Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Category:Stonemasons Category:Harbour engineers Category:Scottish philanthropists Category:Scottish autobiographers *

cs:Thomas Telford cy:Thomas Telford da:Thomas Telford de:Thomas Telford es:Thomas Telford fr:Thomas Telford id:Thomas Telford it:Thomas Telford hu:Thomas Telford no:Thomas Telford pnb:تھامس ٹیلفورڈ pl:Thomas Telford pt:Thomas Telford sv:Thomas Telford vi:Thomas Telford

Telford is a large new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, and west of Birmingham. With an estimated population of 162,300 in 2009, Telford is by far the largest town in Shropshire, and one of the fastest growing towns in the United Kingdom.

It is named after Thomas Telford, the famous civil engineer. The town was built in the 1960s and 1970s as a new town on previously industrial and agricultural land. Like other planned towns of the era, Telford was created from the merger of other, smaller settlements, most notably the towns of Wellington, Oakengates, Madeley and Dawley. Telford Shopping Centre, a modern shopping mall, was constructed at the new town's geographical centre, along with an extensive Town Park. The M54 motorway was completed in 1983, connecting the town with the West Midlands conurbation.

Telford now includes Ironbridge Gorge, a scenic tourist destination and UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town advertises itself as "The Birthplace of Industry", due to its proximity to Coalbrookdale and other places in the Ironbridge Gorge area, which are internationally recognised as being important to the Industrial Revolution, and being to a large extent constructed on the Shropshire Coalfield. The River Severn flows along its southernmost boundary.

History[link]

Early history[link]

Early settlement in the area was thought to be on the land that sloped up from the Weald Moors (an area north of the town centre) towards the line along which the Roman Watling Street was built. Farmland surrounded three large estates in the tenth century, namely Wellington, Wrockwardine and Lilleshall.

From the 13th century there was urban development in Wellington and Madeley, where Wenlock Priory founded a new town. Six monastic houses, founded in the 11th and 12th centuries, had large interests in the area's economic growth. They collectively acquired almost half of the area, and profited from coal and ironstone mines and iron smithies on their estates.

Modern history[link]

The New Town was first designated on 16 January 1963 as Dawley New Town, covering of Dawley, Wenlock, Oakengates, Wellington Rural District and Shifnal Rural District. Development started, guided by the Dawley New Town Development Corporation, with the first homes on the new Sutton Hill housing estate being occupied in 1967. Initial planning and design concepts for Dawley New Town were produced by the Birmingham-based John Madin Design Group.

The Minister proposed an extension of in 1968 (taking in the historic area of Ironbridge Gorge), which saw objections and a public inquiry take place. The ''Dawley New Town (Designation) Amendment (Telford) Order'' was made on 29 November 1968, extending the New Town area by of "land lying within the urban districts of Oakengates and Wellington and the rural districts of Shifnal and Wellington". This Order also renamed the new town Telford, after the Scottish-born civil engineer Thomas Telford who, in 1787, became Surveyor of Public Works for Shropshire. Other suggested names at the time were Dawelloak and Wrekin Forest City.

Most of the infrastructure was constructed from the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s with the major housing and commercial development occurring over three decades up to the early 1990s when the Development Corporation was wound up to be replaced by Commission for the New Towns, later English Partnerships, and most of the property was handed over to the then Wrekin District Council. In 1983, after fierce opposition and three public enquiries, the M54 motorway was completed, connecting the town to the M6 and thence the rest of the UK's motorway network. Other major roads are the A5, A518 and A442, which is commonly known as the Eastern Primary or ''EP'', and is officially branded ''Queensway''.

Many of the new town's residents were originally from the West Midlands conurbation, which includes Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Dudley and Walsall. The vast majority of the council house tenants in Telford were rehoused from inner city slums in Birmingham. Some controversy and bad feeling still exists in some communities as a result of what some saw as the influx of those from the city slums. The name "overspill" was often used as a derogatory term for these residents. Some individuals still refuse to put Telford in their address, instead using the original local name (such as Wellington or Dawley).(citation needed-own research?)

In 2007, a £250 million regeneration plan for the town centre was announced, which will include the pedestrianisation of the road surrounding the shopping centre, and the creation of new cafés, bars and shops which will lead to 1,750 new jobs. The reason for this expansion is that the original "centre" was only ever a shopping place with no real heart (See Shropshire Star June 3, 2004). Since the "centre" closed early evening, there was no nightlife at all in the area, the only major local entertainment areas being in Oakengates and Wellington.

Geography[link]

Telford town centre lies about east/south-east of Shrewsbury and north-west of Wolverhampton. The town comprises 7,803 hectares (30.13 square miles) and its southern and eastern parts, between the Severn Gorge and Donnington Wood, include the East Shropshire coalfield. North and north-west Telford lie beyond the coalfield's boundary fault on sandstone beds which, along with other Triassic formations, prevail over much of the North Shropshire plain. The town centre stands on a watershed, with land to the south draining towards the River Severn, and to the north the land slopes gently down towards the Weald Moors. The town is dominated by the Wrekin, a large hill of 407 m (1335 ft), located south-west of Wellington, straddling the border with the borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham.

Governance[link]

:''For more information on Parish divisions, see list of civil parishes in Shropshire.'' Within the borough of Telford & Wrekin, the town is entirely parished. Telford has no single town council because of this, and the Mayor of the Borough of Telford and Wrekin is also ''de facto'' the town's mayor. The town is also divided into Wards, within the Telford and Wrekin borough. These are used for electoral purposes and demographic surveys. Telford was created politically - but its attempts to make a cohesive town from the fusion of other independent, smaller towns: Wellington, Madeley, Hadley, Oakengates, Dawley, Ironbridge and Donnington have largely been successful. Despite this, the town has much clearer divisions than in other older towns, such as nearby Shrewsbury, which have developed into one consolidated urban area over time. Some small settlements to the south such as a part of Ironbridge and Broseley, while part of the Telford Urban Area, are administered by Shropshire Council.

Telford is the only settlement within the Telford parliamentary constituency, although some suburbs, such as Wellington, are located in The Wrekin, a neighbouring constituency. Telford has been held by Labour since its creation in 1997, and the current MP is David Wright. The neighbouring Wrekin constituency has varying support between the Conservatives and Labour, due to its mix of rural and urban (Newport) areas. It is currently held by the Conservatives however, under MP Mark Pritchard. Telford is administratively part of the West Midlands region.

Demography[link]

In 1963 Dawley new town was intended to take 50,000 people from the West Midlands conurbation and so to grow to a town of 70,000 or more. By 1968 Telford was intended to take an additional 50,000 and grow to a town of 220,000 or more by 1991. By 1983, however, Telford's population was just under 108,000, and it was generally thought that it might not reach 120,000 by the late 1980s.

Telford has a younger than average population, and a higher rate of teenage pregnancy than the national average, as well as relatively high levels of income deprivation with 15% of residents living in low income households. In addition the level of statutorily homeless households in 2004/05 was above average for England. The Telford and Wrekin area is a popular commuter zone, containing some relatively rural areas in the North and West of the borough. These are popular with commuters to the West Midlands conurbation, due to the good transport links provided by the A5/M54.

Telford's population is prodominantly White, comprising 93.8% of the population. The next largest ethnic group is those of Asian descent, comprising 3.3% of the population, which is again less than the West Midlands at 8.0%, and England at 5.3%. However, the town and borough remains comparatively more ethnically diverse than the ceremonial county, with South Shropshire for example being 97.8% white.

Economy[link]

Population and Employment
! Date	! Population	! No. of Jobs	! % of Jobs on Ind. Estates
1968	74,750	35,671	1.4
1969	76,200	35,710	2.4
1970	78,200	35,948	5.1
1971	80,800	36,191	7.2
1972	84,200	36,743	9.3
1973	87,100	39,861	11.4
1974	89,000	40,928	13.2
1975	90,000	40,986	12.3
1976	93,980	42,036	14.9
1977	97,900	43,637	15.4
1978	100,300	44,681	16.8
1979	102,000	44,247	18.2
1980	104,200	42,397	18.3
1981	104,200	39,414	16.8
1982	106,600	38,852	18.2
1983	107,700	39,037	19.9

During the economic crisis of the late 1960s (with unemployment doubling nationally during the second half of the decade), unemployment in the then-new town was initially high.

However, in 1967 Halesfield Industrial Estate was founded on the south-eastern edge of the town - the first real answer to Telford's unemployment problems. Other large estates followed, in 1973 with Stafford Park just east of the town centre and in 1979 with Hortonwood, to the north, helping ease the unemployment crisis in a decade which saw an almost unbroken rise in unemployment.

In total, half a million square metres of factory space were provided between 1968 and 1983, making Telford an attractive investment area.

By 1976, Telford had begun to recruit industry from the U.S.A., Europe, and Japan. The foreign firms required larger factories, and they began to be built at Stafford Park. By 1983 over 2,000 jobs in Telford were provided by around 40 (mostly American) foreign companies. In contrast to industry in the Black Country at the time, these new companies focused on high-technology industries rather than the heavy and metal-finishing industries.

The new arrivals included the American company Unimation and three firms from Japan: Nikon U.K. Ltd., which opened a warehouse at Halesfield in 1983; video tape manufacturers Hitachi Maxell at Apley Castle in 1983; and office equipment manufacturers Ricoh, who took a site for a factory at Priorslee next to the M54, and formed the first in Telford's new enterprise zone.

Consequently, from the later 1970s, Telford began to attract high-technology firms and to diversify its industry, and the promotion of the Service industry also began to prosper, in the Telford Town Centre area. However, a deepening national recession meant that, despite the creation of new jobs, there were net job losses from 1979. Unemployment grew from 3.4 per cent in 1969 to over 8 per cent in 1972 and 22.3 per cent in 1983; long-term unemployment rose even faster. Nevertheless the rate of increase in unemployment was slowing down by 1983 and was making some progress against national and regional trends.

Unemployment in Telford was still around the 20% mark - nearly double the national average at the time - as late as 1986. The Lawson Boom of the next three years saw that figure fall dramatically by the end of the decade, only for it to rise to a similarly high figure again by 1992 as a result of the early 1990s recession.

Telford has attracted several large IT services companies, including EDS who support the MOD contract from the Euston Park site, as well as a vast array of clients across the world from the Plaza building. Also Capgemini and Fujitsu employ a significant number of staff in the area, mainly supporting their governmental client, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The expansion in these job sectors provided a great asset to Telford's economic recovery after 1992. By August 2007, the success story of Telford's economy had seen unemployment shrink to 3.3% - a fraction of its peak 15 years earlier.

However, the subsequent recession meant that unemployment in the area had risen to 5% by February 2011.

The ''Shropshire Star'' evening newspaper is based at Ketley, Telford.

In recent times there have been significant job losses, with the movement of 500 Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) jobs at the MoD base at Sapphire House, Telford, to Bristol. The closure of the local sugar beet factory at Allscott in 2007 is another recent example.

Landmarks[link]

The commercial centre of the town is the aptly named Telford Town Centre, located off Junction 5 of the M54 motorway. It is home to the administrative headquarters of Telford & Wrekin council, the large Telford Shopping Centre (and the accompanying Town Park), various office blocks, such as the blue office towers (''Telford Plaza''), and the ''Windsor Life'' building. ''The Forge'' retail park and a large Odeon Cinema are also located in the area, as well as Thomas Telford School, which is within walking distance. Telford also houses one of the Midland's only ice skating rinks near the newly built Telford International Centre (TIC). The TIC comprises a number of hall and event spaces. It holds parties, conferences, concerts and is the current home of the UK Snooker Championship in December.

A major Shropshire landmark, also now part of Telford, is The Iron Bridge, located in Ironbridge. It was the first bridge of its size in the world made out of cast iron. In the same area is the Ironbridge Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The most important landmark in the area is The Wrekin. There is also the Lilleshall Monument erected to the Duke of Sutherland, which has recently been restored.

Education[link]

Telford has a number of primary and secondary schools. Of particular notability is Thomas Telford School, a City Technology College (CTC), which claims to have a 100% pass rate at GCSE level, with all students achieving at least 4 GCSEs grades A*-C, placing it at number one in the entire country for Key Stage 4 attainment. It was students of this school who were chosen to construct Airfix models of planes and tanks, and to assist ''Top Gear'' co host James May construct a life size model of a World War Two Spitfire on the first episode of the series ''James May's Toy Stories''. The school's choir has gained lots of notability after their various performances up and down the country, including the Royal Albert Hall for the Music For Youth School Prom, a long with performances hosted by CBBC's Barney Harwood. Abraham Darby Academy (Performing Arts, Business and Enterprise), formerly known as Abraham Darby Specialist School For The Performing Arts, provides specialist performing arts education and is home to one of the UK's best school concert bands which has performed at prestigious venues such as Birmingham Symphony Hall, Royal Festival Hall London, Royal Albert Hall and also Carnegie Hall, New York.

Further education is handled by Telford College of Arts and Technology (TCAT) and Telford New College, a sixth-form college located in Wellington. There are four other sixth forms located in the Blessed Robert Johnson Catholic School (The Oscar Romero sixth form centre), Abraham Darby Academy, Thomas Telford School and Madeley Academy

to the north are Adams' Grammar School and Newport Girls High School selective schools located in nearby Newport.

Telford is also home to The University of Wolverhampton Business School (UWBS) campus and the School of the Built Environment. Harper Adams University College, a famous college for land-based education is located near the town of Newport.

Madeley Academy is a sport college and a building that was built and opened in September 2009.

Transport[link]

Telford is situated at the terminus of the M54 motorway, a spur of the M6 linking the town with Wolverhampton and the West Midlands, and on the A5 road between Shrewsbury and Cannock. The town also has three railway stations: Wellington, Oakengates and Telford Central, which are on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton Line. In addition, there are two further stations isolated from the national network, Spring Village and Horsehay & Dawley, at Telford Steam Railway, situated at Horsehay. A new direct train service to London was launched by Wrexham & Shropshire in 2008. The venture however proved unprofitable and ceased to operate on Friday 28 January 2011, leaving Shropshire as the only English county without a direct train link to London.

Telford's rapidly growing population still has a relatively low car ownership. In 2004 Telford & Wrekin council was awarded 'Beacon Status' for improving access to public transport. Being a new town with a planned transport infrastructure, the town features relatively few traffic problems, in comparison to the urban areas of Birmingham or medieval streets of Shrewsbury. The M54 reduces through-traffic on local roads, and the A442 Queensway acts as a north-south artery road.

Notable people[link]

The band, The Sunshine Underground, are originally from Telford and Shrewsbury, and formed while studying at New College Telford. Some of the band T'Pau are also from Telford (Wellington) and Shrewsbury. The death metal band Cancer formed in Ironbridge. Former WBC super middleweight champion boxer Richie Woodhall, grew up in Woodside, Telford.

Sport[link]

Telford is home to a variety of established amateur, semi-pro and professional sports clubs. AFC Telford United Football Club are currently playing in Blue Square Premier League after a successful play-off campaign in 2011, and their current manager is Andy Sinton, who as a player was capped by England and played for clubs including Queen's Park Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur.

AFC Telford's achievements include Best Shropshire Senior Cup Performance: Final - 3 Times, and Promotion to Conference North in 2007, after beating Witton Albion in the play-offs 3-1. Also, they won the Setanta Shield Trophy by beating Forest Green Rovers on penalties in 2009. They were formed in 2004 on the bankruptcy of the previous Telford United club, who had competed in the Football Conference - the highest level of football outside the professional league - for 25 years since its inception in 1979 as the Alliance Premier League. AFC Telford have now regained a place in the top flight of non-league football.

Ice hockey in the town is represented by 2 teams. One is the Telford Tigers, an English Premier League (EPL or EPIHL) ice hockey team originally formed in 1985. The other are the Telford Titans, an ENL Team, which represents development hockey feeding from the excellent youth development and were last year crowned league champions.

There have been many American football teams in the town, although presently Shropshire Revolution a British American Football League, founded in 2006, is the only club in the town and the county of Shropshire. Previous clubs include Wrekin Giants (1985–1989), Shropshire Giants (1989), and Cannock Chase Giants (1989-1993/4).

Telford Raiders are the town's Rugby League club, although there have been other Rugby League Clubs in Telford historically, such as the Telford All Blacks and Shropshire Scorpions. Telford Hornets represent the town at Rugby Union.

Telford also hosted the UK Snooker Championship, from 2007 to 2010. The championship moved from York in 2007 but will return to the re-furbished Barbican Centre in York for 2011.

The Shropshire Golf Centre is located near Muxton, to the northeast of Telford. This has three nine hole courses, a 13 hole par three academy course and driving range. Other courses include the Municipal course at Horsehay, The Wrekin Golf Club and Telford Golf and Country Club.

There are also several local cricket clubs, many of whom compete in local leagues and some in the Birmingham league. The largest of these is Wellington where many Shropshire County matches are also played but St Georges, Madeley and Lilleshall also run cricket clubs in or on the outskirts of the town.

Closest cities, towns and villages[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Official Tourism Website for Ironbridge & Telford

Category:Telford and Wrekin Category:Towns in Shropshire Category:New towns in England Category:Populated places established in 1968 Category:Articles including recorded pronunciations (UK English) Category:Thomas Telford

cs:Telford (město) cy:Telford de:Telford es:Telford (Shropshire) fr:Telford it:Telford lt:Telfordas nl:Telford (Engeland) no:Telford nn:Telford pl:Telford pt:Telford ro:Telford ru:Телфорд simple:Telford fi:Telford sv:Telford vo:Telford war:Telford

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.

History[link]

The term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to the late 19th Century. In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

It was also used as a term for a drug dealer in the 1950s and 1960s and can be seen in such media as Curtis Mayfield's "No Thing On Me", William Burroughs's novel ''Naked Lunch'', and in the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man", in which Lou Reed sings about going to Uptown Manhattan, specifically Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, to buy heroin.

The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in ''U.S. News and World Report'', had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine ''Easyriders'' which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema, featuring particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.

Use as praise[link]

The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)." One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's pre-eminent position at the Congress of Berlin, "The old Jew, he is the man."

In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

See also[link]

Absentee landlord

Big Brother (''Nineteen Eighty-Four'')

New World Order (conspiracy theory)

Ruling class

The Establishment

Power elite

Corrections officer

YTMND

Notes[link]

References[link]

Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). ''Random House Dictionary of American Slang''. New York: Random House.

Category:Slang expressions Category:Stock characters Category:English idioms Category:Pejorative terms for people Category:Military-industrial complex

de:The Man (Begriff)