Telford Town Park
Encyclopedia
Parks for People
The Parks for People funding programme is a joint initiative between the Heritage Lottery FundHeritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
and Big Lottery Fund
Big Lottery Fund
The Big Lottery Fund is a grant-making non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom created by the Government to administer the funding of "good causes" following the creation of the National Lottery. It has an annual expenditure of £630 million...
,
offering grants for projects that regenerate public parks of national, regional or local heritage value. Telford & Wrekin Council were recently advised of their Stage 2 approval and now move into the first year of the projects five year delivery programme.
This 5 year Project kicked off in 2011 with the first contract to deliver the Park's Master Plan starting on site Summer/Autumn. Plans include a new Teenage Activity Area, new learning zones and picnic areas throughout the wider Park, and the restoration of key historic features. Work is due for completion Summer 2012.
The majority of works are taking place in the central and southern area of the park therefore disruption is deemed minimal to the majority of Park visitors. The remaining Master Plan work will follow and includes improved pathways, the creation of a Nature and Heritage Trail, new gateways, signage and interpretation of the Parks history and wildlife.
Additional benefits delivered by the Project including an enhanced events and activities programme, and additional maintenance and management activities, will become prominent from 2012.
The Park is located off Junction 5 of the M54
M54 motorway
The M54 is a 23 mile east-west motorway in the English counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire. It is also referred to as the Telford Motorway, after the road's primary westbound destination, the new town of Telford...
, is within 10 minutes walk of Telford’s main bus station, 5 minutes drive time from Telford Central railway station
Telford Central railway station
Telford Central railway station serves the new town of Telford, England. It is situated close to the town centre, the main commercial district of the town...
.
Flora & Fauna
The 62 hectare Local Nature ReserveLocal Nature Reserve
Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...
hosts woodland, heathland, grassland and pools that have developed as a result of the Parks industrial past. Historically, the Park was predominantly broadleaved woodland and following heavy land clearance during Saxon times and subsequent land management through the medieval ages, this was converted into a patchwork of arable farmland, grassland and copses. By the industrial revolution much of the Park contained spoil mounds and quarry pits with isolated remnants of woodland and grassland habitats. Since the abandonment of industry, the pit mounds and surrounding areas have reverted to heathland and extensive areas of grassland; the quarried areas have become lakes and ponds; and woodland, scrub and hedges have established across the Park as well as alongside the old canal and railway. This mosaic of habitats now supports a variety of wildlife including birds, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, bats and other mammals.
Fauna
There are currently a number of endangered species in and around the park which have been discovered through previous surveys. These studies have shown that there are currently two out of Britain's sixteen species of bat currently nesting in the park. To protect these whilst work is going on in the park bat boxes have been put up around the area to house these.The most noticeable mammal in the park is the grey squirrel
Eastern Gray Squirrel
The eastern gray squirrel is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus native to the eastern and midwestern United States, and to the southerly portions of the eastern provinces of Canada...
in the wooded area, other mammals likely to be present are small rodents such as voles, shrews and mice
MICE
-Fiction:*Mice , alien species in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*The Mice -Acronyms:* "Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions", facilities terminology for events...
, although there is no confirmed data of these species being present.
Four out of five of Britain's amphibians currently reside within the park including the smooth and great crested newt
Great Crested Newt
The Great Crested Newt, also called Northern Crested Newt or Warty Newt is a newt in the family Salamandridae, found across Europe and parts of Asia.-Distribution:...
. The only native species not recorded is the palmate newt
Palmate Newt
The Palmate Newt is a species of newt found in most of Western Europe, including Great Britain. It is protected by law in all countries where it occurs, and is thought to be extremely rare to endangered in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg and vulnerable in Spain and Poland but common...
. Amongst these newts the common frog
Common Frog
The Common Frog, Rana temporaria also known as the European Common Frog or European Common Brown Frog is found throughout much of Europe as far north as well north of the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and as far east as the Urals, except for most of Iberia, southern Italy, and the southern Balkans...
and toad
Toad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...
are also present.
Due to the mixed woodland, scrub, water and grassland habitats within the park provides a range of suitable conditions for a good variety of birds. There are currently 60+ recorded species which do not include many common species such as heron
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....
's and the black-headed gull
Black-headed Gull
The Black-headed Gull is a small gull which breeds in much of Europe and Asia, and also in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory, wintering further south, but some birds in the milder westernmost areas of Europe are resident...
.
Flora
The industrial history of the site is reflected in the habitats and wildlife that it now supports. Historically, the Park would have predominantly been broadleaved woodland. Due to the activities of Saxon land clearance and subsequent land management through the medieval ages, this would have been converted to a patchwork of arable farmland, grassland and copses. By the industrial revolution, much of the Park would have contained spoil mounds and quarry pits with isolated remnants of woodland and grassland habitats. Since the abandonment of industry, the pit mounds and surrounding areas have reverted to heathland and extensive areas of grassland; the quarried areas have become lakes and ponds; and woodland, scrub and hedges have established elsewhere, including alongside the old canal and railway. This mosaic of different habitats now support a variety of wildlife including birds, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, bats and other mammals. In recognition of the educational and amenity value of this biodiversity resource, a significant proportion of the Park has been designated as a statutory Local Nature Reserve (LNR) (Figure 1.1).History
Saxon times saw the first real changes in the area currently known as Telford Town Park when early settlers cleared areas within the forest to create land suitable for farming. These became the starting points for places like DawleyDawley
Dawley is a small town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. Today it forms part of the new town of Telford...
, Stirchley
Stirchley, Shropshire
Stirchley is a component settlement of the new town of Telford, in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. Stirchley lies just south-east of the town centre, and shares a parish council with neighbouring Brookside, which together have a population of 10,533...
and Malinslee, the key catchment reas that surround Telford Town Park ('Ley' is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning a clearing in the wood). In the 13th century much of the land around Stirchley was given to the Cistercian Monks of Buildwas Abbey
Buildwas Abbey
Buildwas Abbey is located along the banks of the River Severn in Buildwas, Shropshire, England, about two miles west of Ironbridge.-Early history:...
. It was these monks who built the original Grange at Stirchley and farmed the surrounding land until the 1530's. The relatively peaceful scene of small farmsteads separated by hedges and woodlands continued until the dramatic changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
. Valuable raw materials such as coal and ironstone were mined, and this produced enormous amounts of waste which created the pit mounds seen in the Park today. The Shropshire Canal
Shropshire Canal
The Shropshire Canal was a tub boat canal built to supply coal, ore and limestone to the industrial region of east Shropshire, England, that adjoined the River Severn at Coalbrookdale...
passed through the Park and new industries grew up alongside the canal - iron furnaces, foundries and forges at Hinkshay and on the Stirchley Chimney site. Most of the industries belonged to the Old Park Company, set up by Isaac Hawkins Browne
Isaac Hawkins Browne (coalowner)
Isaac Hawkins Browne was a British Tory politician, industrialist, essayist, and a lord of the manor of Badger, Shropshire.-Family and education:...
who used to live at Stirchley Grange.
The Wellington Iron and Coal Company built Stirchley Chimney in 1873 however, due to bankruptcy in 1877, the furnace seen today was never fired. This site was bought by the Wrekin Chemical Company in 1886 and used to manufacture naphtha charcoal and lime salts until the locals complained about the smell. The last mine, Grange Pit, closed in 1894 however, new industries soon arrived to produce kerbstones and paving slabs. By the 1960's industries had moved from the area leaving behind a trail of derelict remains soon to be reclaimed by nature. Despite all this industrial activity plants and animals soon returned and as you follow the paths you will find mining and factory remains amongst the trees and meadows. The pit mounds evolved into small heathland and woodlands and hedgerows grew alongside the old canal and railway
tracks and the quarries became pools. The Park is so valuable for wildlife that much of it has been designated a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and this LNR has recently been extended."
More recently during the 1970's, Telford Development Corporation (TDC) developed what is today known as Telford Town Park. TDC’s remit was to provide a 'Green Lung' for the people of the New Town and by 1984 the 170 hectare Town Park evolved. In 1992 the Park was handed over to what was then Wrekin Council which in 1998 became the new Unitary Authority the Borough of Telford & Wrekin, (recently changed to Telford & Wrekin Council). The original concept of the Park was to provide an area of green open space right in the heart of the new industrial town and with its central locality the Park is well served by a road infrastructure designed in the 1970's. The London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
ran through the park to Coalport via Stirchley & Madeley Market after the failure of the Shropshire Canal. This became the Silkin Way some years after the closure of the railway (then British Railways under nationalisation) to passengers in 1952 and to goods in 1956."