Telford Town Park

These became the starting points for places like Dawley, Stirchley and Malinslee, the key catchment areas that surround Telford Town Park ('Ley' is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning a clearing in the wood).

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 pit mounds evolved into small heathland and woodlands and hedgerows grew alongside the old canal and railway tracks and the quarries became pools.

[5] On 9 April 1980 the 2 ft (610 mm) gauge Telford Town Tramway was opened by the Reverend W. Awdry on the trackbed of the Coalport branch alongside Randlay Pool in the Park.

Telford and Wrekin Council were recently advised of their Stage 2 approval and now move into the first year of the projects five-year delivery programme.

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.

Telford parkrun is a weekly 5 km event for runners of all standards, which takes place every Saturday and has become extremely popular with people of all ages and abilities.

[9] In the park is a memorial, unveiled in May 2010, to residents of the Telford and Wrekin borough area who died serving their country in all spheres since World War I. Sculpted by Malcolm Sear, whose workshops were at Jackfield, it incorporates a central ironwork poppy.

[11] The 62 hectare Local Nature Reserve hosts woodland, heathland, grassland and pools that have developed as a result of the Park's industrial past.

By the Industrial Revolution, much of the Park area would have contained spoil mounds and quarry pits with isolated remnants of woodland and grassland habitats.

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).

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.