Arena to be saved

The Friends of Telford Town Park are proud to announce that the long term future of the Arena has been protected by the unanimous  approval of Telford & Wrekin Councils cabinet members. The decision has been taken to place the Arena in "Fields in Trust", more specifically, it is to become The Queen Elizabeth 2 Telford Town Park Arena, to give it it's full title. This will be to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee next year. Further details can be found at www.qe2fields.com

The status will be very similar to Village Green status, that is no buildings or structures to be erected on the space, nor can it be sold without the express approval of the Fields in Trust organisation and even if that permission was given, the owners would have to provide an alternative site nearby.  In the case of the Arena, this is unlikely, so the Friends feel that the Arena is at last now safe from any kind of development for the forseeable future other than to enhance it's present use.

The Fields in Trust organisation has not lost one field since starting the scheme in 1936, which is an impressive track record and bodes well for the Arena.  More use will be made of the Arena and subject to a maximum of 9 chargeable events per annum, any profit ensuing is to be ploughed back into the Town Park. The Friends have worked very hard for the last 5 years to see this come to fruition at last and we hope many more people will use the enviable space that Telford Town Park offers it's visitors. A big thank you to all who helped this come about, not just the Friends but people who signed forms for us and of course Telford & Wrekin Council for supporting it.

Project OPAL Hedge Survey

The latest part of project OPAL has been completed by the Friends. This is a national scheme which is Lottery funded and covers Air Quality, Water Quality, Earthworms, Hedges and other information which is entered on a national database. It is run from University College, London. The Friends will return in May to complete this hedge survey when more life will be evident.

Hedge Planting in the Park

Volunteers from the Friends, recently helped out the Park Rangers with the planting of a double row of hedging near Fletchers Pool. This was part of the Southwater scheme and it is to recompense for any loss of wildlife at the north end of the park. There will be much more hedge laying and planting during the next 12 months. Any budding volunteers should contact the Friends or the Park rangers.

Exciting Times for Town Park

The new visitor centre for Telford Town Park has now been approved and work is already underway to prepare the foundations. Spout Farm House has now closed and a temporary building is in place until the new building is open to the public around November 2011. This is the start of the exciting new development in Southwater Square that will become the new heart of Telford with a very attractive entrance to the park.

A new lake will be created with the park beyond and the new look visitors centre. The new building will be carbon neutral in operation and one of very few buildings in the UK to be constructed to "Passivhaus" standards. A bicycle hire station and educational room is being incorporated into the design which we hope will make the visitors centre more popular than ever.

To download a full size pdf of this image please use the links on the left hand menu.

The Town Park will remain open throughout all of the Southwater redevelopment and also whilst the new centre is built. Some disruption will be inevitable but will be kept to the minimum possible. Pedestrian routes when changed will be indicated with clear signage.

Exciting times for everyone and we look forward to a much improved park especially now that the Big Lottery bid was successful (see below for further details).

Heritage Lottery bid.

The Friends of Telford town Park are pleased to announce that the Lottery bid by Telford & Wrekin Council for £2.1 million pounds has been successful. This means that with the funding being provided by Telford & Wrekin Council there will be over £3 million to be spent on improvements to Telford Town Park. This will include 2 trails, one focussing on Heritage and the other on Ecology. The area around Stirchley Chimney will also be opened up with interpretation boards and the old railway platform that was part of the LNWR Dawley and Stirchley Railway Station, will be partially restored, again with information boards. There will also be a multi use games area (MUGA) for teenagers next to the new Visitor Centre and hopefully a Boules pitch.

Other plans include the provision of both picnic and learning areas for the public and schools alike, to gain knowledge of the Park’s history. The delivery period will be over 5 years so it will not happen ‘overnight’ but work will commence in the Spring of 2011. This work coupled with the new Visitor Centre above the Arena, all part of the Southwater Square enhancement, will see our beautiful Town Park made even better for everyone’s enjoyment.

To learn more about the Town Park, please purchase one of the Friends guides, which at £1.50 represent good value and will help in your enjoyment of the 170 hectares (400 acres) of countryside within the urban area of Telford. They are available from Spout Farm House and in the future from the new Visitor Centre near the Norman Chapel ruins.

The Crannog.

What on earth is “The Crannog”? Well the dictionary defines a ‘crannog’ as a man made island and is an old Celtic word. In our case, the Crannog is indeed a small island situated at the southern end of the park at one end of Grange Pool. Once on the island it is an ideal place for watching the wildlife on Grange Pool. The Friends have recently completed work on this site to improve the accessibility to include wheelchair access and also to construct a living willow shelter that serves as a hide.

The Friends are pleased to announce the award of £2760 from "Awards for All" part of the Big Lottery to reinstate the bridge at the Crannog on Grange Pool. This was installed recently by Shropshire Council and further work will now be undertaken by the Friends to make the whole site accessible again for nature watching. It is the longer term aim of the Friends to install a wheelchair friendly path as soon as further funding is available. A living willow hide has recently been constructed from which to watch the bird life on the lake. A leaflet outlining the benefits of the crannog has also been produced and is available to download via the links on the left hand side of this page. If you would like to assist us in important work of a similar nature please get in touch via our contact page. Thank you.