Thomas Telford day school on 8 September 2007

Press release 04 September 2007

As part of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Telford, the great engineer and builder, a day of talks, visits and displays is being held in Telford on Saturday 8th September, organised by by the Wrekin Local Studies Forum working with Shropshire County Council’s Shropshire Archives and Telford & Wrekin Libraries.

The event is taking place at Jubilee House, Madeley, an area of Telford with a special connection to Telford the man – he designed the local chuch of St Michael’s, and a guided tour of the church is a highlight of the day school programme. The dayschool has been generously supported by Madeley Parish Council, Madeley Local Studies Group and the Heritage Lottery Fund through the Celebrating Telford project.

The programme also includes a return visit to Shropshire by nationally renowned historian and author Barrie Trinder to give the keynote address, a talk by Roger White on the unusual subject of Telford’s interest in Roman archaeology and Neil Clarke will be covering the very local topic of Telford’s improvements to the Holyhead Road in East Shropshire. Chris Morris will close the proceedings with a presentation on photographing Telford’s legacy.

There will be displays of new research on Telford’s life and work, compiled by volunteer researchers working at Shropshire Archives and The Ironbridge Gorge Museum. This research was used by artists working with local school children to create an art installation, made at the Museum of Steel Sculpture, and soon to be laid in the Town Park. The research has also been used to compile a fully illustrated CDRom on Telford in Shropshire, which will be launched at the dayschool and is available for purchase.

Tickets are still available at £5 per person, which includes lunch and other refreshments. For further details or to book a ticket please contact Shelagh Lewis, Madeley Living History Project, tel 01952 680278 or email, lhp@mparish.fsnet.co.uk.

Ends

For more information, contact Shelagh Lewis, Madeley Living History Project, tel 01952 680278 or email, lhp@mparish.fsnet.co.uk.

For media contact Charlie Crowl, Communications Officer, Community Services, Shropshire County Council on Tel: 01743 253885