Shropshire is known for its absolutely breathtaking countryside and fascinating heritage linked to the Industrial Revolution. Many of its towns are also close to Birmingham, making it ideal for those who don't want to be too far from the city.
However Telford, one of its most well-known commuter towns, has come under fire from The Telegraph, which recently ranked both the prettiest and ugliest towns in Britain. The newspaper wrote: "We called upon our experts across the country to give their verdict on the most beautiful settlements in the land.
"We asked each expert to rank their towns on the pleasantness of their shop fronts, historic architecture, low traffic/litter, stunning viewpoints and plentiful greenery, culminating in a score out of 50. The candid bunch they are, our experts also shared the names of some towns which might benefit from, ahem, some aesthetic enhancements in the years to come; but, mercifully, as they explain, there’s always some magic to find, even in our most carbuncular of urban settlements."
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Here's a look at why Telford was named among the "ugliest" towns in Britain - and why it's actually a great place to live.
What The Telegraph said
The national newspaper wrote: "Napoleon spent his final years stranded adrift on the remote Atlantic island of St Helena, though he may have been even more miserable had he been subjected to Telford and its risible personality-free architecture. Thankfully for Le Petit Caporal, Telford didn’t exist until the 1960s, when it was created as part of a wave of New Towns designated by Harold MacMillan’s Conservative government.
"But while it might seem harsh to pick on somewhere so young, any town centred around a shopping mall crashes immediately onto my blacklist. Though as Telford’s polycentric, there’s no real town centre to speak of – just a hodge-podge of dismal high streets, dour retail parks and a cookie-cutter urban sprawl.
"Luckily though, Telford sits just north of Ironbridge Gorge. A bucolic Unesco World Heritage Site, it’s home to Abraham Darby III’s pioneering Iron Bridge as well as an array of fine museums and the delightful hand-raised pork pies from Eley’s pie shop."
Why Telford is actually a lovely place to live
Telford is a relatively new town so you won't see many ancient buildings with stunning architecture admittedly but it is thankfully surrounded by beautiful, green land. Perhaps the best example of this is The Wrekin, a landmark summit boasting sweeping vistas of the surrounding country landscape.
It's also fair to say it's also a bit of a cultural hotspot, with attractions like the Blists Hill Victorian town, a living museum, and Ironbridge Gorge right on its doorstep. Ironbridge Gorge, home to the world's first iron bridge, is internationally renowned as a World Heritage Site and welcomes more than a million visitors from across the globe every year.
One recent visitor to the area wrote on Tripadvisor: "We visited on a chilly but sunny December day. The bridge itself is a wonderful piece of architecture - do visit the free tollhouse museum, which recounts the history of the bridge in well illustrated wall panels - including the visit (and crossing) of a circus elephant!
"We also walked the Iron Trail from the bridge, which ascends through the World Heritage Site taking in buildings and other sites of historical importance - I would definitely recommend it. A great day out."
Telford also has its own train station, making it ideal for those who don't want to be cut off from the bright lights of Birmingham. Regardless, the town also has an impressive shopping centre, with a House of Fraser and many more popular stores.
According to Rightmove, properties in the Telford area had an overall average price of £229,531 during the last year. The majority of sales in Telford during the last year were semi-detached properties, selling for an average price of £201,831.
Detached properties meanwhile sold for an average of £337,540 with terraced properties fetching £168,606. Overall, sold prices in Telford over the last year were similar to the previous year and 12 per cent up on the 2020 peak of £204,307.
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