North Telford, Wellington, Oakengates and surrounding areas - Michael A. Vanns

This fascinating selection of photographs reflects some of the different and varied aspects of life in North Telford from the 1970s to the 1950s, providing a glimpse of the familiar and the unusual, the survivals and the changes.

In this companion volume to "South Telford", the areas north of the M54 motorway is the centre of attention. The photographs show the communities close to Thomas Telford's Holyhead Road (the later A5), their working environments, families and leisure activities, the area had a different character to that of the small scattered settlements to the south, and at the heart of North Telford, Wellington was an established market town long before the Industrial Revolution.

It managed to retain its urban identity despite the industrial changes nearby, and the arrival of Telford New Town in the 1960s. Other communities like Oakengates, St Georges, Trench and the satellite villages, were much more affected by the industrial activity of the last two centuries and the building of the New Town. The extensive industrial and domestic developments of the last few decades will ensure that the late twentieth century also leaves its mark on the landscape.