Introduction
Shropshire Archives led an Arts project with five Culture Zone schools, looking at memorials and memories of past lives. Find out more on these pages about whose lives have been commemorated by memorials in Telford, and why we remember them.
For instance, the town of Telford is named after the famous civil engineer Thomas Telford. His sculpture celebrates his life and the New Town of Telford.
Soldiers of the Two World Wars
Other memorials remind us of the soldiers who lost their lives in the World Wars, and some serve a useful as well as memorial purpose, such as the Lych-gate in Wellington. Through archive documents, such as letters and diaries, we found out what it was like for soldiers who fought in the war.
Famous Locals
We also looked at the lives of people who are remembered because they became famous in their lifetimes. Some were sports men like the footballer Billy Wright and the jockey Sir Gordon Richards, or pioneers in their field such as the doctor William Withering.
Miners and Children
Workers who died in the industries of the Telford area are also remembered. We discovered that ballads were often written about pit disasters and copies would be sold in aid of the victims' families. Life was hard, and Health and Safety cost too much, so other people also lost their lives when they lived near coal pits, mine shafts and iron works.
Art and Poetry
The libraries are full of stories, real and imagined which have been created from people's memories. They are a mixture of happy and sad moments. We created poetry full of happy, sad and just chance moments which fill everyone's lives. Meet the people who helped us put these moments together.
We discovered lots of facts, and then explored our own memories. Look at the stories about local people, and see the children's work in our gallery.
Our book of memories shows the many different ways we remember events in our lives. Copies are in the school libraries of every primary school in Telford and Wrekin, plus additional copies for each class which took part.
Follow the link to view the Book of Memories as a PDF
You can find out more about wartime Shropshire on Routes to Roots