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The New Town was originally set up as Dawley New Town in 1965. It was re-designated as Telford New Town in 1968 taking in a large part of the northen half of the new town. It was built in the 1960s and 1970s as a New town in a former coal-mining area and enveloped a number of pre-existing towns, such as Dawley, Donnington Wood, Oakengates, Wellington and Madeley. Telford also incorporates the Ironbridge Gorge, a scenic tourist destination.
Most of the infrastructure was installed during the late 60's and throughout the 70's with the major housing and commercial development occurring over three decades up to the early 90's when the Development corporation was wound up to be replaced by the New Towns Commission and most of the property was then handed over to the now Unitary Authority of Telford and Wrekin.
In 1983 the M54 motorwayThe M54 motorway is a major road in England also known as the Telford motorway . The motorway runs nineteen miles west from its junction with the M6 motorway just south of Cannock, past Wolverhampton and through Telford, to end on the A5 road. See also: L opened, connecting the town to the M6The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in England, United Kingdom. It runs from a junction with the M1 near Rugby in central England, passes through Birmingham and near Manchester (both major cities), and runs to Carlisle, close to the Scottish border. and thence the rest of the UK's motorway network.