Wappenshall Junction Restoration

Nestled on the outer northern edge of Wellington, a transformative restoration project is underway at The Thomas Telford @Wappenshall Wharf project – an endeavour to preserve the past and a visionary initiative to rejuvenate tourism and bring economic benefits to Wellington.

The Shrewsbury and Newport Canals Trust, formed to restore the Shropshire Union Canal and the Shrewsbury Canal to navigation once more, have embarked on restoring this vital historical spur link at Wappenshall Junction.

A committed team of volunteers are propelling the restoration forward with sheer determination and community support.
For membership details please visit sncanal.org.uk

To follow progress of the project and hear when the café at the junction opens please follow on Facebook.

Wellington cycle delivery team

In 2023 Wellington Town Council purchased a Tern E-cargo bike to support the market and independent traders and businesses in our town and to provide carbon neutral deliveries within a 3 mile radius on market days.

The scheme is manned by volunteers who are doing their bit to save the planet as well as providing a convenient service to Wellington shoppers and encouraging people to use our Wellington businesses and ‘shop local’. The service is completely free of charge.

To use the service call (or preferably text) 07398 136120 with your name and a brief message of how they can help you.

Friends of Apley Woods

Apley Woods sits to the north-east of Wellington in what was, until the mid-20th Century, the grounds of Apley Castle.

Now a largely residential area, local people came together to form The Friends of Apley Woods in 2007 to address the decline of the woodland and the deterioration of its habitats. In the years since, they have been working hard with Telford & Wrekin Council, the Small Woods Association and the Shropshire Wildlife Trust to restore, maintain and develop Apley Woods, its lake, ponds and meadow. Its volunteers include local residents, young people from across Telford and people with learning and physical disabilities. They work at the site every week, engaging in woodland management tasks and habitat enhancements. The group also runs regular activity days, nature walks and events.

Wellington LA21

Wellington Local Agenda 21 group has been actively championing local environment and heritage around Wellington for two decades. In its early years the group started a Farmers Market in the square, published a local food guide and began an annual Green Fair outside All Saints parish church that foreshadowed the town’s popular Midsummer Fayre.

The group has an extensive track record of promoting local sustainable tourism producing ten walking and cycling guides and recently launched two new websites  Explore the Weald Moors and Explore The Wrekin . Its Discovering Wellington https://www.wellingtonla21.org.uk/discovering-wellington/ website promotes provides a comprehensive guide to the area’s natural and historic heritage, such as Walking With The Ancestors, Victorian Wellington and

in 2019 the group completed a centenary project dedicated to the town’s World War One homefront legacy, Wellington’s War. https://www.wellingtonswar.co.uk/

Friends of Dothill Nature Reserve

Dothill Local Nature Reserve forms the largest area of publicly accessible green land in the Wellington area and became a designated nature reserve in February 2016. The LNR comprises three main areas; Dothill Pool, Tee Lake and Beanhill Valley. These areas combined have a multitude of habitats including a series of ponds, lakes, streams and wetland areas when the streams flood. One of the ponds includes a large reed-bed, all areas are linked by grassland, scrub and woodland with well-established hedges. There are well trodden footpaths around the area providing reasonable access.

The Friends group organises regular volunteer work parties which help to maintain and improve the nature reserve for local people to enjoy.

Wellington Walkers are Welcome

Wellington was awarded ‘Walkers are Welcome’ status in 2010, thanks to the efforts of local walkers, Wellington LA21 and Wellington Town Council. The WaW group has produced a range of walking routes around Wellington, including The Wrekin Forest, Wrockwardine and the Wealdmoors, and organises a regular series of Sunday guided walks. Once a year in September the group hosts a packed week-long Walking Festival featuring around 20 walks.

The Wellington Orbit

The Wellington Orbit, which opened in April 2019 is a brand new cinema and arts centre in the heart of Wellington – and it’s a project being led entirely by the community. It all started in 2012 with a campaign to reopen the town’s old Clifton Cinema – a campaign which snowballed into a mass community project with hundreds of shareholders contributing tens of thousands of pounds. The group has staged regular ‘pop-up cinema’ nights in existing venues – often sell out events – and has started to stage live events as well. With the original Clifton building earmarked for alternative use, the group switched its attentions a grand former bank on Market Square – bringing the arts right back into the centre of Wellington.

Friends of Wellington Station

Since 1849, Wellington Station has brought visitors directly into the centre of the town, just a minute’s stroll from the Market Square. It’s an important point of entry into the town, generating over 600,000 journeys a year, yet its neat redbrick buildings look unloved and under-utilised.

In spring 2017 members of the Wellington community ‘adopted’ the town’s railway station. Under the Adopt a Station scheme, volunteers are working hard to brighten up the station and create a more inviting, distinctive gateway to Wellington and in 2020 the station adopters became a properly constituted group.  Work so far has resulted in new planting and painting and ongoing work to bring in other businesses to fill unused station buildings.

Wellington History Group

Wellington History Group comprises a group of individuals interested in researching, promoting and sharing the history of the town. The group’s Wellingtonia Magazine has unearthed all sorts of weird and wonderful stories about the town’s past, ancient and recent, and every year the group organises a programme of free talks.

The Belfrey Arts Centre and Community Group

The Belfrey Arts Centre and Theatre houses a small theatre with raked seating, a licenced bar and extensive costume wardrobe which is available to hire. Shows are performed throughout the year including the Wellington Drama Festival in November.

The Arts Centre also provides a home to the Belfrey Pottery a community pottery run by a small group of pottery and ceramic enthusiasts and the Telford Makerspace – a community run group with a small membership fee, aimed at makers, tinkerers, fixers and artists.

Wellington Rotary

The Rotary Club of Wellington supports many charities in and around Wellington. Each year, along with the other local Rotary Clubs, the group organises the Tree of Light at Telford Town Centre, which raises over £40,000 annually for Severn Hospice and other good causes. Amongst many activities, Wellington Rotarians run a Health Awareness Day in the Market Square, organise barbecues for the Telford Gateway Club and for Young Carers and has recently helped fund a new clubhouse and toilets for the Wrekin Riders BMX Race Club in Dawley.

Rotary welcomes new members and friends.

The Wellington Arts Collective

The Wellington Arts Collective are a collective group of professional artist makers and educator, who all share a connection to Wellington.
Spanning the creative mediums in Clay, Paint, Collage, Wood and Metal and the Written word; combined they have many years experience of working with an array of community groups. Together they aim to provide high quality arts to the local community and strive to put Wellington on the map as a thriving artistic town.

The collective are currently working on a sculptural piece of work for the top of The Wrekin called ‘The Sky Begins at My Feet’, and have invited primary school pupils and a range of diverse community groups to be part of the project that will see individuals’ work displayed publicly for many years to come. The sculpture will enhance the already-existing features of The Wrekin, and will aim to enrich the experience people have when visiting the site, which is famous for having the most diverse geology found in the world.