What the people of Telford think about being named as one of the happiest places in the West Midlands
The people of Telford have said they are not surprised that the town has been named as one of the happiest places to live in the UK.
In their annual Happy Home Index 2023, online estate agents Rightmove named both Telford and Shrewsbury as being among the cheeriest places in Great Britain to reside.
According to the survey, Shrewsbury is Shropshire's happiest town in which to live and is named as the 67th happiest town in the UK.
Meanwhile Telford was named as the tenth happiest town in the West Midlands and the 107th happiest place in Great Britain.
Shoppers in Wellington High Street in Telford on Saturday, said it was no surprise.
Susan Hart, 73, said it was the amount of green spaces in Telford that made it such a happy place to live.
"I am not surprised Telford is one of the happiest places. It is nice to live in a place with so much greenery and nature," she said. "It is like the Wrekin, it always makes me happy when I see it as it means I'm nearly home - it is like a beacon."
However, the Wellington resident disputed that people of Shrewsbury were happier.
"Rubbish. They have the markets and things but we are more sociable and down to earth here," she said, and others in the town agreed.
Father Christmas (AKA 'Bob') has been providing festive cheer in Wellington for 10 years, and he says residents in the area enjoy a chat.
"People say good morning to each other in Telford, you don't get that in many places. I've come here for the last ten years and I always see smiling faces."
He also didn't believe Shrewsbury was a happier place to live.
"They get everything in Shrewsbury as they are the county town but I don't think they are happier for it," he said.
Jehovah Witnesses, Colin Luton, 65, and his wife Eppy, 54 from Leegomery, said the people of Telford were always willing to stop and listen as they canvassed.
"People are very friendly to us. We get a good response from people here and that is not always the case," said Colin. "Another aspect is people seem to come to town to meet and chat to each other, so I am not surprised Telford is a happy place."
However, not everybody agreed.
Sue Pidgeon said she was surprised to hear the people of Telford were ranked as among the happiest in the West Midlands, she said: "Telford has a bit of a bad reputation so I am a bit surprised but things do seem to be getting better."
