Return of amphitheatre will be 'amazing' for town

A musician with memories of watching bands at a lakeside amphitheatre has said it is "fantastic" to see work start to bring it back into use.

The 400-seat bowl in Telford town park was used to host live music, drama and dance before it fell into disrepair.

Telford and Wrekin Council is now restoring it, with the aim of using it to host a number of free performances in the summer.

Matt Pearson, who is a sound technician and also plays in a brass band, said it was "exciting times", because the town had "so much raw talent".

He said his first experience of the amphitheatre was going to watch his older brother perform there with the Phoenix School band.

Pearson said: "Perhaps as a nine-year-old child I probably didn't appreciate it as much as I do now."

But the 45-year-old said it was still an exciting experience and his passion for watching live music there as a child had grown over the years.

The amphitheatre is made up of a terraced bowl with bench-seats, leading down to a wooden stage beside a pool.

Pearson said: "It's very serene it's very peaceful, you can hear the birds, it's a great place to come and sit and read a book or just collect your thoughts."

The venue is close to the town centre and he said: "It's amazing that we've got this quiet spot in such a built up area."

Bringing it back into use would be good news for Telford, he said, because there were "so many bands that could come and play here".

Steven Owen from Pave Aways, the construction firm brought in to carry out the work, said his company would be installing lights, a new stage, security rails and electrics, as well as giving it a good clean up.

He said he had worked for the company for 30 years and it was the first time he had built a pontoon on water.

The stage is due to be brought in from overseas and the whole project should be complete in six weeks, he said.

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