'
'Slough' (
pronounced ) is a town and
unitary authority ('Borough of Slough') in
England. In the 2001 census the
population was 119,070 (est. 122,000 in 2006). It is one of the most ethnically diverse towns in the UK, situated some 22 miles (35 km) west of
central London and 20 miles (32 km) east of
Reading.
It is home to the
Slough Trading Estate, the
United Kingdom's first such estate, the largest in single ownership, and one of the largest in Europe overall. This, coupled with extensive transport links, makes it one of the most important business centres in the
south east of England. It is also home to the largest campus of
Thames Valley University.
Slough is located at . The town is situated just to the west of
Greater London. Proximate towns include
Windsor to the south,
Maidenhead to the west,
Uxbridge to the northeast and
Bracknell to the southwest.
Suburbs
Over the years Slough has expanded greatly, incorporating a number of different villages.
Original villages which now form
suburbs of modern-day Slough include:
★
Chalvey
★
Cippenham
★
Colnbrook
★
Langley
★
Poyle
★
Upton
★
Wexham
Other areas of the town include:
★ Brands Hill
★
Britwell
★ Huntercombe
★ Manor Park
★
Salt Hill
★ Upton Lea
★ Windsor Meadows
The urban area (but not the borough council area) merges into the neighbouring
parishes of
★
Burnham
★
Datchet
★
Farnham Royal
★
Stoke Poges
The population of Slough's greater urban area is approximately 145,000 inhabitants.
History
Main articles: History of Slough
Most of the area was traditionally part of
Buckinghamshire and formed over many years by the amalgamation of villages along the
Great West Road. The first recorded uses of the name occur as ''Slo'' in 1196, ''Sloo'' in 1336, and ''Le Slowe'', ''Slowe'' or ''Slow'' in 1437. It first seems to have applied to a hamlet between
Upton to the west and
Chalvey to the east, roughly around the 'Crown Crossroads' where the road to Windsor (now the A332) met the Great West Road
[1]. The
Domesday Survey of 1086, refers to Upton, and a wood for 200 pigs, worth £15. During the 13th century, King
Henry III had a palace in Cippenham. Parts of Upton Court were built in 1325, while St Mary's Church in Langley was probably built in the late 11th or early 12th century, though it has been rebuilt and enlarged several times.
From the mid 17th century,
stagecoaches began to pass through Slough and Salt Hill which became locations for the second stage to change horses on the journey out from London.
By 1838 and the opening of the
Great Western Railway, Upton-cum-Chalvey's parish
population had reached 1,502. In 1849, a
branch line was completed from Slough Station to
Windsor and Eton Central railway station for the Queen's greater convenience.
In 1863 Slough became a local government area for the first time, when a Slough Local Board of Health was elected to represent what is now the central part of the modern Borough. This part of Upton-cum-Chalvey Parish became an urban
sanitary district in 1875 and an
Urban District Council area in 1894.
Slough has 96
listed buildings
[2]. There are four
Grade I:
St Laurence's church (Upton), St Mary the Virgin's church (Langley), Baylis House and Godolphin Court; seven
Grade II★ : St Mary's church (Upton-cum-Chalvey), Upton Court, the Kederminster and Seymour Almshouses in Langley, St Peter's church (Chalvey), The Ostrich Inn (Colnbrook), King John's Palace (Colnbrook); and
Grade II listed structures include four
milestones,
Slough station, and Beech, Oak and Linden Houses at Upton Hospital.
1918 saw a large area of agricultural land to the west of Slough developed as an army motor repair depot, used to store and repair huge numbers of motor vehicles coming back from
First World War in
Flanders. In April 1920 the Government sold the site and its contents to the Slough Trading Co. Ltd. Repair of ex-army vehicles continued until 1925 when the Slough Trading Company Act was passed allowing the company (renamed
Slough Estates Ltd) to establish the world's first
Industrial Estate[3]. Spectacular growth and employment ensued, with Slough attracting workers from many parts of the UK and abroad.
After the
Second World War, several further large housing developments arose to take large numbers of people migrating from war-damaged London.
Slough was incorporated into Berkshire in the 1974 local government reorganisation. The old
Municipal Borough was abolished and replaced by a
Non-metropolitan district authority, which was made a Borough by the town's second Royal Charter.
Britwell and
Wexham Court became part of Slough at this time, with their own
parish councils.
On
April 1 1995, the Borough of Slough expanded slightly into
Buckinghamshire and
Surrey, to take in
Colnbrook and
Poyle, which received a joint parish council. Slough became a
unitary authority on
April 1 1998, with the abolition of
Berkshire County Council and the 1973-1998 Borough. The present unitary authority was created a Borough by the town's third
Royal charter.
Economy
The Horlicks factory is a local landmark.
Before the 1800s, the main businesses of Slough were brickfields and agriculture. The bricks for the building of
Eton College were made in Slough. Later, as the
Great West Road traffic increased, inns and pubs sprang up along the road to service the passing trade. Until the town developed as an industrial area,
nurseries were prominent in the local economy;
Cox's Orange Pippin apple was first raised in Colnbrook (not then within Slough) around
1825, and the
dianthus 'Mrs Sinkins Pink' was first raised at some point between
1868[4] and
1883[5] by John Sinkins, the master of the
Eton Union Workhouse[6], which lay in Slough.
During the 1800s the only major employer apart from the brickfields was
James Elliman, who started as a draper in Chandos Street. In 1847, he changed careers and manufactured his and ''Royal Embrocation'' horse liniment from factories in Wellington Street and Chandos Street. Elliman became a major benefactor to the town, and is remembered today in the names of local roads and schools.
In 1906,
James Horlick, one of the founders of the
eponymous malted milk company, opened a purpose-built red-brick factory near to Slough Railway Station to manufacture his malted milk product. Starting in the 1920s,
Slough Estates Ltd, the operator of the original
Slough Trading Estate, created and operated many more estates in the UK and abroad.
The
Slough Trading Estate meant that the town was largely insulated from many of the effects of
recession. For many years Slough's economy was mainly manufacturing based. In the last 20 or so years there has been a major shift from a manufacturing to an information based economy. This has seen the closing down of many factories (some of which have been in Slough for many decades). The factories are rapidly being replaced by office buildings.
Hundreds of major companies have sited in Slough Trading Estate over the years, with its proximity to London
Heathrow Airport and good motorway connections being attractive. In the 1960s
Gerry Anderson's film company was based in Slough, and his
Supermarionation series including ''
Thunderbirds'' were filmed there.
The UK headquarters of
Mars, Incorporated is based in Slough, the main factory having been created in 1932 by
Forrest Mars Sr. after a quarrel with his father,
Frank C. Mars. He proceeded to produce and develop the world famous
Mars Bar in Slough over 70 years ago. The European head offices of major IT companies such as Network Associates, Computer Associates, PictureTel and Compusys (amongst others) are all located in the town.
O2 is headquartered in the town. The town is also home to the
National Foundation for Educational Research, which is housed in The Mere.
In recent years, Slough's manufacturing industries have been in decline, instead being replaced by modern offices, including those of
Nintendo,
Black and Decker, and the UK branch of popular online retailer,
Amazon.com.
Dulux paints are still manufactured in Slough by
Imperial Chemical Industries. Satchwell have been manufacturing electrical and electronic products in Slough since the 1920s, currently focusing on climate controls such as thermostats.
The motor trade has long been represented in Slough.
Citroën assembled cars in a Liverpool Road factory (later used by Mars Confectionery) on Slough Trading Estate, and retain their UK headquarters in the town.
Ford built
Transit vans at their factory in Langley (a former
Hawker Aircraft site from
1936 to the 1950s
[7]) until the site was redeveloped for housing in the 1990s.
Ferrari,
Fiat and
Maserati now have offices in the town.
Slough's transport links make it an ideal location for those working in
London, but looking for more affordable accommodation; as such it attracts a large number of young professionals and families.
Cultural, ethnic, and faith communities
During the
Great Depression of the 1930s, Slough became a haven for unemployed
Welsh people, who walked up the
Great West Road looking for employment.
In the post-war years, immigrants from the
Commonwealth, notably
Anguilla,
Antigua and Barbuda,
India and
Pakistan were attracted to the town, settling predominantly in Chalvey.
In the early 1950s there were a number of Polish refugee camps scattered around the Slough area. As returning to
Poland (then in the
Soviet Bloc) was not considered an option by many of the war-time refugees, many Polish families decided to settle in Slough, an expanding town seeking committed workers and offering a chance to own homes for those prepared to work hard. In time, a Polish speaking
Roman Catholic Parish was established with its own church building. A new wave of Polish migration to Slough has followed since Poland became part of the
European Union.
Slough Council made history by electing the country's first black female mayor,
Lydia Simmons, in 1984.
Slough has the highest percentage of
Sikh residents in the country according to the latest national
census figures (2001). Sikh residents make up 9.1 per cent of Slough’s population, more than any other local authority. Slough also has the highest percentage of
Muslim (13.4 per cent) and
Hindu residents (4.5 per cent) in the South East region.
In 1999, a group of young Sikhs got together to create
Khalsa Aid, an international, non-profit aid and relief organisation.
Heart of Slough
Heart of Slough Concept Art
The
Heart of Slough Project is a highly ambitious, multimillion Pound plan for the redevelopment of Slough's Town Centre. The aim is to create a leading European and national focus, and cultural quarter for creative media, information and communications industries. It will create a mixed-use complex, multi-functional buildings, visual landmarks and a
public space in the
Thames Valley.
Most recently recommendations for the £400 million project have been approved, with work possibly starting in 2008 for completion in 2011.
[8]
Cultural, artistic and literary references
★ 1597: In Act IV, Scene 5
[9] of
Shakespeare's ''
The Merry Wives of Windsor'',
Bardolph is mugged: 'so soon as I came beyond Eton, (cozenors) threw me off, from behind one of them, in a slough of mire'. This could be a reference to Slough. In the same scene Cole-brooke (
Colnbrook) is referenced along with
Reading and
Maidenhead.
★ 1932: (but set in the 26th century) In
Aldous Huxley's ''
Brave New World'' the chimneys of Slough Crematorium, around which
Bernard Marx flies, are used to demonstrate the physio-chemical equality of all people.
[10]
★ 1937: The poet
John Betjeman wrote, in his poem ''
Slough'' as a protest against the 850 factories and a new town in what had been formerly a rural area, and the onslaught of the
suburban lifestyle:
:''Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough''
:''It isn't fit for humans now''
:''There isn't grass to graze a cow.''
:''Swarm over, death!''
:However, on the centenary of the poet's birth, the daughter of the poet apologised for the poem.
Candida Lycett-Green said her father "regretted having ever written it". During her visit, Ms Lycett-Green presented Mayor of Slough David MacIsaac with a book of her father's poems. In it was written: "We love Slough".
[11]
★ 1979: Slough is mentioned by name in the hit single
Eton Rifles by
The Jam from the album ''
Setting Sons'' , in the line "There's a row going on down near Slough"
★ 1991: Film ''
Buddy's Song'' with externals filmed mainly on the
Britwell Estate and the Farnham Road (A355) released.
★ 1996: The
Tiger Lillies' album ''The Brothel to the Cemetery'' includes a track called ''Slough'', probably inspired by Betjeman's poem. The lyrics to the chorus are:
:''Drop a bomb on Slough, Drop a bomb on Slough
:''Drop a bomb on Slough, Drop a bomb on Slough
★ 1998: The song "Costa del Slough" by the rock band
Marillion posits the town as a post-
global warming coastal resort, possibly in a reference to the comedian
Spike Milligan having presented Slough on TV as a holiday resort.
★ 2001, 2002, 2003: The
BBC comedy series ''
The Office'' is set in Slough, reiterating Betjeman's view of the place as a depressing industrial wasteland. In fact the character David Brent comments on Betjeman's poem in the series, and it also appears on the inside sleeve of the video and DVD of Series 1. Foreign versions of the show have transported it to locations with similar reputations, such as
Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Transport
★ To Heathrow Airport: First Berkshire bus routes 75, 76 and 77 serve Slough town centre, Langley and Heathrow.
Taxis and
minicabs are also available at a higher cost.
★ To London: buses are available, but rail is more generally used. See below. Taxis, minicabs and private cars on roads are also used.
Major roads
★ '
M4'
★
★ Junction 5 (Langley & Slough East)
★
★ Junction 6 (Central Slough)
★
★ Junction 7 (Slough West)
★ '
M25' (Via M4)
★ '
M40'
★ '
A4'
★ '
A40'
★ '
A355'
Bus services
Slough Bus Station
★
Slough Bus Service
Rail links
★
Slough Railway Station
★
Windsor branch line
★
Burnham Railway Station
★
Langley Railway Station
Crossrail
A map of Crossrail Line 1.
Slough, along with a number of other boroughs, is bidding to be part of the
Crossrail Project, a new trans-London rail link likely to start construction in the early 2010s:
★ Cross
London Rail Links (Crossrail) is a 50/50 joint venture company formed by
Transport for London (TfL) and the
Department for Transport (DfT).
★ Crossrail is tasked with promoting and developing two new routes through London: Crossrail Line 1 (West-East) and Crossrail Line 2 (NorthEast-SouthWest).
★ Crossrail was allocated a budget of £154m in 2001 by central Government to carry out feasibility work for both Lines 1 and 2, and to acquire Parliamentary powers for Line 1.
Trivia
★ Slough has a strong rivalry with local neighbouring town,
Staines. Both are located near Heathrow and vie for out-of-town businesses moving from
London.
Ali G, a fictional resident of Staines, often pokes fun at Slough and its sports teams.
★ Slough has produced many
Olympic class athletes as part of the "Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow Athletics Club".
★
Time Radio is a local radio station based in Slough.
★ Slough has 42 parks and open spaces plus an ice skating arena where
Jayne Torvill and
Christopher Dean once trained.
★
The Beatles began their May/June 1963 British tour with
Roy Orbison at Slough's Adelphi Cinema, returning there as headliners in their own right on
5 November 1963 [12].
★ According to the
Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) in 2006, Slough is England's least tranquil area
[13] .
★ It is claimed that the musical group,
SL2 (famous for popular song "On a Ragga Tip") are from Slough, taking their name from the postal code in which they lived. However, this is unlikely.
★ Slough has been the subject of much derision. Some references are mentioned above. However, the
BBC aired a four-part series called 'Making Slough Happy', where a team of experts attempted to bring happiness to the whole town. Despite complaints by some residents who said "the series was not particularly representative of the diversity of Slough", this can be contradicted because the sample "50" did provide a cross section of Slough with different ethnic minorities and age groups represented. However, most of the criticism was seen to come from people within Slough while the majority of people outside Slough thought it was quite good, overall it did make a big impact and raised people's awareness of Slough as a whole.
[14].
★ Slough-raised comedian
Jimmy Carr said: "I was born in Slough in the 1970s, if you want to know what Slough was like in the 1970s, go there now".
★ The Slough Sewage Treatment Works between M4 Junc 6 and 7, sometimes releases malodorous fumes detectable to drivers on the nearby M4 motorway, a phenomenon known colloquially as ''The Slough Stench''.
★ The Russian KGB secret service made detailed 1:10,000 maps of most urban areas of the UK, but didn't bother to make a map of Slough.
[15].
Famous people associated with Slough
★
Cecil Aldin (painter of animals and rural life)
★
Gerry Anderson (television drama maker and creator of
supermarionation)
★
Stanley Baldwin (schoolboy at
St Michael's School, Aldin House and later
Prime Minister[16])
★
Steve Bell (political cartoonist)
★ Richard Bentley ('Bentley's', the publishing firm)
[17]
★
Keith Bosley (poet and translator)
★
Fenner Brockway (anti-war activist and politician)
★
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (engineer)
★
Jimmy Carr (entertainer)
★
Alma Cogan (
singer, former pupil at
St Joseph's School)
★ Gregory Edwards (musician)
★
Rod Evans (original lead Singer of
Deep Purple)
★
Tommy Farr (
boxer)
★
Sean Foley (comedian)
[18]
★
Ricky Gervais (as
David Brent) (actor/comedian)
★
Thomas Gray (English poet, classical scholar, and professor of history)
★
Geri Halliwell (entertainer)
★
Victoria (
Hanover) (monarch)
★
Caroline Herschel (astronomer)
★
John Herschel (mathematician and astronomer)
★
William Herschel (astronomer and composer)
★
Mark Hylton (Olympic athlete)
★
Alan Johnson (former Slough
postal worker,
Cabinet minister)
★
Iain Lee (entertainer)
★
Forrest Mars Sr. (entrepreneur)
★
Fiona May (twice world
long jump champion)
★
John Nash (painter)
★
Gary Numan (musician)
★
Henry III (
Plantagenet) (monarch)
★
Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall (
Plantagenet) (Royal aristocrat)
★
Marcia Richardson (Olympic athlete)
★
Mark Richardson (Olympic athlete)
★
Helen Sharman (scientist and astronaut)
★
Kalim Siddiqui (journalist and Muslim activist)
★
Billy Smart, Jr (circus owner)
★
Una Stubbs (actress)
★
Ellen Ternan (actress)
★
Robert Watson-Watt (scientist)
Deaths and funerals in Slough
★
Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis (World War II military commander) died at Wexham Park Hospital in 1969.
★
Brian Connolly (singer with 1970s group
The Sweet) died at Wexham Park Hospital in 1997.
★
Ronnie Kray (East End gangster) died in Wexham Park Hospital in 1995..
★
Peter Osgood (
footballer) died while attending his uncle's funeral in Slough.
★
Princess Margaret (
Windsor) was cremated at Slough Crematorium.
★
Ernie Wise (comedian) died at Wexham Park Hospital in 1999, and was cremated at Slough Crematorium.
Sister cities
Slough is
twinned with:
★ '
Montreuil',
France ''(Since 1988)''
★ '
Riga',
Latvia
See also
★
Electrical telegraph
★
Slough Borough Council
★
Slough local elections
References
1. p 46, ''The History of Slough'', Maxwell Fraser, Slough Corporation, 1973
2. Listed buildings in Slough (referenced 27 November 2006)
3. p 109, ''The History of Slough'', Maxwell Fraser, Slough Corporation, 1973
4. p20, ''The Changing Face of Slough'', Slough Museum, Breedon Books, Derby, 2003
5. p100, ''The History of Slough'', Maxwell Fraser, Slough Corporation, Slough 1973
6. BBC Gardening Plant profiles - Pinks, dianthus (referenced 24 February 2007)
7. p120, ''The Changing Face of Slough'', Slough Museum, Breedon Books, Derby, 2003
8. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/6201145.stm
9. http://william-shakespeare.classic-literature.co.uk/the-merry-wiues-of-windsor/ebook-page-32.asp
10. Brave New World Chapter 5
11. Poetic justice at last for Slough
12. Beatles Tour dates
13. CPRE: Local tranquillity scores
14. Making Slough Happy (BBC News)
15. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/23/kgb_maps_for_sale/
16. p93, ''The History of Slough'', Maxwell Fraser, Slough Corporation, Slough 1973
17. http://www.thamespilot.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=slough&f=generic_theme.htm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&%3Dtheme_record_id=sl-sl-richardbentley
18. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1644941,00.html
External links
Official
★
Slough Borough Council
★
Slough Schools Online
★
Slough Arts Info
★
Slough Council for Voluntary Services
★
Volunteer Centre Slough
★
Slough Community Leisure
Media
★
BBC Radio Berkshire
★
The Slough Express
★
The Slough Observer
★
Time 106.6 commercial radio
Mapping
Community
★
Slough Philharmonic Society
★
Slough History Online
★
The Sunday Session
★
Slough Museum
★
Gallery 435
★
Slough "Town Talk"
★
Polish Association Slough
★
Slough Baha'i Community
★
Khalsa Aid
★
Queensmere and Observatory Shopping
★
Hospital Radio Wexham
★
Aik Saath - Slough's Conflict Resolution Group for Young People
★
Slough: My Town
★
Slough Asian Mela
Festivals and events
★
Slough Borough Council Events Page
★
Fennerfest
★
Slough Asian Mela 2007
Sporting clubs
★
Slough Town Football Club "''The Rebels''"
★
The Slough "''Jets''" Ice Hockey Team
★
Slough Rugby Club
★
Slough Hockey Club
★
Slough Cricket Club
★
Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow Athletics Club
Business
★
Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce
''Heart of Slough'' Project
★
Heart of Slough Flagship
★
Heart of Slough Project Brief
★
Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce ''Vision for Slough''
★
Funding Secured
★
''Slough fights those 'friendly bombs'
★
''Backing for town's £400m makeover''
★
''£17.5m agreed for town's makeover''
Miscellaneous
★
BBC article on the history of Slough
★
Text of Betjeman's ''Slough'' poem
★
The murder of Sarah Hart
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