Stories Of London

SLOUGH SAFETY TOWN – THE SLOUGH EXPERIMENT

Views of Slough during the early 1950s

During our visits, we went to Langley and other areas around Slough to look at the available housing and schools and ended our visits by wandering around the town to check out the shopping.  Between 1955 and 1957, the town was known as Slough Safety Town, as it had been chosen to for a experiment in methods to lower road fatalities.   Seemingly the town had been interested in safety long before this, as the first Zebra Crossing was installed here in 1951 when they were required by law.

Perhaps the most famous Zebra Crossing in the world

Naturally in our wanderings about the town, I found nothing of interest, while my mother was very positive about the place and impressed with most of what she saw.  Actually, although I say that I found nothing of interest, this was not entirely true, but more of that in a later section.

In 1956, High Street Slough was part of the Great West Road, A4, which was the major London-to-Bath Highway, and built in 1925 and opened by King George V and Queen Mary.

The A4 was an extremely busy road and was dangerous to cross.  It would be a number of years before the M4 would be built to take through traffic around the town and area and so help relieve some of the traffic congestion in the town centre.

Apparently the Slough area was plagued with many road accidents and deaths at the time now that the traffic had increased.  The town fathers were aware of the dangers to both pedestrians and drivers and had introduced various bi-laws and campaigns to help reduce the numbers of accidents.

Logo of Safer Place – Slough – launched in February 2012 by Thames Valley Police

One thing that they did to remind the townspeople of the dangers was to install a beacon in the centre of the town.  This beacon took the form of a huge street lamp with a red and a green lamp at its top and was installed at the town centre’s major crossroads, Crown Corner.

Views from the crossroads at Crown Corner during the 1950s
Top Left: looking west from the Crown Corner towards the Bath Road;
Top Right: looking towards Crown Corner from the Crown Corner at the start of the Bath Road
Bottom: looking towards Crown Corner from further along the Bath Road
Unfortunately, these are the best quality photographs that I have been able to find
of Crown Corner.
If any reader has any photographs of the Crown Public House and/or Crown Corner,
I would be happy to hear from you.

When someone was killed on a Slough road, the red light shone to announce the tragedy.  Presumably we, the townsfolk, were meant to hang our heads low and feel shame.  And when no one had been killed for a while, the green lamp was to shine.  I presume now that folks walked with an added spring in their step!  Sadly, I do not recall the green light ever glowing atop that huge pole while I lived in the area.

Another of the safety features of Slough was to install traffic lights every 50 yards or so throughout the length of the High Street.  Naturally this caused much annoyance to drivers. They complained that it took an age to drive from one end to the other.

The traffic lights were fitted with indicators that told pedestrians when it was safe to cross. This was the first time I ever saw …… DONT WALK ….. flashing at me to inform me that I may not cross the narrow road.  What struck me about the sign was the lack of apostrophe. I found its absence irritating and complained at the poor grammar, which was very amusing since, at that time, my written English drove teachers crazy and caused them to hurl my exercise books across the room in frustration, disgust and despair.

The High Street was indeed a nightmare for drivers and pedestrians alike.  As it was the town’s main shopping area, people were constantly overflowing the narrow pavements and spilling into the road much to the irritation of bus drivers and car owners alike. Despite the traffic lights and crossings, pedestrians still zigzagged their way across the road whenever and wherever they chose causing drivers to jam on their brakes and screech to a halt.  As a result, the High Street was busy, noisy and dangerous.

Perhaps not QUITE this busy, but near enough on a Saturday afternoon

As a point of note: despite living at one time at one of the most dangerous crossroads in London (Mile End Gate) and going to school close to another (Gardner’s Corner), I never saw a road accident at either site …… ever!

Mile End Gate (Left) & Gardner’s Corner (Right)
Neither crossroads is as dangerous as they were in the past.
Each has crossings where the pedestrian is told when to cross.

The first road accident that I saw was on the outskirts of Slough in Langley.  I remember that it was a Friday evening and when I came to the London Road (A4), I remember seeing a car smashed to smithereens and a second that had been flipped over.  I did not stay to watch.  I had been brought up to get out of the way and allow the police to work.

The Crown was a large pubic house at the town centre that must have been an inn of some standing on the Great West Road during the days of the coach.  Now it was just another town pub.  However it stood on the corner of the town’s main crossroads and was had become the meeting place of the local Teddy Boys.  The town fathers had metal barriers placed around the perimeter of the crossroads to force pedestrians to use the proper the crossings provided.  These barriers offered an ideal support to lounge against, which the vast numbers of Teddy Boys who hung out here took full advantage of during the 1950s and 1960s.  The townsfolk were not pleased by this vast herd of oddly clad youths and complained bitterly about them.

Teddy Boys (and Girls)

I remember that my parents were surprised to see so many Teddy Boys in one spot.  I don’t believe their number in Bethnal Green was anywhere near as large.  The Teds were a source of interest and wonder to me during at the time.  Since I was young, I was impressed by their apparent sense of rebellion, and besides, they also like Rock ‘n’ Roll.  Eventually, I got to hang out with them, but not for too long since what impressed and interested me changed.  Once I went away to college, I noticed that their numbers dwindling each time I returned for a visit until eventually they disappeared all together!  Evidently, Old Teds, like Old Soldiers, never die ….. they just fade away!

During these visits, we discovered that Slough had the usual shops and department chains: F.W. Woolworths, British Home Stores, Littlewoods and Marks & Spencer.

The Large Department Chains

In addition there were smaller shops specialising in the sale of particular products such as cigarettes, confectionery and clothing together with an endless number of banks and building societies.

High Street Banks

Building Societies

At this time, I was not used to such a well-planned shopping precinct.  I had been brought up with street markets and was used to the stalls of The Waste on Whitechapel Road, Bethnal Green Road, Roman Road and the fabulous Ridley Road!  Later I discovered Slough’s Covered Market, which although refreshing to find, did not quite equal those of my childhood.

A Few of the High Street Shops

Slough, like most towns of the time, had its own unique department store, Suters, where supposedly quality goods were sold for the discerning customer.   The East End had unique department stores too.  There was Wickham’s in Mile End, Dawson’s on the City Road and a store in Clapton whose name sadly I can never recall.  However the clientele of these East End stores were nowhere near as snooty as those of Suters.

High Street Slough with Suters on the Left

Suters had apparently occupied its premises on the High Street for many years.  It was a tradition for the more affluent inhabitants of Old Slough to shop there rather than travel to London whenever they required something a little more special.  These people rarely shopped in Woolworths!  I found the shop and the goods for sale to be both old fashioned and expensive and never bought a thing there.  However, once I was older and whenever I was trying to impress a young lady, we would take luncheon or perhaps morning coffee in its restaurant.

One of the things that really helped put me off Slough when I first visited it was the women of Old Slough.  What I did not know before moving here was that the townsfolk were very much miffed that their town had been chosen for the construction of housing estates to be filled with vast numbers of Londoners who either had lost their homes during the war or else were being re-housed since their homes were considered no longer unsuitable for living.  Bringing together two peoples of such different backgrounds is rather like a cold and hot mass of air coming together: sparks will fly.

Tweeds & Teds

The dislike of Newcomers was expressed most loudly by the middle-aged and old women of Old Slough.  These women were born here or nearby and had lived here or in its vicinity all of their lives. These ladies had grown angry and more than a tad bitter at what they saw as an invasion of dirty, ignorant lay-abouts and gutter-snipes from London who were now overrunning their town.

During our early years in Slough, we were often insulted by such ladies. They were annoyed that buses were constantly full and that no one stood up and gave them their seat. They complained about the children and said that they were noisy and lacking manners. They complained about a host of other things too.

These women were easy to recognise since they had a uniform and wore snarls on their faces.  They all seemed to carry silly little baskets, as my father called them, on their arm into which they placed their purchases.  On their heads, they wore wooly hats or berets in dull boring colours.  Most were clad in long shapeless swagger coats that hid the fact that they were women or else beige or blue raincoats both of which were too long.  They also wore thick dark brown stockings and sensible shoes with a slight heel and more often than not carried umbrellas, which I think were held more as a weapon than for future protection against rain.  They all seemed to have angular features with prominent pointed noses and had either no lips or else thin ones.  As a result, they never smiled.

Fashions of the 1950s

To be fair, and I hate to be fair to these women, many of their complaints had merit: buses were constantly full and town services were stretched to the maximum and insufficient for the needs for the growing population.  Despite the influx of a great many new residents over a short period of time, few increases in any amenities were made. Had the authorities made some provision to accommodate the increase in population, Old Slough and Newcomers might have learned to get along faster than they did.

I remember these women with no affection and neither did my father.  He disliked them perhaps more than me.  Although a working man, my father had middle class pretensions about him.  My mother believed that this came from his being born in Dulwich!  I agreed with her, but I fear that his dislike stemmed and was fueled each time these pointed-nosed women rejected his attempts to engage them in simple polite conversation.  My father was not used to being rebuffed and took such an affront personally and deeply.  He would cause my mother and myself to almost choke with laughter when he went into a rant about them.  He channeled much of his anger against their baskets, which for some unknown reason, seemed to annoy him most of all.

My Father sat in a Wicker Chair
The woodcut comes from The Project Gutenberg E Book of A Thousand Ways to please a Husband

Slough High Street was an extremely long street.  However, those shops furthest from the Crown were at a distinct disadvantage since by the time most people got halfway along the street to where F.W, Woolwich once was, they had generally made their purchases and were ready to go home.  Shops here sold things like wallpaper and curtain material.  One of the last shops in the High Street was a very dull music shop, Bucks Music Stores.  Several years later, I was to work here on Saturdays, but the shop had changed somewhat by then.

The Erstwhile Bucks Music Stores now a Polish Emporium

The North Side of the Far End of the High Street
looking from West (1) to East (4)
1: The Grove Parade
3: Site of the erstwhile Century Theatre
4: The Empire Multiplex (once the site of the Carlton Ballroom)
in the Queensmere Shopping Centre

Queensmere Shopping Centre in 2011
(Left): one entrance to the Mall is via MacKenzie Street, which once lead to Slough Station
There is now a second Shopping Mall in Slough, The Observatory,
where once stood the Century Theatre

One shop also at the far end of the High Street that dares to be mentioned was the Slough & District Cooperative Society Store.  We did not have a Co-Op in Bethnal Green and the only one I had seen up to that time was the Royal Arsenal Cooperative Society in Woolwich.  I cannot say that the East End of London – by which I mean Bethnal Green, Stepney, Shorditch and Hackney – was overloaded with Co-Ops.  However, my mother soon learned from neighbours and others that she had to join the Co-Op since they gave a Divi!

This is the only photograph I have been able to find of the Co-Op Store in Slough

(I have included this banner here since I like it!) 

I remember soon after moving to Slough accompanying my mother to the Slough & District Cooperative Society Offices  and, after filling out a number of papers, being given our Divi Number.  For years my mother was part of the Profit Sharing-cum-Rewards Programme that allowed her, as a member-cum-shareholder, to reap a few pennies at the end of the year and so partake of the profits made by the company.  Later she used to sit at her kitchen table after putting her groceries away and stick the trading stamps that she was given into a book, which were redeemable for money at the Offices.

The Co-Op Slough  was not a particularly appealing department stores.  Like Suters, it was stocked with old-fashioned furniture and clothes.  Certainly nothing that appealed to me.  Again, like Suters, it was also filled with Old Slough  customers and populated by snooty sales personnel.

About halfway along the High Street, was the Carlton Ballroom.  I was a bit too young to be especially interested in it when I first moved to Slough.  However not long after our move, I started to go there on Sunday afternoons and occasionally during the week.  Some years later, I saw The Rolling Stones there who were on the verge of gaining nationwide prominence.  The ballroom was unfortunately demolished after I left Slough to make way for the Queensmere Shopping Mall  and a Community Centre with a theatre, which was converted into the Maybox Cinemas in 1987, which would be the first of many names for this multiplex.

I remember walking past the Carlton Ballroom with my parents during my first visit to Slough and noticing the Century Cinema.  I was not overly impressed, but I suspect that this was due to my mood that was black from the thought of moving out of London.

Little did I realise what a gem this cinema was until I finally went inside.  And little did I realise that this cinema was supposed to be referred to as a theatre!

—ooOoo—

As a point of interest, at sometime in the 1970’s, Suters became part of the Debenham group of stores and the Co-Op moved out of Slough Centre and opened a huge stores where the old Dolphin Stadium once stood.

—ooOoo—

We moved to Langley on 6th November, 1956 and I attended the Orchard Secondary Modern School for one term and then went to Slough Technical School, which at the time was on William Street in the centre of Slough, just a few yards from Crown Corner.  Sadly, in July 1957, the school closed down and was demolished to make way for the new College of Further Education.   In September 1957, we went to a new school close to Farnham Road, just behind Slough Community Centre, which was then called Slough Technical High School (the school is now known as Herschel Grammar School).

Slough Community Centre, Farnham Road
(demolished in 1997)

The Erstwhile Slough Technical High School and now Herschel Grammar School
Top Left: main entrance to the school; Top Right: a girl’s class in the 1960s
Bottom: scenes from the 1961 school production of Arsenic & Old Lace

I remained in Langley until October 1962 when I went away to college.  Naturally I returned to Langley periodically during my later education years, but finally left on the 6th November, 1968.  After that, I only returned periodically until September 1992, when my mother moved to the U.S.

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THE SLOUGH GRANADA THEATRES & MISS CANDY

PAGE TWO: THE CENTURY THEATRE OF SLOUGH

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