Time for rebirth in Slough?

When you mention Slough, most English readers will immediately think of David Brent and his team from The Office – the BBC sit-com.

Readers with a more literary inclination may call to mind the words of John Betjeman. His 1937 poem ‘Slough’ began:

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!

Meanwhile, readers from America and elsewhere may simply be wondering what the tiny borough ever did to offend Betjeman, or indeed, how the word should be pronounced. (To rhyme with cough, rough, through, though or bough? The answer is the final one; honest.)

Slough, in the county of Berkshire, has not always had the reputation that it lives with today. Early records indicate that an area known as ‘Slo’ existed in 1196, but when stage coaches travelling from London began passing through the area during the 17th century, it became a more well known location. Indeed, in 1849 a rail station was established in Slough, and by 1918 the Army had based a motor repair depot on agricultural land here.

This land was later sold, and eventually became the world’s first industrial estate, drawing a large number of workers to the area.

The Slough Trading estate, along with other industrial areas nearby, have been home to factories producing Horlicks, Mars bars, Ford Transit Vans, and Dulux paint.

However, the decline of industry has caused more than a little bad press for the borough. The comedian Jimmy Carr, born and raised in the area, famously joked “If you want to know what Slough was like in the 1970s, go there now” – meanwhile the Campain to Protect Rural England rated Slough as being England’s least tranquil area.

With new hi-tech companies such as Amazon and Nintendo choosing Slough for their UK offices, and investment from businessmen such as Asif Aziz, Slough may just find itself to be a region of impressive change over the next few years. But will it last, or will we see a return to the misery of Ricky Gervais’ comedy? Only time will tell.