A local guide to Slough (Central)
As a result, affordable housing in the area is in high demand, especially amongst workers looking to reduce their daily commute, and relatively high in price.
For example, according to a well-known property website, the price of a semi-detached property in Slough has increased by 115% over the past seven years.
By comparison, house prices in Reading, another of Berkshire’s major economic hotspots, have risen by only 80% over the same period of time.
Over the next decade, the town is set to be subject to major revamp as part of the Heart of Slough project, in a bid to attract more people and businesses to the area.
Costing £400million, the project will see 1,500 new homes being built in the area, along with a new bus station, library, restaurant quarter and 34,000 square metres of new office space.
The area has been an economic epicentre since the 13th century when brick making was Slough’s major employment industry.
At its peak, one firm, Slough and Langley Brickfields, were producing over 14million bricks a year and supplied the bricks needed to build Eton College.
However, despite being buoyed by the arrival of the Great Western Railway in 1838 and, then the opening of the Slough branch of the Grand Union Canal in 1882, brick making in the area came to an end just after the Second World War.
But, rather than this leading to a downturn in the area’s economic activity, other industries were already starting to thrive in the area, thanks in no small part to the founding of the groundbreaking Slough Trading Estate in 1920.
Five years later, this led to a spectacular period of economic and residential growth in the area, which only accelerated once the Second World War came to an end.
This was as people from London, made homeless by the Blitz, and large number of Welsh people came here to work and make the area their home.
The setting up of refugee camps for the Polish and Ukrainians during the Second World War also led to many of them deciding to stay on and work in Slough afterwards.
This economic migration continued on during the 1950s, when workers from the West Indies, India and Pakistan, arrived in Slough in search of a new life.
All of this has combined to make Slough the industrial-centric town it is today, and led to it being labelled the “Most Ethnically Diverse Local Authority Area Outside of London.”
As a result, those who enjoy fine food should find themselves spoilt for choice in terms of the variety of fare on offer in Slough, which includes specialist Polish food stores, Indian restaurants, and some great gastropubs serving British cuisine.
In terms of nightlife, the town is home to a good selection of pubs and bars, and with Windsor and its accompanying hot spots near by, residents find plenty to occupy themselves with.
The town centre is also a bit of shopping hub, with major chain stores and independent retailers lining Slough High Street or taking up residence in its two main shopping centres: The Observatory and The Queensmere.
Also, lining the A4 towards Maidenhead, there are also a couple of retail parks and two major supermarkets within the locality.
The area’s good transport links mean that Windsor and Reading are only a short distance away by train, and London is easily accessible by road via the M4.
Despite Slough’s reputation for industry, the area is also home to 42 parks and areas of open space, showing that there is tranquillity to be had amongst the area’s urban sprawl.