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Slough Leasing

Did You Know?

The very first zebra crossing was invented in Slough at The Road Research Laboratory in Langley. Sadly, the original, created in 1951, is no longer in existence as the area has since been pedestrianised.

The modern plastic wheelie bin was invented by the Slough based company, Frank Rotherham Mouldings, on March 12th, 1968. It was initially used only for the movement of refuse from one area to another inside the factory. However, the novel design was spotted by a sharp-eyed Health and Safety Inspector.

One piece of Slough history that everyone should know about is the stuffed dog which stands proudly in a glass case on Platform 5. The dog was a canine collector for the Great Western Railway Widows and Orphans Fund from 1894 until his death in 1896. After his death, he was placed on display in a glass case with a money box to allow collection for the fund after his death.

The Twix was invented at the Mars factory in Slough in 1967 and went on sale in the UK that year. In Europe it was sold under the name 'Raider'. The chocolate bar wasn't introduced in America until the end of the 1970s.

Slough has the highest concentration of UK HQs of global companies outside London. Slough Trading Estate is the largest industrial estate in single private ownership in Europe, with over 17,000 jobs in 400 businesses.

When did Slough's history start? In 1086 William the Conqueror's Domesday Book lists some of the landowners in 'Upton', but the first recorded mention of Slough was in 1196, when it was spelled 'Slo'.

Thunderbird II takes off during filming in Slough in 1965.  The world-famous exploits of International Rescue were developed and filmed in the humble surroundings of Slough Trading Estate. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson were able to create the extraordinary world of the Tracey family and their arch enemy - The Hood - in APF's studios between 1964 and 1966.

Brilliantly, snooker was not only invented in Slough, it was invented by man called Neville Chamberlain. Very much not the Prime Minister who infamously spoke of "peace for our time" before the start of World War Two, Mr Chamberlain was born in Upton Park in 1856.In his adult years, he combined two existing forms of billiards to come up with snooker, thus creating one of the only TV sports where the crowd are made to sit in silence.

William Herschel, one of the greatest astronomers in history, spent most of his life living in Slough. In 1781, he was observing the night sky using his homemade telescope, when he noticed a very faint object. He initially thought it was a new comet, but it actually turned out to be the planet now known as Uranus.

Comedian and actress, Tracey Ullman was born in Slough and spent her early years here.
She went on to work with other comedy greats such as Rik Mayall, Lenny Henry and French & Saunders before starring in her own comedy series in America, The Tracey Ullman Show.