VE Day 1945 onwards by Jim Bowens

Northern Rd street outing around 1946

I was born early 1943 in Nothern Rd Manor Park. My earliest memory is of the 1945 VE street party on Northern Rd with trestle tables every few yards packed with children being waited on by the adults, I have some photos. The local farmers used to drive their sheep along Northern Rd taking up the whole road and green. They may have been on their way to the market in William St or just moving to different fields. At the end of Northern Rd at the junction with Stoke Poges lane, there was an old wooden bungalow where the 'chicken lady' lived and she would sell the eggs to the locals. Does anyone remember her and what her name was? The Northern Rd familes all got on well together and I remember the whole road went on a outing in 1946, probably to Brighton or Bognor using I think Windsorian Coaches who were based in William St. In the photo, yours truly is at the front to the right holding my mums and and a bucket and spade.

My parents moved into Northern Rd around 1932/3 and my mum lived there till she died in 2004 aged 93.

Northern Rd gang

There were very few cars around but lots of buses to Slough servicing many areas such as Farnham Rd, Oatlands Drive, Elliman Ave etc. On a Saturday it was quite usual to see 3 usually full buses in Northern Rd taking locals to Slough. During the summer holidays the children used to spend time in the fields around Grays Elegy up Stoke Poges lane, keeping an eye on birds nests, chasing butterflies and climbing the monkey puzzle tree in the adjacent cowfield.

In St Giles cemetery I remember there was a childs grave which had a large base stone on which there were stone figures of all his favourite toys like a windmill, horse, train etc; I went there recently and all of the toys had gone, stolen probably which was sad to see.

Racetrack around Baylis area

I also used to go to a makeshift cycle racing track which was in the Oatlands Drive, Bayliss Court area and I remember some of the kids were very competitive I went to William Penn nursery at 3, St Anthonys RC, them William Penn seniors then finally Slough Tech in William St which was formally the Tonman Moseley school for 1 year until it was demolished around 1956/7 to make way for the new Slough College of FE. I liked it there as many of us were trainspotters and the playground was adjacent to the loco sheds and turntable. We would sit watching the trains eating our fresh doughnuts bought from Decies Cake shop on William St. Slough Tech was relocated to the rear of the Social Centre on the Farnham Rd and I remember the headmaster as Jack Humphries I had a bit of a mispent youth spending a lot of time playing snooker in the 'Cue Hall' (later the Slough Snooker Spot) in Farnburn Ave and I remember playing the then world snooker champion John Pullman in an exhibition match. The proprietor was a chap named Ross Vallance who also lived in Farnburn Ave.

Station Jim

I was an apprentice at The Rheostatic Company (later called Satchwell Controls) from 1959 to 1964 and my brother was an apprentice at GD Peters coachworks by Slough Station. When I went to the station I allways went to see 'Station Jim' (fundraising dog celebrity) in his showcase on the platform; I think he's still there. Slough High St was not pedestrianised at that time and I remember when the council installed loads of pedestrian controlled traffic lights along its whole length which caused a lot of frustration for motorists at the time. The shops were mostly small retailers with canopies and 2 or 3 larger stores like BHS, Woolworths, Co-op etc. My mum worked in the Home & Colonial shop which sold groceries and lovely smelling coffee; it was situated very near the Leopold Insitute. My mum Rose was also famous for her wedding cakes and the majority of local couples had her make their cake; she even made one for the Mayor of Slough and I have the letter from him thanking her.

Many of the buildings were demolished along with the Carlton Ballroom ( saw many famous bands there including Gene Vincent) to make way for the then Waitrose store and later the new precinct.

Further east along the High St on the right was the Central Hall where the schools used to hold their carol services. Further down still on the corner just before Slough Greyhound stadium was Coopers Joke Shop which was run by Tommy Coopers brother, One of my favourite memories was that of Agars Plough on Eton playing fields held every year and I loved the display tents and the miniature steam railway that went around the perimeter. I have tried to get photos and accounts of Agars Plough on the internet and other sources but there doesn't seem to be any information.

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