Slough Safety Town & The Teds

I remember going to Slough on a Saturday night in 1958. I was fifteen years old. My hair was well greased and combed back at the sides and ending in a D.A. at the back together a quiff at the front. I was dressed in my best jacket, which was far too big for me, but that was the style then, and with very tight drainpipe trousers. This had been done by a woman who charged me a mere five shillings for her work. I not only felt good, I looked sharp too. The effect was brought to perfection thanks to the almost new pair of crepe shoes my uncle gave me in a rare moment of generosity. I took the 81 bus to Slough and was flattered when the bus conductor told me I looked like Terry Dene, who was enjoying success at the time. I met a mate at Crown Corner who was similarly dressed, but without the crepe shoes. We planned to linger at the Corner since this was the place to be in those days. We scanned the group hanging about the Corner, but we did not recognise anyone we knew. We did not care, since it was cool just being there and we past our time smoking and talking while we waited for the girls that we were taking out that night. The Crown Corner was the centre of Slough in those days and it was where the Teds hung out. The Old Crown public house dominated the area. It was a nice pub set back from the High Street and Windsor Road and had hanging baskets with geraniums during the summer months. In the centre of the crossroads was a very high lamppost with a light at the top. The light was either red or white depending on whether someone had been killed on the roads of Slough recently. The town authorities liked to advertise the town as Slough Safety Town and had introduced speed limits that were strictly enforced and other measures to keep this light white. In the 1950s Teds were the height of cool. There were some Beats around, but they were banished to the Sorrento coffee bar in William Street or the Cantata in Eton High Street. I was not impressed with Beats, but my interest in them would come later once I discovered Jazz. There was always a large number of Teds, day and night, learning against the barricades that had been strategically placed around the perimeter of the Crown Corner to stop the populace from crossing the road whereever they chose. Most people were not happy with the Teds lingering on the Corner and tried to avoid passing them. Although the Teds provided a dazzling array of fashion statements, they looked dangerous, which only served to make their style of life more appealing to us. Their hair was piled high on their heads and combed back into the perfect D.A. They wore very long jackets of a variety of colours, but all had a black velvet collar and the tightest of drainpipes that made mine look baggy. I wondered how they got then on and off. Their shoes were a wonder to us since they were a dazzling variety, but all had very thick crepe soles. This display of haute couture never failed to impress me. Most people dismissed the Teds as lay-abouts who never worked despite their obviously having money to keep themselves dressed well. Some believed them to be crooks, but I didn’t think this credible since the Slough crime rate was not higher than elsewhere then. We never got to join the inner circle of Teds. As time passed and fashion changed, we became absorbed with other interests. Meanwhile Slough underwent changes thanks to the construction of Slough College and the widening of Wellington Street. The number of Teds on the Corner began to dwindle without my noticing and eventually disappeared altogether when The Crown was demolished and the area redeveloped and replaced by a smaller pub and offices. By the time I went away to college, there had been no Teds hanging about the Crown Corner in a while. It would seem that their time had passed. Today Slough continues to undergo reconstruction. Although the High Street is still lined with shops, there are now several Shopping Malls leading off it. Many of the department stores have also long since disappeared, as has David Greg’s and all of the old record shops. The High Street is no longer part of the major artery to the West, as the M4 took on this role sometime in the 1960s. The beacon in the Town Centre has long since gone and the town is no longer known as Slough Safety Town. My parents are buried in the cemetery just off Stoke Road and each year I make a journey there from my home abroad. I always spend part of my visit walking around Slough and noting the changes and wonder who is responsible for them. Whenever I come to the Crown Corner, I cannot but think of the vibrancy that once existed here and of the Teds and wonder what became of them. I expect that they slipped into the kind of life that we all have enjoyed. Most probably married, had children, went to work and then, like me, retired. Still, I am sure that despite their age, I cannot but feel that many retained the rebellious side of their nature and perhaps still see themselves, as they once were when they dressed in their finery and piled their hair high on their heads and hung out with their mates on Crown Corner – well, at least, I hope they do!