‘Chanan House’, corner of High St Chalvey.

 

A distinct Eastern influence on the design of this building near the end of Chalvey’s High Street gives a nod to Slough’s second largest ethnic demographic. With Slough’s Asian population now having been an integral part of Slough for some decades it will be interesting to see if any more Eastern motifs will find their way into the architecture, hopefully in something more inspiring than the fried chicken and kebab shops pictured above (and preferably leaving out the Delhi-style cabling we can see snaking off the front of the building). 'Regeneration’ is in the cards for Chalvey– will the blueprints allow any cultural reflection of the people who live there? Or will it be more bland, generic buildings copy 'n’ pasted from the last development?

Quite a hash has been made of Chalvey’s traffic system, which has become a long-standing gripe of the locals and of anyone trying to pass through and keep their patience at the same time. The confused arrangement of strips, islands and markings shown in the foreground above is but a taste of the chaotic system that sees near-daily traffic jams extend for hundreds of yards up the adjoining Ledger’s Rd. As a result of this poor arrangement, the passage of pedestrians, cycles and cars around this corner has taken on a kind of Darwinian aspect; mothers with prams stare down cars until they can cross, while bikes mount the pavement sending pedestrians whirling, unless they are taken out beforehand by suddenly-opened parked car doors. Rock, paper, scissors.