AN ARTIST is showing residents their town as they have never seen it before – as it may have existed in Norman times almost 1,000 years ago.

Sukhpal Grewal, 62, opened his Slough Project exhibition at The Curve on Saturday, which is composed of a series of acrylic paintings depicting how Slough may have looked in 1066, following the Norman invasion, through to the present day and the future.

Mr Grewal, of Middle Green Lane, Langley, was inspired after learning about the town’s history during the summer from Eleanor Cryer MBE, the chair of Slough University of the Third Age (U3A) and Langley Neighbourhood Forum.

Mrs Cryer said: “People thought Slough started with the Trading Estate but it started more than 800 years earlier.

“Slough was mentioned in the Domesday Book (Census by William the Conqueror)).”

Family and friends surrounded Mr Grewal at the opening of his exhibition, including his elderly mother Jatinder, who turned 88 the same day, wife Tally, daughters Alina and Rianna, son-in-law Dave and nephew, Karan.

Mr Grewal said of his mother: “She is struggling with her memory a little but has been a very strong influence in our lives.”

Mr Grewal only moved to Slough around 14 years ago from Hounslow after originally emigrating from Tanzania, east Africa, 35 years ago.

It was a chance project as he had mentioned to Mrs Cryer, following his recent retirement from the Civil Service, that he did not know how he was going to spend his time in Slough.

He said: “I learnt how to paint in India and have continued to paint all my life. Now I teach a small group at U3A. The more I do with the group, the more I learn myself.

“I have lived here for about 14 years now and thought Slough gets a lot of bad press for itself.

“I just wanted to challenge that because having retired now and met with people in Slough I think it is a wonderful thing to be made to challenge ourselves and our own perception of it (the town). It looks at Slough in a slightly different way.”

The first painting shows one of the town’s oldest buildings, St Lawrence’s Church in Upton Road, which is known to be at least 800 years old, as Norman workers cultivate the land nearby. Mr Grewal said: “The fourth canvas finishes with an aerial view of how Slough is today and you can see St Lawrence’s Church so it goes full circle.”

All of the paintings, including a number of digital ones, are for sale with proceeds going towards charity, Slough Foodbank. The exhibition is open until the end of January 2018.