Surrey is a county in South East England. With about 1.2 million people, Surrey is the twelfth most populous English county and has the highest GDP per capita of any English county, some of the highest property values outside Inner London, and also the highest cost of living outside the capital.
After gaining his degree in the summer of 1961, Ken Barlow applied for the job of teaching history at a public school in the county. He gained an interview quickly and travelled down for it within a week. Frank Barlow thought that he wouldn't have a good salary to show for three years at Manchester University. Ken was shortlisted for the position and given a second interview after which he was told any offer would only be made after Christmas. Events took an unexpected turn when his mother Ida died under the wheels of a bus in September 1961 and, thinking that he couldn't leave Frank on his own, Ken turned down the role but hid the reason from his disappointed father, who bitterly blamed him for his lack of get up and go.