Staines-upon-Thames is a market town in northwest Surrey, England, around 17 miles west of central London. It is in the Borough of Spelthorne, at the confluence of the River Thames and Colne. Historically part of Middlesex, the town was transferred to Surrey in 1965. The town became a centre for linoleum manufacture in 1864, when Frederick Walton established a factory on the site of the 13th-century Hale Mill. At the end of the 20th century, Staines became infamous as the home town of the fictional film and television character, Ali G.