Old Coventry Photographs

I have created this small blog to display some photographs of Coventry (and Bedworth) that my grandfather William Trinder took in the in the 20's, 30's and 40's, as I would like to share them with anyone who is interested in the city. I welcome all comments re clarification or identification, as I have not lived there for many years, although I regularly visited family but didn't get to spend much time in the town. I am purely going by memory or what my father Len told me.

This picture is of the Gas and Electricity Board in Corporation Street. When my grandparents moved to the city, when Will was appointed to his job at Longford Power Station in 1919, this building must have been only a few years old. Please note the Olympic torches at either side of the window.

Was it still there in the 1950's? I have a recollection of going with my mother to pay bills, but was it here? Or was it cleared for modernisation in the 1930's like much of Coventry? Or blitzed?

There is one lone car and one lone person in the picture - how things have changed.

The Golden Cross Inn in 1930's. I spent many happy hours here in the early 60's, but I believe it is now unused.

Note the gas lamp on the corner of the building opposite.

Thank you to David Trinder for tracking down the information on this wonderful wooden tower. It was a belfry where the old bells of Trinity Church were housed, constructed in 1865 at the left of Trinity Church. It survived World War 2 but was demolished possibly in the 1960s.

Thanks also to Paul Buttle for the information on the tower's demolition in 1966-67.

I should entitle this Cook's Street Gate with a bicycle.

I have checked more recent photos of Cook's Gate, as my father called it, and there are no longer any cottages attached.

The small wall to the right was clearly built from the old stones.

The Cathedral before the blitz.

How poignant it is that my grandparents lived through the first world war in rural Gloucestershire, losing close family (my grandfather's brother Jack) and loved ones (my grandmother's first fiancee Charlie who returned from war but died within weeks from Spanish flu), and moved to Coventry to make a fresh start only to see it's centre and people ravaged by the blitz. Their house in Longford suffered damage and they had to move in with neighbours while it was repaired.

Broadgate in the 1930's.

Apart from the classical fronted bank in the distance this scene is unrecognisable to me, being a post-war child.

Note the overhead cables providing power for the trams.

UK cities are now returning to electronic public transport, 60 years after scrapping it.

Cottages in Collycroft Bedworth. The cottages had subsidence due to to the mines underneath.

Another view of subsiding cottages or it could be a farm house. Perhaps the hamlet was demolished?

Collycroft with the 'slag heaps' (spoil) behind.

Longford St Thomas's church.

I am unsure what the occasion was, perhaps a wedding?

Hurst Road Longford under flood.

The family home was just after the bend in the road on the right. There is a boy on the wall, perhaps my father or his brother. I remember the two old cottages on the far left very clearly and the smell of creosote, so they must have been wooden or wooden clad. There was a stream just before the field to the left, so it must have burst its banks. To the right through the gate was Bray's farm. The two little boys front left are unknown but must have been local. Although the 20's built houses are still there and the street still has some Victorian cottages, the vista beyond is completely changed. The fields are now a housing complex.

This one may be of the Burgess? There is a tram in the distance and the street is still cobbled. Even when I was a child the city was still very smart, with high quality shops and stores. What is now Primark was Owen Owens, the sister store of which was in Richmond London. The precinct had some lovely shops, including Wades furniture shop which stocked G Plan and other fashionable brands.

After the blitz.

Post blitz scene.

Longford Power Station, where my grandfather worked. Although Longford was a village, there were many industries there including a glue factory and a gas works. I can still remember the smell! All this was prior to the environmental protection act of course.

The Memorial Park with the family car in the foreground.

A steam locomotive hauling passenger carriages. This would probably be on the Birmingham - London main line, which was electrified in 1967.

And finally some industrial shots of equipment inside Longford power station.