After Lady Godiva, the elephant is perhaps the best-known emblem of the city. A new book has recently been published about the myriad of elephants around the city. CovSoc founder member Paul Maddocks wrote the Foreword for the book and tells us more about it.
This book by Scott Duffin and Adam Wood is titled ‘Elephants of Coventry’. It contains pictures of the various elephants around the city, including one outside the Council house, the Belgrade Theatre and at various sporting clubs and pubs. It also has various facts about the animal and its role in Coventry’s history.
The elephant is featured in Coventry’s coat of arms and is also a prominent part of Coventry Rugby Club’s badge.
Paul says “I have seen and handled the book. It’s a good size and makes a good coffee table book. It is about an inch thick and heavy. It’s got lots of good colour photographs and a lot of simple information and captions. What I particularly like is a section towards the back which covers the disappearing history of Coventry and even has a photograph of the Litten Tree and its history before it goes.”
According to the Coventry Observer, photographer and historian Scott Duffin first took an interest in the animal’s significance to the city in 2020 after seeing several images of various local pictures and carvings of an elephant on the Visit Historic Coventry Facebook page.
Scott then set off on a mission to photograph every elephant in the city.
Author Adam Wood bumped into Scott at the demolition of the city’s historic Black Horse pub in January and offered to help collate his massive catalogue of images into a book.
Scott told the Observer: “The elephant is in so many elements of Coventry, its history and its culture. This has been a really exciting project and I know Coventrians in general really appreciate learning about the city’s heritage, so I hope they like the book.”
Adam added: “Everyone we’ve approached for information has been fantastic. The elephant and its relevance to Coventry is something everyone can get invested in.”
The book is available to pre-order now. There is also a calendar for 2024 and a 16-page colouring book. Future projects could also include a walking map or elephant-themed clothing.
They will be selling copies at the market in Broadgate between December 11 and 17.
Visit http://www.CoventryElephants.com to pre-order the book.
If you pre order your book now for £20 you get the book in the hardback version, later copies will be in paperback. The 2024 ‘Elephants of Coventry’ Calendar (UK post) is £9.99. The ‘Elephants of Coventry’ 16-page A4 Colouring Book is £7.50.