Book Review – City of Coventry Municipal Handbook 1955-56
coventrysociety In the days before the Internet people got their information from books! The Municipal Handbook is a combination of reference book and pocket diary. Coming in at 6 by 3½…
Heritage and History
The Beech Tree on Wheels
The following story was reported in the Coventry Herald in October 1850: NOVEL TRANSPLANTATION. “A singular scene was exhibited through a line of the principal streets in this city, on…
The Intriguing Story of Kirby House
Fifty years ago, Kirby House in Little Park Street Coventry was threatened with demolition. The campaign group that sought to save it became the Coventry Society, enjoying its half centenary…
Recent Discoveries at the Charterhouse
Archaeologists working on the £8m restoration of The Charterhouse have uncovered rare 14th century remains that shed new light on life in historic Coventry. The Grade I listed former Carthusian…
The Quakers in Coventry
Quakers (The Religious Society of Friends) began with a Leicestershire weaver’s son, George Fox, who was born in Fenny Drayton in 1624. Fox’s Journal mentions his five visits to Coventry,…
The Centenary of a Planning Controversy
Canley Gardens Centenary: Echoes of today’s controversial planning compromises Innis Road, Bates Road, Nightingale Lane, The Riddings A hundred years ago this month the controversy surrounding the development of Canley…
Progress Despite the Lock-down!
Where in Coventry is this? No this is not another lock-down quiz! This is an actual picture of progress with the regeneration scheme for Burges and Hales Street. Despite the…
Coventry’s Secret Printing Press
Although the days of Good Queen Bess are portrayed as a golden age, particularly for the arts, exploration and commerce, it was not an age of free speech. It was…
John Rastell 1475-1536
From his prison cell, John Rastell reflected bitterly on the crushing nature of his downfall after a life of startling achievement. He was, he wrote, ‘now by long imprisonment brought…
Going Smokeless in Coventry
It was 69 years ago that Coventry became the first UK city to go smokeless. March 1st, 1951 became ‘No Smoke Day’, heralding Coventry city centre as the UK’s first…