More mystery scenes

Persuasive argument MR though that building style was quite common. However the building to the left is not like the first building in the mystery photo and appears too narrow to be the plot for it (in early maps it was a road/path). The building to the left of that looks of a similar build to the William Hill so doesn't look like it was a knock down and rebuild. Also, there is a sight line to the two factories in Gosford Street, wasn't that visible in 1927? There's no obvious factory in the old photo though it may be obscured by one of the nearer buildings. Hmm. Also, looking at Old Maps, that whole section was made of very regular shaped buildings, no hint that there were medieval sections amongst new build. It doesn't rule out Far Gosford but it doesn't look like that bit of it.

I have found these 2 pictures Helen, in books so I may have to remove them. One is a shot from about the same spot as the other one. You can see the whole of the pub on the left. Unfortunately it does not say where it was taken. The second one only helps in that I think it eliminates Gosford Street. This picture says Gosford Street 1927, looking from the City along Far Gosford Street passing the Crown Cinema and All Saints School is on the right at the corner of Vecqueray Street. I noticed there are no tram lines, no street furniture. The road is not cobbled and no wide pavements so I think you can eliminate this spot from your list. I have looked through a lot of my books but there are not many streets with houses just 2 storeys. Also on this picture there are blinds on some of the shops, but none on the one you are trying to identify.

The tramlines ran from Far Gosford Street into Lower Ford Street at the junction with Vecqueray Street, so you wouldn't see them in the foreground on the second photo above

The problem with that is there is no record of any pub next to where William Hill is. Also there were no three-story buildings to the west of it in 1927 except for the Scala cinema which was set well-back from the road.

Far Gosford St 1923, different posts for tramline cables, also the posts are only on one side of the road, they are on both sides in the mystery photo

Ok, last three comparisons between the street I think it is and the mystery photo. The first is the view in the distance of roofs and a gable wall. nb the right of the two medieval buildings was rendered after the drawing was done so would have appeared lighter in colour. The second is a faint drawing of the building next door to the Wealden building on my suspect street. I think I see similarities in style. The shape of the downstairs window isn't significant because the sketch is before glass got easy to make. The final image is of the roof shape on the Wealden building. which is quite a distinctive shape.

As promised it's time to reveal where I think the picture captures. Unfortunately I disagree with Dutchman which is worrying because he's the Coventry expert. How weird if there are two places so similar but I think the mystery photo is of Spon Street looking towards the south east. The pub could be The Eagle and the first tall building along might be the Queen's Arms though it wasn't a pub by the time the carnival photo was taken. The two photos I've compared to are this one from Pictures of Coventry:- and this one from further down the road which I don't know where I got so I can't use the link to the original. If anyone can point me in the right direction I'll delete this photo and put in the external link. So, is the mystery street Spon Street or is it just an uncanny similarity?

Excellent work Helen - I'm pretty sure you are right about it being Spon Street. The second photo was original from the http://www.urban75.net forum site.... because I made a copy of the original high-resolution picture that used to be on there, too! It's a good job we made copies though, because they've been moved off that site now.

Thanks Rob and thanks to everyone for the detective work. The pictures that Anne kindly uploaded are somewhere on the Pictures of Coventry site and I suspect the one with the woman on the horse or one like it is labelled Gosford Street or Far Gosford because I'd got a copy and had originally tried to fit it somewhere on that street. I haven't looked at Far Gosford and originally assumed that was what it represented. However as I've been piecing together Spon Street I thought 'hang on, that looks a bit familiar'. It is a good thing we made copies of that image because it's a gem. The thing I'm doing would be impossible without the wealth of images of Coventry online.

That was good detective work Helen. I find I have to be careful, it is very easy to go down one track and not look at the bigger picture. How is the model going?

I'm happy to concede defeat in this instance, even though the evidence is mainly circumstantial. The problem I had is with the twin chimneys of the water pumping station. In every other picture they're shown as being the same size and distance from the camera but here one of them appears much taller and closer. That could be a trick of the camera lens and viewing angle. I'm sure you meant 'south west' but it's an easy mistake to make The shop to the right of the The Eagle looks very much like the grocers which was at No.49 and the shop to the right of that looks very much like the ironmongers which was at No.50. Sadly all the shops beyond that were destroyed in the Blitz. The sign on the shop to the left of the pub in Anne's picture looks very much like Evans the pawnbrokers at Nos.46-47

Oopse, yeah I'm always mixing up east from west particularly when looking south. I too wondered about the different chimney heights. There are two possibilities. In the older photo they may not have finished building the right hand one or in the later photo they may have been in the process of pulling the left one down. And yes, the shop to the left is Evans. There's another photo that shows the sign. I'd link to it but it took me ages to download the photos without the search function.

Well done, everyone - apologies for my "red herring" but I did think the buildings on Far Gosford Street looked the same (they were indeed of similar design!) It's taken me some time to get my head around where exactly the photo was, but now I think I've sorted it Using the above photo, as opposed to the original one, as it shows a view slightly to the left : 46/47 Spon Street, Evans Pawnbrokers - this was clearly the clincher for the identification! 48, Eagle Vaults - in 1840 it was the Spon Street Brewery. Eagle Vaults closed in 1929 and became Smith's Dining Rooms and the Rapid Boot Service - after WWII it was Springs of Coventry and closed in the 1950s [any photos of this building in its later years, anyone?] (Information, courtesy John Ashby's "Spon Street & Spon End") Incidentally, using Google Maps and Old Maps, the eyesore which is Meadow House can be seen to be almost exactly behind where the Eagle Vaults stood - in its back garden, if you like! Next!!