Forum Features & Updates

Aw. Thank you Rob. You are always thinking of us are you not.

Rob is a very fine chap A useful tip when looking for pre war houses on the old maps - it can help greatly to look at the 1950 map which is numbered. Though caution is needed because sometimes the whole street was renumbered following the decimation eg Cox Street is very confusing, especially as photos of the street might reference the old or new property numbers.

Numbered maps are sooo useful. I also use the numbering of the Pubs on the Pubs section for location - assistance!

Well, it's been over a year since I updated the "Rob's pics" collection, so I've finally got around to it today, by adding 56 more images that have been acquired since last time. These include the 26 super Coventry drawings from G. R. Webster's 1891 Portfolio. As usual, selecting to order images by "Most recently added first" will quickly show you the newest additions.

G'day to y'all (OK, I'm mixing Aussie and US slang a bit there, sorry!). Well, only 10 new postcards added today, but it takes the collection to just over the 1,500 mark. There are, as always, some pleasant and interesting images - and one mystery one! My favourite is the Binley Road postcard, showing the shops before Empress Building was built on the left, and the original Bull's Head on the right, which makes this photo not later than the early 1920s. I'll add the mystery photo to another topic....

A quick question for all members.... Does anyone still bother with the Members' gallery? I was just wondering about it, because it's not been updated at all for two and a half years.... and the most updates or additions made in one year was 2012, when it was first created! Some of the galleries, I've noticed, also belong to members who have not visited the forum for a few years. If enough of you still like to look through the images, then I'll leave it in place - but if it's generally ignored then perhaps we'd be better off without it.

I have accessed the gallery occasionally but only to look at photos of old Coventry, usually in Rob's gallery. I would say once every two months.

Yes, I like to look through it from time to time. It is a great place to jog your memories while waiting for the kettle to boil or for the next watchable thing on the TV. The slowdown in contributions should be expected as contributors would have uploaded their "stocks" of photos back then and probably don't take too many these days. I haven't checked lately, but are those lovely video walks through town up there? There are also great photos on Facebook in "The Coventry I Remember" and "Coventry Old and New". It's worth checking if those people who have posted photos on Facebook are members of this Forum or would join if invited.

There are some great photos on the two FB sites I've mentioned. Rob - I will send you the names to look for (rather than have them on this page without their consent). I have contacted them both so they may contact you via the Forum. Cheers

I, too, loved those walkthrough/drive through videos.

Okey dokey, I'll leave the Members' gallery in place - I was just curious as to how many people bother with it. I have, however, moved some of the collections that were in my own gallery into the Rob's pics collection instead, where they can much more easily be searched and used for personal use or on the forum if necessary. These are the Standard Works photos, which can be located by searching for "Standard car" - the "Gosford fire" sildes - and the pages from the "1966 Coventry Review Plan".

Just a quickie.... I've just also added the Staunton images to Rob's pics, so they can be used individually.

Oh Helen, you are a star! I had no idea anyone had compiled such an extensive list of shows at the Hippodrome so well done to whoever that person may be. Glancing through the list shows me that I was right in thinking that most of them were 'variety' shows. There were certainly some big names performing,George Formby, Tommy Handley, Ted Ray and Vera Lynn and 2 who died in the London Blitz in 1941, Al Bowlly and Ken 'Snakehips' Johnson. As for actual repertory theatre it looks as though the plays at the Opera House were those alluded to but not mentioned by name in the magazine I bought today. I don't suppose records exist for the names of actors who may have formed a repertory company unless there are articles about them in the Evening Telegraph. Many thanks for that link.

Rob's the hero for bringing it to us. I've been here 12 years and still find new gems he's tucked away. Sometimes I'm looking on Google and find myself back at Historic Coventry. Combining repertory and opera house, does seem to deliver a lot of articles about what they were up to eg July 1937 "The Astonished Ostrich" with Josef Chodzke, Hugh Butt and Hamilton Dyee. March 1934 "The Cathedral" with Peter Coleman, J Hwfa Pryse, Robert Easton, John Salew, Cyril Chamberlain, Anna Casson, Mary MacGregor, Lois Darnley, Douglas Rhodes, Alfred Richards, Murial Taylor and Doreen Morton. The newspaper archives do a number of different subscriptions, so if you had a long list of things you want to research but don't want to pay for a long period, you could just access it for a month and canter through the list. I don't know if it can be accessed through libraries.