Coventry Pubs

I don't know where the copy of the map I have came from. It was in a box of Coventry memorabilia I bought off an old gentleman who lived in Bonds Hospital, sadly he has since died, his claim to fame was that he made pictures out of postage stamps, I wonder if anyone else knew him, he volunteered in the Myton Hospice shop before they knocked down the Co-op to build Ikea. My mum was a volunteer as well which is how I knew he was selling his collection. He had made several albums of old pictures of Coventry.

David. Times Square was within the building where the Market Tavern was IIRC, but facing Market Way. It basically faced Coventry Point on the opposite corner to the road that led down to the market from where Sports Direct is now. The bar was upstairs and was full of TV screens running MTV videos. A mate of mine Dave Stevenson ran the place in the late 80's. Studio 21 faced Ringway Rudge and was accessed via Watch Close which runs off Spon Street. The buildings are still there - it was renamed The Irish Centre then The Irish Centre 2000 at the millenium before closing as a club. It's now a laser-quest game type place. It was owned by the O'Brien family who also had The Pink Parrot. Michelle O'Brien was always on the door with her mum taking the entrance fee. Between me and the forum I always quite fancied her - she was always dressed immaculately. Yes I was a city centre pub/club specialist in the 80's!

Spot the difference(s) 9 May 2010 28 February 2013

I noticed the cherry picker there yesterday. No idea what they were doing. Les

That looks ominous! The traditional old name looks to have disappeared and it would seem that it's going to be called something related to motor cycles. Perhaps 'The Chain & Sprocket', given its proximity to the old Renold Chain works where my mother worked for many years inspecting chains for motor cycles and similar. The Old Dyer's in the 70s/80s was run by Barry & Mavis Ogden. Barry kept an immaculate pint of Bass, while the formidable Mavis did excellent home-cooked lunches. Her steak & cow heel pie was a treat on a winter's day. It was a real, old-fashioned traditional boozer.

If you look closely at the new bike sign, it does say "Old Dyers Arms", so hopefully the name won't change

The sign was changed last year into the style of a "Dave" Mann painting, he was well known for his motorcycle images in the Easyrider magazine. It's still called The Dyers Arms, the old Antelope MCC use the pub and it's a friendly place to be in, I took this last September at an old boys reunion and you can see the sign in place then.

Love the roof-top chopper!

Nice to see a couple of real bikes there. Came past the pub yesterday 5.00pm ish, they were doing something to the sign but couldn't see just what, so still none the wiser...Les

We would start at the opposite end of town in Spon Street & then wander to the Silver Sword, Alhambra et al. finally on a Friday to Park Lane for the Adam & Eve disco or to Studio 21. Couldn't stand Tamangoes for some reason!

The list of boarded-up houses continues to grow I passed this one this morning, gamely still flying the flags!

Hi, yes. A recent closure You were only a ducks rudder from where I am. There are four more that will no-doubt join them around here too.

It's the same everywhere in Britain Dreamtime. So-called "convenience stores" now sell alcohol on every street corner so there's less need for pubs any more. In reality they are glorified off-licenses whose main business is booze. Any groceries or newspapers they sell on the side are just an excuse to be granted an alcohol license.

I retired from the pub trade 7 years ago when I sold our Cotswold Free House. The trade decline has not been helped by the smoking ban (I am a non-smoker). Publicans were not allowed to have Smoke Rooms and the law covered the whole of the indoor areas. We had some villagers tell us that it was great that they could go into the pub and not smell of smoke when they returned home. They didn't smell of smoke before the law because they didn't use the pub, and didn't after the law came in. I am not blaming the non-smoking law, just saying that it is a contributing factor to the pub's decline. The breweries don't help and neither do the councils with their ridiculous rents/rates. I am glad that after 16 years I am out of the trade.