Hales Street

In 1882 they are advertising having completed their extensive implement warehouse in Hales Street opposite the Smithfield Cattle Market. Would this mean that it was purpose built? A warehouse would not be a big tin shed like today, the Victorians liked to do things a bit grander!

Here is a picture of the Opera House and you can just see the sign for Mattersons on the right. I seem to remember when it became the car museum there was a long display window on the left. I think the building itself was set back a bit. The Opera House opened in 1889

The Opera House was next to the school, Mattersons was next up. History of The Opera House.

Thanks all - this is the bit I was referring to -

From the insurance plans 1897 Neil.

Annewiggy. The Opera House side had changed little in the fifties, but the south side had been flattened from the shop next to the Burges to the pub on the corner of Trinity Street.

A.F.Storey

Hi Prof, your photo of Hales Street must have been taken around 1929/30 as the poster showing what film was on at the Empire, The Fall Of Eve was released in June 1929.

Many thanks Blue Sky, I had no idea!

But did the German Luftwaffe have sympathy with Coventry men? They flattened buildings from one gents outfitters in Broadgate to another gents outfitters in the Burges so men could still wear the pants in the house, then they flattened Hales Street from one black and white mock-tudor 'pub' to another black and white mock-tudor 'pub', bottom of Trinity Street, so they could still escape from the wives.

Keen eye Mr Blue Sky! One of my favourite photos Prof. At that point the area was clearly a timber yard, but before that it had been a ropewalk. The boundary wall in the right of the yard had originally been a field hedge, which the new building respected. What's a ropewalk? Basically it's how you make ropes. The area was also previously cut through by the city ditch, taking up about half of the yard width. I wonder if the rope walk existed outside the walls from the start or if it moved out once the ditch was filled in?

Lovely bit of information Helen! Regarding the ditch, the old maps of 1749 and 1807 don't show any ditches, so perhaps they were filled in soon after the wall's demolition in 1662 and the ropewalk was there on the outside of the wall from the start? Unless whoever drew the maps just didn't indicate ditches - but the maps are quite detailed, so I'd have thought ditches would somehow have been represented if they were still there.... probably!

Coventry collections list Deeds relating to property at Old Tower Yard and Rope Walk between Cook Street and Hales Street which are dated 1786 to 1926. I also came across this picture in the Coventry Newspaper. I would think, Helen and Rob that if you were looking for a site for a long thin rope walk the site of an old ditch would have been ideal !

Oh well done Anne That ties in beautifully. This is the same plot from Rob's collection but looking the other way. The rope walk was on the outer edge of the plot so might have been clear of the ditch, filled in or not. The 1807 map doesn't show a gap for the ropewalk but maybe that was artistic license? The earliest painting of the field shows a hedge line between the wall and the field. There would have been a ropewalk somewhere in the city even before the wall came down... or up for that matter. Rope was an essential staple of living.