Butcher Row ('Great' and 'Little')

The Bull Ring had separate house numbers from Butcher Row or Ironmonger Row.

I found what I thought it might be, according to this The Golden Lion did 'the triple'

Would the fish shop be William Kimberley up the top end?

Osmiroid, could well have been, can't say for certain. I believe there was a shop near the top, sold brown paper bags in all sizes, they had great rolls of the stuff that would be cut to any size you wanted. Have no idea where they moved to when the street came down, but a few years later they would have been put out of business anyway. When it really became clear we were to have bombs and blackouts, brown paper was snapped up, to cover the windows, so were drawing pins, the shelves ran down and the price went up. Where people used to keep things for special occasions, like crockery, a lot of people wrapped up there best china in brown paper and stored away, and all paper became shortage.

Of even a greater enigma to me was Little Butcher Row - I would have loved to have wandered through that gap! This late 1933 shot shows it was quite possible - so the stories go - that storeholders could have greeted each other with a handshake on opposite sides of the row.

Here's a postcard view similar to Neil's image above (Little Butchers Row )

When you get to the end, look left and see Ye Olde Talbot Inn next to West Orchard.

This would be the view further round to the left, then?

I was referring to the previous photos of LBR, your picture is standing in Spicerstoke with William Kimberley's fishmonger shop at the left, his shop being at the top of Butcher Row. (Although turning left into Cross Cheaping then next left through the passageway into Spicerstoke you would get to there)

Had to smile at yours Neil, that could well have been my father pushing his 'trusty steed' and wearing his 'plus fours' or bicycle clips in that year (but of course it wasn't). Butcher Row - oozing with character no matter what aspect you see.

Continuing a trawl through the Bridgeman image collection, here's a couple of early paintings of Butcher Row. By S R Lines (1804-33) By Florence Weston (c1868-1942) The latter artist seems to have specially liked the street: Herbert Art Gallery pictures and flickr picture.

I don't think I'd actually seen this one before with a car in Butcher Row. What's interesting to me is reading the caption - even then they realised it was a place for tourism

Good posting! I've got that somewhere, although can't find it on my tablet. I'd still love to see a picture of that shield thing showing the details. Part of it looks like 'shoppe' to me.

J T Moore city oyster bar. 16 Butcher Row. 1912 and 1926 Coventry directories. If you look at the fancy thing atop the plaque you will see it is an open oyster with a pearl in the middle.

But the wording on the building itself appears to include the word "Upholsterer"