Albany Road / Butts

That must make them quite old as by the 1840s domestic weaving had pretty well been superseded by the power-loom factories. Certainly the small-paned windows and the doorways look 1820s. Dutchman, I noticed on the Coventry Message Board you had some photos of the area and the damage done during the Blitz. You said that the derelict property in this area was not repaired, implying it was due for redevelopment for a long time. It looked like an interesting mixture of housing, pubs and factories, an industrial enclave bisected by Trafalgar Street and Hope Street. On the more general thread topic, found this interesting narrative of a walk round the area. Walk round Spon Street and the Butts

Yes, the council rejected all applications to reinstate war damage buildings in the area. I'm finding new rejections all the time when searching planning applications submitted during that period. Interesting, thanks

What rejection reasons were given Dutchman?

Just the one: "That the building lies within a larger area which was being considered by the council for comprehensive redevelopment at some time in the future."

I'd like to see someone else adding 'might be used for something else in the future' as a reason against a Cov Council planning application.

Nearly all of these planning applications were made by owners of bombed sites in order to get a 'refusal' - this enabled owners to then serve a purchase notice on the Council [I think section 19 Town and Country Planning Act 1947 and section 129 Town and Country Planning Act 1962] which would then require the Council to purchase. This would be done in advance of the Compulsory Purchase Orders and does not imply there were loads of people looking to rebuild individual houses. Coventry was one of four local authorities to have Declaratory Order Areas or areas of extensive war damage. The City had three - the City Centre, Hillfields and Spon End and these then became Comprehensive Development Areas under the first Development Plan post war.

Very interested to see this map, I was born in number 68 in 1959

Hello Taylorgx & a warm welcome to you on our forum. Please enjoy.

Hi - I have just joined this forum and read your post re Church Bookshop. I worked there for 2.1/2 years until June 1959 when my family emigrated to Australia. It was called Church Bookshop as Mr Collier was on the committee for the new Cathedral I think, but also we used to sell things such as texts to the churches. We also used to make palm crosses at Easter. I used to deliver orders to the Cathedral and other places as I was the youngest one there. I loved the staircase in the shop - a winding wrought iron one that we ran up and down all day. The upstairs floor was very wonky and part of it we could not use at all as it was too dangerous, so I was not surprised to hear that the whole block had been pulled down.

Hi & welcome lizanne, I remember the metal spiral staircase. We hope you enjoy your time with us.

Can't believe I never spotted this old tramline post still standing by the Albany Road bridge.

^^^Although there are some similarities Neil, that's actually a sewer vent pipe. There's another one in Warwick Avenue, hundreds of yards from any tram route.

Thanks Dutchy - actually it probably is too close to the bridge to be tram-associated.

Hi all. I have just checked the Coventry Tram Memories topic, and on post 5 on Dutchman's link it states that this is indeed a Traction Post, and that you can see the fixings where the crossbar was mounted. I am waiting to be corrected on this, but that's the way it looks.