Butcher Row ('Great' and 'Little')

I have no idea, unfortunately, about the picture, where it came from or who the artist was

At least three of these poles survived the war and one of them was at the end of the Quadrant building and another at the entrance to Bull Yard and to get an idea of their height, the Quadrant one (60ft tall) was taller than the building.

As per my post in the Spicerstoke thread - this is a useful tool - select 'Side-by-Side' and you can move the old and new maps around to compare. British Museum Online Gallery Mapping

Hey I know this street, used to walk down it, catch the tram at the bottom outside the Hippodrome. Time was much slower then, the pace of the world much slower, less complicated, lot fewer people, lot less traffic, the main traffic was the handcarts, you could get everything you needed in that one street, scissors that cut, knives that was sharp, you could buy a large wooden barrow or just a pencil from the same shop and get the same friendly greeting, the smells were under your nose. There would be the fish, I think next door they sold aniseed, there was loose tea in a wooden chest, lined with silver paper, or in silver packets, slabs of butter, cheese you could buy an ounce if that's all you needed, people bought for freshness and sweetness, not shape and size. No one pushed you to buy more than you wanted, carbolic soap smell mingled with treacle, you could buy a six-foot tin bath or a tin-tack. There were angles and corners, recesses, barrels and tubs along the pavement. Remember dad once buying huge balls of chalk to do the ceiling. At the top a few yards and you were in the peace and quiet of the churchyards, dwarfed by the churches and their richness, their towering spires. Inside was their beauty and their intimidating unknown. Remember sitting on an old wooden bench eating sandwiches with mum, pigeons our only company. The stone walls of the buildings, calm and stillness dwelt from their medieval past. Yes, those photo's long before the bombing, long before we used the word tourism.

Wonderful, Kaga - thanks

It didn't go down that far Kaga, you're thinking of New Buildings which began at the bottom of Butcher Row and did eventually exit opposite the Hippodrome.

I was reading part of a book "Coventry: Thursday, 14 November 1940" and was shocked to see that when the mayor was cutting the ribbon for the opening of Trinity Street he said that Butcher Row was "..a blot on the city"!!!! Then I was disgusted to read that the council's chief architect thought the wartime bombings were a blessing in disguise, with Hitler saving them a lot of trouble in carrying out their plans and that they stood on their building's roof during the bombing raids to see what buildings were on fire then would go back down to their office to work out how much each destruction would help them.

Dutchman, you take me to task, I never knew the name of the street in those days, only when I saw the photo's on here did I recognise the street from childhood, since joining this forum I have learnt a lot about street names, I knew every inch of Foleshill but quote street names and I am lost.

Yes Butcher Row went between 1932 and '34 I believe.

I always wondered when I saw those pictures with it in, what is written on the shield, if it is a shield, and what shop was it.

Osmiroid, Can only suggest a music shop, I was small at the time. My mother's favourite shop had a small bell above the doorway that tinkled merrily whenever the door was opened, along the wall behind the counter, that I could hardly see over, was rows and rows of glass jars of sweets, jams, marmalades, peas, lentils, tins of kiwi shoe polish, Camp coffee, boxes of black and brown shoe and boot laces, a box of candles, box of sealing wax. On the counter a large round cheese on a marble slab, portions cut free with a thin wire, the portion then weighed on shining brass scales, with polished weights. Behind the counter were stout bags of sugar, flour, rice and oatmeal, scooped from the bag into smaller brown bags then weighed in the same fashion. At the end of the shop were two barrels, one full of wooden clothes pegs, the other held mouse traps. A delicious smell hung in the air. The sweets in big glass jars, a bright array of colour, humbugs, mints, pear drops, caramels, liquorice sticks with a thick white centre, chocolates and my favourite, big slabs of toffee wrapped in greaseproof paper, so chewy that your teeth and jaws ached from breaking it down. Money was the key factor, but they would weigh just a halfpenny worth if that's all you had, even mix sweets to the right amount. I would run from the shop clutching my treasure. My second favourite was the condensed milk, I would slurp spoonfuls of it straight from the tin. Long days of childhood pleasure.

Thanks Kaga Butcher Row seems to be one of the most studied, liked and missed streets in Coventry, proving the mayor opening Trinity Street very wrong. I would say Trinity Street is too wide, souless, with no great shops, one of the worst streets in Coventry, not that it should have been, what it turned out like is down to the council. They destroyed something far better.

I have often wondered where Little Butcher Row was and could never seem to find it on old maps of Coventry streets. However, I decided to click on Rob Orland's website and saw a "before and after" view. What a fantastic site this is. Thank you Rob, I know where to look in future. However, I can't see reference on any old maps elsewhere of a River Arthur in Coventry. Any information? Or should this be another thread on Coventry rivers?

Hi. With regard to Butcher Rows' demise, it is still listed in a Coventry Directory for 1935 - 6. Here are some names and numbers. 2. (See 59 Cross Cheaping) 4. Walter J Ford, hairdresser. 7. Charles Ltd. house furnishers. 8. & 9. A W Garlick, sheet metal worker. 10. & 11. C Jacobs house furnisher, (Little Butcher Row to left) Bull Ring. Left hand (east) side from Bull Ring (No. 1) - 14. H Dennis, cooked meat dealer 15. A Cotton, stationer 16. Mrs. S Moore, oyster dealer 17. William Fowkes, boot repairer [Priory Row to left] 17a. C Jacobs, house furnisher 18/23. W Franks, furniture dealer 24. William Kimberley, fishmonger Trinity Churchyard - Provident Chambers. City of Coventry Parks and Cemetery Departments S W Rogers, solicitor F Hitchman, chartered accountant Clark & Sillito, estate agent Bradford Third Equitable Benefit Building Society 26. H W Chattaway, architect [Trinity Lane to left] Holy Trinity Church Left-hand (south) side - Coventry Free Public Library [Derby Lane to left] 27. H Johnson, solicitor 28. F Mason, auctioneer 28. F J Power, butcher 28. A W Hoare, architect 28. C A Naunton & Co. manufacturers agent [Broadgate] This is almost as given in the directory. Someone with more sleuthing powers than I may be able to deduce more about the shops.

It has its own thread here