Haven Lodge, Clay Lane

Hello everybody Can anybody help me find some pictures of Haven Lodge on Clay Lane before it became derelict? My husband's family - Watts on his father's side and Collett on his mum's side - have lived in the Stoke area of Coventry for over a century. Grandad Collett had at one time tried to purchase Haven Lodge but for reasons not remembered didn't manage to pull it off. Mum Watts talks about how beautiful it was in its heyday. I've only ever seen it in a state of disrepair and of course now it has been demolished. Thank you in advance Paula

Can't help with pre-dereliction photos I recall researching the address and I think it was home to a member of the Wincott family of builders (later linked with Gallifords as Wincott Galliford)

Hi all What part of Clay Lane was it located. I remember the working mens club, the Hastings pub & the site that was B&O Morris. I only recall houses & shops along most of its length.

Opposite the Stoke Ex-Servicemans Club

Now also sadly fire damaged. Grandad Collett would not be a happy chappy if he were still with us today. He continued going to this Club well into his nineties. Thanks for the help though. Google Earth shows Haven Lodge with its 'Spire'. Paula

Hello again. The number of times in my first twenty years of life passing that site on the way to school & to my piano lessons at Mr. Ebbrell's very near to that site. I had not given it a glance until seeing the pictures by Midland Red.

I find it fascinating that there is a link to The Galliford's now Galliford Try. I am acquainted with the family through my work. The family has strong links with our cathedral I believe. Does anybody know if Wincott's built Haven Lodge or just lived there? What else did they build that still stands? Thanks Paula

This lovely photo of Clay Lane, viewed from the Walsgrave Road end, was taken before WWI and was scanned from David McGrory's super book "The illustrated history of Coventry's suburbs". It shows Haven Lodge on the right.... (and no chippy in sight !)

Hi all Looking at this photo & trying to picture it in reality, looking from the position of the camera which would be the same as standing at what I know as Five Ways, today, do the people in the photo have something that we have lost? They had their illnesses then just as we have ours now, but did they have a value of life which we have lost? Only a thought. We are told that we are all living longer these days, but depending on our post code, our life expectancy can vary by as much as twenty years or more. In some parts of the UK that gap is even wider.

We certainly don't have the ability to stand reading in the middle of Clay Lane, oblivious to the surroundings Oh, but there is the Shoe Corner

Hi Midland Red Imagine the headline in tomorrows news, that reads, "Traffic chaos as pedestrian finishes reading newspaper in the middle of Ball Hill". I bet the paper that the man is reading said nothing about a petrol tanker strike. Petrol! What's petrol?

Thanks Rob. Why I didn't think to look in one of the many books that my Father in Law collected I don't know but having seen the author you mentioned I looked through all the books we do have. I found another photo in one of his other books which is taken slightly further up Clay Lane. Haven Lodge is slightly obscured by the tree but you get a clearer idea of the size of its grounds and its outbuildings. It's certainly a very striking house. Having read the planning application and subsequent structural report it is very clear that had it been kept in good repair it would have been a fascinating place to live. It will be interesting to see what happens to the site. So far I haven't been able to find out how it came to be demolished. My mother in law thinks it was demolished as it was unsafe following two arson attacks (which are well documented in the press). Local feeling seems to point the finger in a very specific direction in terms of how convenient those arson attacks were. Paula

Hi I see what you mean. Quote from the Coventry Telegraph: "Developers had previously submitted a planning application to the council to demolish the building and build 12 one-bedroom flats. The move is strongly opposed by local residents who wanted the character of the building preserved and are demanding it is renovated instead."

Hello everyone I was most surprised and pleased to stumble on this chat page. Haven Lodge was my great great grandfather Wincott's house. I did speak with councillors who were trying to push for the renovation but sometimes you have no control over events, a very sad loss. Rosie, we only have a couple pics of Haven Lodge in the family and those show a side wall or such like just as you would find in a family pic today. I remember seeing one pic of a child on a pony, possibly ready for a carnival, something that our family were very keen on. I'll see if I can hunt them out from the parents' attic and post them on here. The Churchill Hotel on the top of Ball Hill was also built by the Wincotts and various houses - that's something for me to investigate. I still get a sense of pride when see a photo of the lodge, it really was a lovely house. Yes, Galliford. Try was 'Wincott and Galliford' and yes that was the very same Wincott family. Me? Never laid a brick in my life!

Hello to you Lizzie Howes Welcome to our forum & thank you so much for your enthusiastic post.