Broadgate

NeilsYard, can that clock be right, the place is packed.

There were so many of those hanging clocks around the city Kaga, I wonder if they all showed the same time. Something I never thought about when living in Coventry. Come to think of it I have learned more about the city since visiting the Forum.

(3 Jan 2010)

Thanks again MR. I would be very disappointed if the powers that be ever saw fit to demolish that most memorable part of Coventry - it would be a sin.

NeilsYard, your picture on 425 is now haunting me. I keep going back to it. It's over 80 years since I was in among those people, they were all older and bigger than me, never a coloured face or a different tongue to me, never knew what shops were what, but I do remember that picture, it was there most days of the week, strange-uncanny- mind-boggling, and stands out as the Broadgate I once knew.

NeilsYard, it's that Keep Left sign that's bugging me, I would have placed that at a later date, but there you go, it's there.

I tend to agree with Kaga. The Ford van to the right of the picture was not introduced until 1940. It is not a wartime photograph because the car and vans do not have blackout shields on their lights nor white paint on the bumpers and wing edges. I would therefore guess at late 40's. If anyone needs to study pictures of old Ford cars and vans look at the Ford Sidevalve Owners Club website.

Can't be late 40s, Not Local - it had been blitzed in 1940!

Sorry, showing my ignorance again.

This one says 1939 Kaga taken from the Broadgate side with a keep left sign on the island Broadgate

Not Local, there were massive changes in Coventry just before the war. There are buildings that were brand new that got destroyed in the bombing. Some of the least familiar photos are those from that period because the buildings looked 'new' but didn't survive. We all get confused by that small period of time. It stands to reason that there were car models that fell to the same fate. Many of the car company names from just before the war (as shown of the fire insurance maps) are unfamiliar to me. Did they get bought out, or did they go bust, or was there just so little left after the bombing that there was nothing to resurrect?

Helen F. Yes, Owen Owen was one of those buildings, but in those days there was a big dog-leg into the Burges, if you came out of Burtons at the top of Broadgate you could not see Wimbush shop. If you look at the bomb photo of 39 you're looking at the side of Owen's. But for the 1st 13 years of my life this was the Broadgate I knew, so the scenes are familiar to me but names and numbers I forget. Most of those little firms were near the city centre, and with the war factories had to build war machines so yes they lost their original ideas. Even the large firms spread out around town into smaller premises to beat the loss if there was another raid, or that's they way I saw it.

Annewiggy, thanks, impressive in those days but looks more like a police building today, those narrow windows must have made it hard to see what you were buying, can't remember it inside but there's no doubt I must have gone in there more than once.

Was there shopping on all floors or were there offices above? Maybe the high windows were to stop workers daydreaming out of the windows? Probably it was to allow racks to be put on all the walls and the bulk of illumination came from electric lighting. It stops stuff fading, keeps the place warmer in winter, cooler in summer. I'm sure that it as very trendy at the time.

Helen. They didn't daydream in those days they would have lost their jobs. You had to look busy at all times, it was quite strict working conditions. I would be guessing to say how many floors were shopping, but I never realised what a sombre building it was from the outside until recently.