Coventry Pubs

Thanks MR, I thought I knew the ones in Gosford St. many, many, many moons ago.

As it states in the Coventry Pubs Index, why a nautical name for a pub - Mermaid, judging by the wide gateway it looks to have been a coachhouse originally. I stand to be corrected but didn't Gosford Street have the reputation of having the MOST pubs in the length of the street in Coventry.

The Mermaid ran its own horse-drawn taxi service. There were four hansom cab drivers living there in the 1880s. One appears to be senior to the other three and may have been their boss. He probably occupied the luxury-suite on the top floor with the other three sharing the triple-bedroom next to it. (I dread to think where the landlord's daughters slept as there was only one other bedroom! ) The stable in the backyard appeared to be of much older construction than the pub and may have belonged to an earlier business connected with horses. The stable survived in use as a bottle store until demolition of the pub in 1967. I think Much Park Street holds the record for the greatest number of pubs and Sherbourne Street the record for the most pubs within a short distance.

hi dutchman sorry but I beg to differ much park street and sherbourne street never held the most pubs and with the short distance it was hillfields that held the title of the most pubs and within walking distance in fact next door to each other.

The mind boggles about the sleeping arrangements at the Mermaid Dutchman, perhaps they were not fussy in those days, or maybe they paid more rent ! Wink, wink, nudge nudge, say no more.

Here we go again with The Black Horse

hi midland red when I lived in spon end I used the black horse regular and I found it to be a fantastic little pub with its own atmosphere but I heard the news and like you I am disgusted, why not open it up as a pub because the pubs are few and between and the black horse did serve a good pint

Call me slightly sceptical here, but I think this may have always been the plan for The Black Horse once demolition was refused. I do wish the council would take the lead from some of the councils in London who have forced people who have demolished (or in this case callously stripped out) public houses of interest, rebuild them, brick by brick. From what I gather, it was a stunning example of Victorian pubs, one of very few left and was completely trashed by the current "owner" It's something we, as a country, should be protecting and not destroying.

The chances of Coventry Council having any regard for its architecture must be remote. Most people believe the council more damage to the city than the Luftwaffe. A person less concerned about libel than myself might well consider the number of Grade 2 buildings that get boarded up until they catch fire or fall apart, allowing their demolition.

Come let us drink it while we've breath For there's no drinking after death Drink today and drown all sorrow You perhaps won't be able to tomorrow The road we trod quite willingly The night we went to Birmingham By way of good old Binley

Heres a late one of The Smithfield:

hello neilsyard I so remember the smithfield I spent a lot of money or you could say I had shares in this pub in the 70s the one thing I remember is going in to the smithfield at the age of 13 and yes I was served for up to 5yrs and when I turned 18 they would not serve me as they said I was too young (wind-up) but the pub was a classic as it holds a lot of memories and ghosts.

The Half Sovereign Pub, now the Sovereign, was built early 1950s I believe. The brewery had a patch of land left over after building it and they were giving that back to the council to sell just at the same time as some evangelical Christians were looking for land to build a church. So, the evangelicals got the land (price negotiated by Bishop with brewery/council.) Canley Gospel Hall was then built right next to the pub! For a while in the early 1990s I think it was, it was renamed the Woodman for a change of image but reverted back to the Sovereign theme. Half Sovereign used to be a key currency unit and I think that is where the name came from. Nothing to do with the woods which were named cus of the cost of a shooting licence there. I remember going to the Half Sov's 'offie' to get sherry on tap. Cheap and cheerful, a good party starter!

I heard a rather different story to that RLC. The Half Sovereign was built by Thornley's Brewery before they were taken over by Davenports. The spare land was given to the Methodist Hall by the brewery - not sold. It was still a Methodist Hall when I left Canley in 1962. But I suppose that the shake-up in the non-Conformist churches over the intervening years it now bears the 'Evangelical' tag. The Half Sovereign itself became 'The Woodman' in 1991 and on reverting back later they may have found inflation had taken its toll so called it the Sovereign.

Thanks for this Pixrobin. History always has different versions and it's good to know what they all are. I've some documents that say the land was sold not given including something from the Cov Telegraph. But most of these rely on people's memories ultimately so I guess a trip to the archives might be required in the end. I thought the Methodist hall was down at Prior Deram Walk? I always thought it was the Gospel Hall in my day which might have been after '62. The interesting thing for me is that the pubs and the Canley Club came before the churches and Canley was once described by a Bishop (or someone similar) as a 'godless' estate with many lost souls drifting aimlessly.....