Coventry Pubs

Sorry to report that The Black Horse is going - Planning Application.

Yes, sad news about the Black Horse. On the list of licensees is the name John Keene. He was the father-in-law of my great-granduncle, John Lines, who had married Mary Jane Keene in 1872. John Lines was a grandson of William Lines, my 3x great grandfather, who was involved in the case of Edward 'Duckfat' Bradshaw. John Keene died in 1873, and the license obviously transferred to Mary, his widow, for a short time.

Today's Coventry Telegraph shows pictures of a fire in what is described as a derelict building in Station Street West. It looks to me like the former Angel Hotel.

Sadly it is the Angel. That pub was on Pam & my shortlist for our wedding reception venue in 1968. The meals in there were fabulous. The Craftsman became our choice because of guest numbers. They had a fire there a while back.

All these lovely old alehouses seem to be diminishing now. What is it about these places that the modern developers dislike. There will be no more landmark icons which were full of character and atmosphere. All in the name of progress.

To be fair, we aren't using pubs the way we used to. More drinking at home, more coffee drunk socially. Old pubs not suited to modern uses or disliked by the young. I'd rather they knocked a building down than carved swathes out of the countryside.

I agree Helen. I don't like to see these old buildings pulled down, but I would rather see them converted than just falling to ruin or accidentally having a fire! I can never understand when planners spend ages refusing planning applications to preserve things when they are rotting under their noses. A 5 storey 1886 mill has just been converted to apartments in Tamworth and looks just the same on the outside and is no longer an empty ruin.

We've captured an image of it on this thread already but Tony McSweeney took this one of The Gate Hangs Well in Howard Street in 1971. I'd not noticed the pub sign before - points for making out what it read. Tony tried to salvage it but the bulldozer beat him to it.

The Gate Hangs Well And Hinders None Refresh and Pay And Travel On

Derrick gets the

Another cracker from Dean Nelson on FB. I know The Newdigate carried on regardless into the 60's minus its upper floor but had not seen this one of the damage before, plus the rear of the properties that were on Corporation Street at the time.

Rare older image on eBay of The Old Wheel on Leicester Row, left hand road in the Coventry Digital photo.

The Plough, 9 Spon Street Picture source: Gwyneth Perrier

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the Old Half Moon, I believe it was in Spon End. I am working my way through an MA in Local History and one of the topics I am on at the moment is Crime. I am led to believe that the Old Half Moon was the site of shootings in 1880 by Oliver Styles (recently portrayed in a book 'The Watchmaker's Revenge'). If anyone has any more details, would love to know them!

According to the 1888 map and the excellent section on pubs (see button to the left) The Old Half Moon pub was on Hertford Place. Old Half Moon I'd have guessed that it was number 26 or 27 but the pesky things moved about, and/or the numbering changed.