UK City of Culture 2021

Hopefully it will go some way to dispelling the negative connotations that many people have, when the expression "being sent to Coventry" rolls off their tongues. They said on the news today that in future, people won't be sent to Coventry, but go there willingly.

Fantastic news for Coventry! I've been to a few of the events that have been put on this year as part of the build up/bidding and they were brilliant! There are a lot of talented and passionate around.

So if you were organising an event or project, what would it be? I'd like to see a running series of exhibitions showing the images and history of a street at a time. I would combine personal histories with archive records and artefacts both found and made there. I'd do then and now photos. I'd also like a shout out for more images of the city and the remainder of the ones in the Herbert, digitised and catalogued. OK, they don't have to be on the internet but they should be searchable from the History Centre.

Excellent idea to get this topic revived Helen, and nice ideas, too. I think exhibiting street images from across the ages would be wonderful to see, and would also feel personal to those people who ever lived or worked in the chosen streets. It might also promote the bringing forward of "never before seen" photos that might have been hidden away in drawers for decades. When we first won the City of Culture bid we heard about huge amounts of money being spent on Hull - figures like 3 billion pounds were touted around freely. If anything close to those numbers are realised, then surely only a very tiny fraction of that would be necessary to fund some of our relatively modest heritage ideas, like Helen's above. I know councils have to designate "pots" of money for different areas of their budget, but the idea that The Herbert is struggling to remain open in these circumstances does seem rather strange.

When I was at the Herbert last, they were saying that when they had an exhibition of the full colour Board of Health Map at St Mary's Hall, people queued round the block to get in. I wondered why they didn't have it on permanent display and they said that it was too delicate. I pointed out that they could have it professionally copied, the copy restored to the former glory and show the copy (any size that suited them) for a reasonable amount. No worry if the copy fades or get damaged because the could print it again. People love a good map and that one is magnificent. I also think that they should have decent copies for people to buy. From the stuff I've copied for my research I'm sure people would be blown away by the treasury of images and maps there are. That's even before you add history and histories to them. Adding relevant objects would be the cherry on the cake. Again, the paintings and drawings don't have to be the originals, just good copies blown up for visibility with a few of the source images in a case for protection.

I like the idea as well, and with VR headsets etc these days I wouldn't imagine it'd be beyond the realms of possibility to do a virtual tour of the city centre through any given time period, or an app which using the camera/GPS on a phone to show you the old streetscenes through the phone screen as you move around. Biggest issue is of course time in getting it done. Maybe as an easier compromise get the photos of streetscapes on an audiovisual guide with numbers at the relevant spots for you to look. However, things like maps tend to have quite a local appeal and much of 2021 is aimed at improving visitor numbers from further afield. There was talk of the Bayeaux Tapestry and given the weaving heritage why not have a Coventry tapestry highlighting the major things in Coventry's history. I'm sure Cash's could make it. Another I'd like is maybe an artwork of a fourth spire of light, possibly centred around Broadgate with an array of WWII era searchlights trained upwards to create a huge spire in the sky.

There is a group trying to do guided walks with images for key points. I stepped back from offering to make my model live for 2021, because it is technically difficult and very time consuming. What's ready will be ready. Pete from Coventry Rebuilt is taking the same approach. There is going to be a VR sights and smells of part of Spon Street, currently being organised by Warwick University. Not sure I'd want smelly vision but the rest should be good. I agree that maps tend to be of local interest but the Board of Health Map is a work of art in its own right and explains the old city better than any series of disembodied images. A modern tapestry would be cool. The Bayeaux would be a coup but with a high outlay for the infrastructure needed to house it. It might be something to involve the young and old? The site of the old cross is in Broadgate square, not quite the centre but a spire of light sounds interesting. Another alternative might be the old cathedral, although the centre crossing is someone's garden I think. Good thoughts.

It is relatively easy to produce audio descriptive guides, especially with modern recording techniques, and they would be very useful as they can be linked to specific locations via bluetooth etc, and most people seem to be permanently connected to their phones nowadays anyway. I was involved in producing cassette tape audio guides for places like Warwick Castle and the Lunt Fort (recorded on open reel tape, edited with a razor blade and then transferred to cassette). We made the guides available in up to nine languages as you are trying to attract people for who English may not be their first language as well.

"The row that could scupper Coventry's £120 million facelift" - Telegraph report This caught my eye: Councillor Jim O Boyle said: "As an ambition we want to see the Upper Precinct returned to its majestic original design . . . and have clear sight lines right through to the Cathedral" What? With the Cathedral Lanes monstrosity in the way? Or is there some significant news to come?

Councillor Jim O Boyle said: "As an ambition we want to see the Upper Precinct returned to its majestic original design . . . and have clear sight lines right through to the Cathedral" The problem with this is that historically there were never any clear sight lines through to the Cathedral - pre-war the eastern side of Broadgate was filled with shops with Derby Lane and Cuckoo Lane running north-south behind containing warehouses, the Library, Gaol and County Hall. However anything that gets rid of the Cathedral Lanes carbuncle has to be welcomed!

Am I in a parallel world? Councillor O'Boyle seeks to have clear sight lines to the cathedral which implies removal of Cathedral Lanes! So is he advocating compulsory purchase of the site? Doubt it, according to the CET considerable sums are being spent on refurbishing to incorporate new restaurants. Surely not false news from a councillor or is it the CET?

As far as I know, they just want to get rid of the escalator.

As far as I know at this stage the plan is removal of the escalator and ramp, with one of the units being converted into an entrance for West Orchards to replace them. These seem extremely sensible proposals. I guess he's talking of uninterrupted views of the spires at this stage, which would be visible above CL. I am aware from past conversations that ideally they would like uninterrupted views through the precinct and across Broadgate of the churches, but accept that the financial viability of compulsory purchase of Cathedral Lanes can't be argued at this stage. Bizarre if he should be bringing it up now as Cathedral Lanes is probably the most occupied and used it's been since opening and is undergoing redevelopment. If they were going to consider purchase they should've done it when the place was practically empty except Wilko's and who could've easily been accommodated elsewhere, including the precinct. There is also the issue of the residents, which is of far greater concern to them and needs far more careful handling, but again give the tenants a good enough offer and an alternative and I think you'd find them willing to move. Personally, as I've said before, I'd love to see the building go and open up the view (even with the County Court in front). See my gallery for my Broadgate/Precinct idea.

The DESIGN did have clear sightlines - all those buildings were to be cleared. Of course the problem with the argument is that the 'original majestic design' was never even close to becoming reality - not just in terms of this sightline but throughout the entire precinct. It was supposed to have roads across it splitting it effectively into a load of squares. The tower at the bottom was never intended to be there originally either. I wholly disagree with the argument from Historic England that the precinct should be listed - much of it is a failed experiment hence why hardly anyone copied it and a number of those that did cancelled the plans before construction because they saw it wasn't that great. I'm all for keeping something in the spirit and principles of the precinct, but keeping the actual precinct will just create another dead museum piece rather than a thriving city centre.

I did use that saying as a potential marketing strapline - "Sent to Coventry? You should be so lucky!"