Coventry Pubs

I went to the Golden Cross last night for the first time in well over a decade. Nicely done out inside, friendly staff and a good atmosphere. Food looked good as well. Will probably be going back.

Dreamtime, I have a lot of memories from those far off days. The nearest street to you over the bridge was Nuffield Road. Well, when my brother was called up, his girlfriend who I disliked visited us most Sundays, but mother thought it was most wrong for a young girl to walk through the streets alone, so I had to escort her home to the Wyken end of Nuffield Road. It was always dark or near dark when we got there, so with the blackout it was pitch dark, and I'm alongside the Morris factory with the sirens likely to start. To me the Navigation pub on the Bulkington Road at Bedworth had the same position, layout, and decor as the one your father had. And, back a few years from there, had the same customers, the boat people, a great many settled down in that area.

Thanks Kaga for that little bit of info. I must confess I never knew of the Navigation at Bedworth. You are a mindful of information. I always remember the 'big room' at the back where the 'gigs' were held, it was in the shape of a ships bridge. Not quite the same locals as in the old days but many true Coventry lads just the same.

When I saw this, I had a vague recollection of photographing a boarded-up public house in that vicinity It's taken ages to find it, but here it is - dated 14 July 2009 It looks pretty similar on Google Streetview but that's only 2010 - I have a feeling that it may look like this now (perhaps someone can confirm?)

MR, thanks, nothing like the pub I used to know, they haven't made the canal look like the 'Med' have they?

That's the one MR, we had a few meals in there. It seemed to take ages to renovate and finished off with a nice wall at the front with wrought iron on top.

MR. It's double the size it was, this near third has been added, it's twice as high, and it never had bay windows, and the odd car parked out front. There was a little gap that led down to the towpath, but I have no idea of the brand of beer it sold. One of the strangest pubs I ever entered was at Brinklow, Built into the railway bridge that spanned the railway tracks, it had no pathway leading to it, the bar door led straight out on to the road, it shook every time the trains passed underneath, in the old days, every few minutes it was enveloped in smoke. Every few seconds you had to hold on to your glass, it was a case of nerves to finish a pint.

Dreamtime, On the right of the 'Navvi' was a narrow st, Eden st? on the right hand side of the street, a terraced row of small cottages with small windows with even smaller panes. Behind the pub was a builders/wood yard if I recall correctly? One morning a small lorry or dray called at the yard, they had planks in the back, from tail board to over the cab, on a bar they also had a long ladder on there as well, way over the cab. as the lorry came out on to the road the ladder took several panes of glass out the bedroom window, I'm not sure of the details as I entered the street the old lady came out of the house chased the driver with a copper stick, then the old man came out, wrestled the driver to the floor, it was like a scene from the 'Three Stooges'. I drove 'off' when I heard police bells in the distance.

Kaga, your snippets from history are wonderful.

That would be correct Kaga Eden St. Also we could go out onto the roof at the back by way of a door out of the back bedroom. We had a lovely lawn at the back in our day too. My father built a small landing stage at the very back alongside the canal for fishing although I don't know what he hoped to catch. Thank you for your reminiscences Kaga.

A phone shot of the Navigation taken this morning, it keeps the same name.

Hi all. Does this help?

Heathite, yes it does, thank you. It shows I was talking about Bridge Street - I did question it. As you can see the row of houses only ran down one side to the allotments, there was no room to turn a vehicle around. Behind the pub it was wasteland bar for the wood yard, it also sloped down to the canal, so a small lorry would have to come up the slope then turn sharply. Paradise Row was on the main road and ran up to Eden Street. It also tells me why the Goverment made tradesmen swop customers and streets, for I travelled from Aldermans Green Road to Paradise Row for only about five customers.

NormK. Nice photo, but what a lonely desolate place it looks. When I knew it, it was one of the warmest, friendliest place you could know, sure it needed a lick of paint, but it was open to the road, often a couple of bikes along the wall, inside a log fire burning, a game of threes and fives going on, a lot of good old 'Beduth' slang, some singing at times. When they started to build the school almost opposite there were plenty of well-paid labouring jobs going, a few farmers took advantage of the cash in the slack season. One farmer from Barnacle told me of two horses at Wolvey Point-to-Point, both won, pockets full of money for me. Should you think I was a big drinker, that wasn't the case. My brother-in-law (local lad) had a hole in his back, a lung missing along with other parts from the Battle of Monte Casino. He needed, and deserved, a companion at times.