Coventry Digital

Thanks all. I'll enquire about a Saturday, we can eat and then spend the day looking at stuff and playing with equipment. Helen, I'll be led by you as to a suitable date as you have so far to come.

I shall consult my diary and the roofer.

More Selves uploaded. Having looked closely, there's a lot of ring road, a lot of the Precinct and adjacent streets, all post-war, but I did sort out a few older looking negs and scanned them first, including the below: Helen, I'm sure you'll be able to move this to the appropriate street title

A lovely bit of Bayley Lane with Drapers Hall on the right. The building directly ahead is even older than it looks because it's almost certainly the jettied building that appears in a couple of sketches. It was not uncommon for the original timber buildings to have their front shaved off and a brick front added. This is such a decrepit building it would be unlikely to have been new.

Thank you Helen - a great spot. I wonder, have you looked through the others? There's one I've put as Gosford Street, with the New Inn for example.

There was a sketch of this view in the Herbert archive that claims the building directly ahead was demolished in August 1889. These older photos are likely to be copies of Joseph Wingrave photos as he was the most prolific photographer of Coventry for this type of picture in the 1860s and 1870s. It may be that Sadler had access to some of the original slides or made 'new' ones from old negatives? The same is probably true of some of the oldest ones you've just copied Ben.

Smithford Street, not Smithford Way Butcher Row This is the school but needs to be reversed This is Smithford Street This is Little Butcher Row Needs to be reversed

A newer set This is Ford's Hospital on Greyfriars Lane, but needs reversing Needs to be reversed Needs to be reversed Needs to be reversed

Needs to be reversed Needs to be reversed

Hi Helen Thanks for the Wingrave suggestion. I'll pursue at Coventry Archives. It may be that some prints exist and are worth scanning. Sadler's are 1950s copies of earlier photography. I cannot be sure why Richard had these - whether he was employed by the City Engineers to do the work or more likely purchased them in an auction of 'Coventry photographs' I cannot say - but the name John Pollitt appears on the covers of quite a few, if that name means anything to anyone. I've reversed those that need it. Thanks all.

Looking through t'internet BK, do the pictures with the name John Pollitt have any old cars on them? There is reference to a John Pollitt as member of the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain, engineer and historian. Someone of that name wrote an article in the CET in 1954 about early Coventry car manufacturers and also asked for any information anyone had. Just an off chance that this might be him!

Thanks, Anne. Yes, there are several negatives in the Selves folder with old cars. I suspect, given his Coventry connection in 1954, this is him, possibly working with Richard to get copies of older negatives. I'm hoping these older ones are hidden in the Cov Archives and have begun enquiries.

This one still needs reversing, Ben. Note the 'Unicorn' pub in Burges in the background.

I thought it was familiar.

There are bound to be duplicates. Having ambled through the Herbert Archives I've found photos in lots of places. Sometimes they were unique but scattered amongst well copied images. There are reports with copies of photos that appear nowhere else as far as I can tell. Even the newspapers have a few special images, eg the Much Park Street end of St John's Street and a part of Warwick Lane that appears nowhere else. While it would be great to see the originals, the copies are better than nothing. Clearly people like Sadler saw the same things we have and thought 'that's good, I'll take a copy'.