Pool Meadow and Fairfax Street (new and old)

Hi Kaga - That's the date of the view on Britain from Above so I can only go on that.

NeilsYard, I would doubt that date, I travelled many days from Pool Meadow by coach, it never had a lined surface, the Midland Red service was right opposite the cafe, amongst pools of water. and from the side of the book stall to the races most days. they have the wrong date.

This is the image Kaga - BFA Site If you have not been on their site before - register for free then you can zoom in to any of the images. Some are really clear and the resolution high for the age.

I could see Kaga's point about Pool Meadow, but on a closer look the transport (cars and buses) date it to the 1950s, as does the advert for White Rain Shampoo on the corner of New Buildings.

Okay, this is what I think. The waste land was the training area for the fire brigade - between 1946 and 1950 they bought a new fire engine, they sent it up 100 feet, had no stabilisers, it swung in an arc, crashed on its side, the officer smashed into those buildings behind the baths. 1953. The Leofric, Owen's, and south side of the Precinct were halfway being built - would the council really put down a little bit of tarmac in a waste place? 1953. The Thames broke its banks, so did the North Sea, the back of Pool Meadow a quagmire, it ran like a river down Barras Lane. The girl said, "I can't go home in this storm". I was very gallant, I offered to share my single bed with her, and did - it rained for three days and nights. I remember it well.

That electric place stood empty for over twenty years. MR, opposite the cafe next to the wall of the baths, or whatever, stood the bus stop for the Midland Red to Leicester, the last one 9.30pm. The end bus nearest to Priory St/Ford St was the Bell Green/Lentons Lane bus. A man got his head run over in Pool Meadow in the fifties. Ask me another.

I think the date of 1953 has to be correct on Britain from Above. If you pan across to the old cathedral, the graveyard is untouched and no preparation has been made towards the building of the new cathedral. According to what I've read (and written), they dug out and fenced off the old cathedral's graveyard in 1954, and the Queen laid the foundation stone in 1956.

Rob. You seriously think that Pool Meadow really looked like that, not a brick out of place, not a bombed building in sight, a straight run through Pool Meadow. Not even in Heathite's 1950 version does it show bombed buildings - not a pool of water, not a rut. Not history, just trickery.

This is another 1953 picture from Britain from above. Picture number EAW051851. Neil's picture was EAW051848 so they are both from the same film run. This picture shows Owen Owen under construction and no sign of the Hotel Leofric. Both were opened in 1955. On the full view of Neil's picture there is no sign of building work having been started on the New Cathedral which started in 1954 so there is no way that these aerial shots could have been taken after 1953.

The aerial views can be very deceptive. Even hills look quite flat at that height. The area to the left of the baths is quite lumpy, even if it looks flat. It was post demolition, which why there are a lot of gaps rather than bombed buildings. The baths is one of the few remaining ruins by that point. It's not winter, so maybe the puddles had dried up? If you look at 3D games, the designers choose mountains, cliffs, etc. They look fantastic as you fly over them. Coventry by comparison looks flat as a pancake and... well... a bit boring.

Kaga, I never enjoy disagreeing with you, and I have no idea or experience of how Pool Meadow would've looked back then, but all I can say is that the photographic evidence presented by Annewiggy and myself is overwhelming and conclusive..... the New Cathedral had not yet been started, the new Owen Owen was still being built (to be opened in 1954), and the foundations for The Leofric had not yet even been dug. I've found another super 1953 photo on Britain from Above showing the same area but looking eastwards. Here you can clearly see Ford Street and the old baths by Pool Meadow (top left) and Owen Owen in progress by the new Broadgate (bottom right). Also, the old Georgian houses still stand, awaiting demolition, in Priory Row, where the New Cathedral would soon be built. No trickery Kaga, just a genuine old photo of how it looked in 1953.

For over twenty years we Coventry kids knew it as part of Pool Meadow, only 'out of towners' would have searched for a different name. They had no idea about Coventry, and it was a quagmire on wet days - almost another twenty years on and Scrutiny still knew it as a quagmire. It has to be from an old map, or old photo, we did not have anything like this new stuff of today in 53. Little b&w tvs, no satellite, no computers, not even a lape recorder - try a 1953 camera! Not even Heathrow till after the war. Now whatever 'tarting' up they did to the photo has robbed you of the evidence you seek about that red brick building, it was there in 53. I believe we were right to call it Pool Meadow, hasn't it always been so, since 1940 - how about now? Britain's RAF expert on aerial photography was no other than Dirk Bogarde. 1953 and the Red House coach swung into Pool Meadow. D Di, the real one - son, stepped down into four inches of water. Nearly a punch up with Harry the driver - he threatened to sue Tommy Venn. 1942/3, a lorry full of GI Joes, sight-seeing, parked I believe in the east end of Pool Meadow. If you missed Coventry in the 1950's then I'm truly sorry for you. Was a hell of a place, on the threshold of a new beginning.

And as Helen says, it is summer, there are leaves on the trees, Zooming in you can see people walking round in summer clothes and shadows from the south west so I would imagine it was a nice warm dry sunny afternoon. Just noticed the pictures are dated, Tuesday 1st September 1953! The country was also in the midst of various strikes including Coventry Corporation buses who were striking on Saturdays. Nothing to do with the picture but I thought it was interesting!!!

Annewiggy , do you have a pin-point map of where Fairfax actually stood? Was it by chance a cul-de-sac, short street or similar? Always grateful for your expertise.

Best I can do Kaga, this is 1944