Cathedral Lanes

As per earlier comments on this thread - super shot of the Council staff canteen which ran along the line of the old Derby Lane, circa early 80's would we say? I do recall it like this. Very few images of this area at this time as close up as this one. There were some old ruins uncovered when the temporary shops were demolished as well (there's another photo of those on here somewhere).

Typical of the council, they demolished the temporary shops without having any idea of what they were going to replace them with! I walked past the site a few times on my way to the High Street but never really took much notice of it.

Same with me, dutchman, really. I was usually being dragged by my mum from Pool Meadow having just got off the 23 to go to the Midland Bank in the High Street. This is about as close a view of the same shot as I can get from Google maps to see what a mess they made but gives you an idea of where the canteen stood and where the line of Derby Lane was.

A missed opportunity to make a good transition between the old and the new, but I suspect the original plan was to get rid of all the 'old' and just have the new so no one cared too much about it. These plans were either abandoned or changed. The original 1930s plan was for what we now called the 'Cathedral Quarter' to be totally destroyed and replaced by a precinct of low rise buildings. People who obsess about the Cathedral Spire would have been happy, but we wouldn't have any of the those old lanes which serve as the only reminder of the old city. Cathedral Lanes is the least of the city's problems. Sure, it was a poor building with blank walls on prime approaches (seem to be a common thing here, stand at the bottom of the Burges and look up at the backside of Primark dominating the landscape.) and the library looks as if it was a decent building that could have maybe been restored. However, the decaying precinct, that hideous market, the ghastly canopies over Hertford Street, the appalling flyovers (also decaying) and horrendous things like IKEA and the blank walls along major routes are a FAR bigger issue! Cathedral Lanes full of restaurants sounds like a great idea. It's never been that great for retail and the city's restaurant scene needs a huge improvement... Certainly looked busy today! Good luck to 'em, after the failure of priory place it'd be good to see something succeed. I think the likes of Wagamamma will do well here. Certainly does mean we'll stop travelling out to spend our money outside the city.

Yes flap - we cannot bring back the old so can only go on what we have - The thing for me is to ensure future developments are made to fit in more like they did in Germany etc. I agree IKEA looks awful and Hertford Street really needs turning back in to a street once more IMO. Not sure if we'll be enticed to a meal out at the Lanes - The Establishment is the pick of the bunch for me.

Totally agree about Hertford Street. They tried 'tarting' it up, but you really can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. On another forum we've been discussing how this used to a thriving area for retail before the focus moved to West Orchards (and then Lower Precinct). It would probably be good as a restaurant street if it was open onto Broadgate again, a bit like that Regents Court in Leamington.

I loved Hertford Street in its classic actual street form. Now it just looks like an outdated mess, even though it's newer.

Yes, it's a mess, and that weird triangle is quite awful and dingy. The canopy is grim. I did a foolish thing. I Googled Hertford Street and got a lot of images, both pre- and post- war. "Nothing dates quicker than someone else's view of the future" - Something that could very much apply to Coventry, I think!

Flapdoodle quotes "Nothing dates quicker than someone else's view of the future" That is very true. But, societal changes in Coventry since the end of WWII have been so rapid that what used to be viewed as 'the future' is generally less than 5 years away. When it comes to planning it is usually recognition that something is not working any more and they try to fix the problem. From recognising the problem to fixing it in building terms may take up to 10 years, but by that time the problem is a different one.

I remember the open plan of Broadgate before Cathedral Lanes, and the green grass and small hills. Was this not the site also of Lyons Tea shop. "A bit before my time I'm afraid". Also on the corner was Martins Bank, and at the rear was what I have a picture called The Festival Cafe. And somewhere under Cathedral Lanes lies a hidden well. Found this in a 1970's paper cutting. Whilst "modernizing" Broadgate, the workers uncovered a lost well.

Those guys were driven by ideas they'd picked up at University. Gibson is quoted as hating Coventry because it mixed businesses, leisure and residential and the buildings were different heights. That went against the ideas of the likes of Corbusier who published a book called 'The City of Tomorrow' in the 1920s. The problems that needed fixing could have been fixed without wholesale destruction.

Great photo Baz, ciggies came before 'hard hats' I reckon. I wonder how far down he had to go.

A photo I took in 1984 from the corner of High Street showing someone peering down this very well. The side of Owen Owen (now Primark) can be seen on the left, with the framework of what is now J.D. Wetherspoons (right-centre) just visible through the trees.

Nice one Tony I remember it like that very well