Coventry's Markets

This postcard clearly shows Boots on Broadgate

Yes, these old photo's really do bring back old memories. But to me I believe the first world war was the start of the picture postcard, at the start of the twentieth century the only way people could communicate to others afar was by writing, and with photo's making giant strides someone put them together. With mass production thousands of cards were sent to the troops, I believe the Royal Mail and the Army had a special service. The Three Spires was the most popular postcard for Midlanders, but in the twenties and thirties the picture postcard was cheap and easy to send small items of news, with three deliveries a day was fast and efficient. Today we are most grateful for those cards to look back on history. The second war, it was widely used for home use, farther afield the six-penny airmail came in to use.

Thanks to Derrick Greer on the True Cov FB page - possibly the best / clearest post war image of the complete tower I have seen.

Thanks, Neil

NeilsYard. I believe in the foreground where the photographer stood was the old fish market, and over to the right was the domed market hall, there was Weaver to Wearer, I believe, between the market and Burtons. The market tower was there early '45 when I went away, but had gone when I returned in '48. Someone said the council thought it stuck out like a sore thumb and was a pigeon haven, so the council pulled it down and made neat little piles of rubble that matched the rest of the rubble, and the pigeons moved on. I think a delayed bomb went off in Broadgate about 11am Friday morning. I believe the words you see on the front of Holy Trinity - "It all depends on me and I depend on God".

That is a very good picture Neil. I never noticed how decorated it was. I wonder if it was painted on or done with different bricks.

Helen F. Yes it is a good photo, very close up and only a few weeks after the raid I would think, no one puts dates on photos in books, also I believe it was brickwork decoration, they loved that kind of work before the war. I remember the small tile decorations of entrances to houses. but that market tower survived while all round was flattened. I think it deserved to have been incorporated in the new city. The Army came in for a while and cleaned up the main streets for transport to operate, but the council took a long time to really move the rubble, in fact some people said, it's a city still suffering from 'piles' even in the late fifties. The markets formed their own ARP or HG, unit same as the factories.

And another showing the cleared area - it's amazing it survived at all even if it was not for much longer. This shot gives a more precise location and shows what (little) remained on West Orchard.

Great shot, Neil - and it shows the keep left signs for Kaga

Midland Red. That Market Tower covers many topics for me, and as it's all memory for me, makes it personal, stories that makes it sound like boasting that worries me somewhat.

Not at all, Kaga - don't ever think that We all really enjoy every tidbit you post from those years gone by

Another new one to me showing how badly hit the whole area was

Neils Yard. If I remember correctly Mattersons H.W. were quite close to the tower and the old barracks. Around WW1 time I believe they did all the cavalry equipment and shoeing, right there in the centre of the city, supplied all the farmers' needs in the city's suburbs - a big chunk of the city's history, early part of the twentieth century.

You probably already know that Matterson's have their own thread

Midland Red, yeh, and I kept putting in MHW and kept getting zero.