Coventry Bakers and Bakeries

Sadly, that is very true

A bakery that springs to mind from my childhood is Lawrence's Bakery at the bottom of St Margaret's Road, Gosford Green. The building later became an insurance offices. They shared stables at the rear with a coal merchant Charley Paul. Oh for one of their lardy cakes today. I wonder if the stables are still there as I cannot remember the buildings being demolished, only added to.

As children we used to go to Livingstone baths and stop at F&R's for cakes on the way home. My parents had a shop in Meadow Road where they sold F&R'S cakes on a large wooden tray. Mainly custards. Lovely!! This would be late 40's - early 50's.

Hello & welcome to our forum Jill. Thank you for your memories.

Used to have a lovely chocolate eclair after swimming at Livingstone Road. Still my favourite cake.

Craven Crusts fails to succeed with plans for Pails project

What a shame. I remember this Bakery so well. When we were on School Holidays in the 60's we used to buy day old Chelsea Buns and suchlike for an old Penny !

Mum and dad both worked at Suttons bakery.

Hi Mick When did your parents work at Suttons and what did they do. My dad worked there from the late 1940's until 1981. He drove one of the big vans and was a wholesale supervisor.

Dad worked at Maudslay Road as night shift supervisor (even had to go on Sunday night) from as early as I can remember and I guess up until the early 60's. Mum worked on a machine that put the jam into the doughnuts. When I was around 12 or so, I worked on a Saturday bread round for a guy called Digger Bent, and then progressed to a wholesale round in Leamington with Teddy Lindon who was good friends with my dad. It was good fun apart from the really early start, but 10/- every Saturday made it worth it. I did get the chance to have a go on the doughnut machine. The name of Phelps springs to mind as someone who was in charge when my dad worked there.

Hi Mick, my dad was Bert Yardley. My brother also had a Saturday job there. I think he had to run the paperwork from the vans upstairs to the office when the men returned on a Saturday afternoon. That would have been in the early 60s. I seem to remember the name Phelps as well. They were very good to my dad, when he got near to retirement they took him off the vans and sent him out canvassing so he had a nice easy job for the last year or so.

Hi Anne, yes, Bert Yardley certainly rings a bell. What is your brother's first name? But if he was before 63/64 then I would not have met him. My dad left Suttons and moved to Armstrong Whitworth at Baginton, mum stayed on for a while and my sister and me became latch key kids. I remember mum bringing home slabs of fruit cake and I used to pick out the cherries. I am sure my dad spoke of Philip Sutton?

Here's an advert for them 1935

Gladding's Bakery, St John Street: Pictures of Coventry