Working Men's, Sports and Social clubs

Last Saturday (7th March) the Coundon Social Club was the venue for the annual 'March of the Mods' Coventry event in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust. This happens during the month of March each year at cities and major towns all over the UK. Scooters feature predominantly and the majority of attendees are ageing Mods (moi), youngsters new to the scene, and devotees of the music. The Coventry 'All or Nothing' Scooter Club, named after the Small Faces' song, have their annual bash at the Standard Triumph Social Club.

Derrickarthur You remember the club ran car treasure hunts? Given a clue you drove off to find another clue and so on, until you all reached a certain pub or club like the Fleur- de-Lys at Henley-in-Arden beside the canal. Arthur Oldham, ten years of age, stepping from a boat to another being towed, he was working on the boat that belonged to his uncle Alfred Simpson, fell in the water and drowned near Evans Bridge, Sowe Common, May 1891.

I was a first-year motor vehicle student at Tile Hill College the first year it opened and on Wednesday, our full-day at college every dinner was spent in the Lime Tree Club down the road. We always got back late in the afternoon having sunk four pints and played on the superb snooker tables they had there, what a great club it was! The afternoon's first lesson was vehicle electrics, given by a very old lecturer who started the first lesson with an image of a battery, a switch and a bulb to explain a simple circuit and used the exact same image to explain it a whole term later because we were all asleep at the desks five minutes after we arrived back!

Kaga. The Fleur de Lys I think you refer to is actually in Lowsonford.

RL Cherrington. Sorry, lost your email, please get in touch again. Thanks.

Looking through the postings, some not mentioned, unless I missed them, and I`m not sure if they still exist not living in Coventry for many years. Here we go - Bell Green, Walsgrave, Edgewick, Parkestone, Hen Lane, Barras clubs. Sure some of you will remember using some or all of them at some time.

Lolipop, my dad, who is 95 now, frequented all those clubs at various times, as well as several others. He's never been a big drinker but he's always loved his bingo and the fruit machines and a game of snooker as well as good company. If it wasn't for the lockdown he would still be going to Hen Lane for Sunday bingo, when I come home he likes me to go with him. Coventry had a thriving Working Men's Club culture and a club card allowed entrance to all of them. Many of them were very successful financially. I can remember going to the Parkstone in the 70s and 80s and the bingo prizes ran into the hundreds while the mid-session house prize ran to a thousand pounds or more. There was good quality entertainment and tables would have large platters of cheese and onion and ham batches, pork pies and so on. Because they needed to keep profits below taxation levels they spent money on the sports teams, ran outings etc. At various times when you bought drinks you would receive tickets and your next drinks would be 10 pence each. One thing I don't miss is the smoke. Walsgrave Club was terrible for choking, blue cigarette smoke. Had to strip off and put everything in the wash then wash hair and shower to get red of the stink. The law banning smoking in public places has been blamed for the demise of clubs and pubs but I don't agree. Massive cultural change and drinking at home, especially the popularity of wine, has really killed them off. Shame really because they are still a good night out and far safer than many pubs.

I think the biggest was the Courtaulds club, 1950/60s. But you know it all started off two centuries ago, and yes with the canals. The canals had to supply two houses, one to keep them in repair, the other for drinks and stables. Every mile or so they built a pub. These pubs became the social places, most people could neither read or write, so they paid for a man to come and read the paper to them in the pubs. This was done by the landlord who deducted money from their weekly beer, it was also a way of messages all along the cut, by word of mouth. Everyone that needed money desperately had a hand out at Xmas, or other times, from the pot in the pub, nothing was written down but they did know money. Now by the 1920s they had bagatelle teams, skittles, etc, and cycled to and fro. There was a pot on the counter, and the landlord paid a % of the takings. I believe about 1934 the Elephant and Castle at Tusses Bridge had the first charabang to Skegness. Yes, everything in the area socially was planned in the Castle. By the thirties it was a real social club, but fifty percent of the old folks still could not read or write, so I'm not sure whether it had official or not. But in the war they really excelled - when the canal was emptied, at Sutton Stop the Greyhound phoned the Castle and canal men were there in minutes (the only two phones). The Castle was the meeting place for firewatchers ARP, police, etc.

Found it! Thanks Kaga. Seems like a very early club but starting off in a pub! And the old charabang to Skeggie, a tradition that went on for many decades. All the best to you.

As it's been mentioned on here a few times - this superb photo has been passed on by Patricia Webb on FB. It's inside the Brassworkers Club when it was on King Street in 1916. Patricia's grandparents were the licensees then.

What a brilliant photo. Look at the old gas lantern, the dog on the bar, and the drab interior, many places still the same in 1930s and the guy in the centre is a look-a-like to but who?

Joe E Brown, film star?

Dear Forum Members, I would like to say a big thanks to those who have shared some memories and pics with me about Coventry's working men's clubs. They are now forming a part of my forthcoming book on Cov's once extensive network of clubs. The book is nearing completion, at least the first draft! Hoping it will be out in the autumn. There is still time to send over any memories and pics/other visuals if you'd like them to be part of this. It's really like a collective history! You take good care out there. Best wishes. Ruth

Dear Forum Members An update on the WMClubs book - it's now nearing publication! It will be available in Waterstone's on 30 Oct. Thanks again to those who contributed their great memories and stories, plus pics! This book is about ordinary people and the clubs, which were so central to much of the city's social life for decades, not only the postwar era but before. I've tried to document as many stories as possible and to do justice to the clubs and all they offered, from games to entertainment, trips and community events, bingo and children parties. It was hard to fit it all in but hopefully it reads well and will help those handful of clubs that survive, and are facing new challenges in this Covid era. For those who are interested, there is a special collector's edition available to pre-order. Even if you don't want to do that, you can paste the link below into your browser to get a flavour of the book. Dirty Stop Outs Guide to Coventry's Working Men's Clubs All the best to you all and do keep safe and well. Ruth

Hi Ruth, well done! I edited the link to make it clickable.