Bedworth and Nuneaton

Hi everyone, I see that you all know a lot about Nuneaton and I wonder if maybe you could help me? I'm trying to find someone who worked in Coventry in the 70's. She did deliveries to a cake shop 19 Acorn Street, Stoke Aldermoor which was for a long time called 'Elaine's bread and cakes' it changed names a few times before that. Her name is Christine who drove a blue transit van on her deliveries to the bakery on Acorn street, (and probably a number of other bakers too) from a wholesalers out of town. She was quite tall in her 30's (in the 70's, so I guess she'd be in her 70's now) She lived with her mother in Nuneaton who had a Mynah bird. Mynah birds talk and require special food, so perhaps there were a limited number of shops the food could have come from? They also need to be fed several times a day so maybe someone helped with feeding? They can live for 10 or 20 years, a long time and an unusual creature so maybe someone somewhere might have known of these people. I'd really appreciate it if you could help me at all, or ask around or help me get in contact with anyone else who could help. Even the smallest bit of information could lead somewhere! I'm looking for Christine because she once did an incredibly kind thing for someone and its really important that we find her and thank her, because her act of kindness was so significant to this individual. Thanks for your help, AcornStreet

Nuneaton, Bedworth, Hartshill etc - trains, quarries, collieries, also a signal box.

Good find Morgana

Hi & thank you Morgana The same wagon as in your posting.

There used to be one near the station in Brum - my late partner used to frequent it in the 60's!

Thank you Dutchman

The same wagon as in your posting. That was the first thing I noticed Philip and thank you too. When I write my sister's address for New Arley I have to write Nr Coventry, so does Arley come under Coventry?

Does anyone have any memories about Bedworth Hypermarket? I worked on the checkouts there from when it opened, in 1972, until 1978. It would be good to hear from other people who worked there, shopped there, or saw it being demolished!

Yes I remember Woodford I used to shop in the first one too, wasn't there a union jack painted on the wall of the first building, it was by where the car wash is now opposite the old Tesco which wasn't there then by Leicester Rd Tesco was where Icelands is now, then they rebuilt the Hypermarket where Aldi and Home Bargains is now, shopped in both of their stores. I also recall both being demolished

Yes, that's right Morgana! The first one was more like a big garage! I got all the stuff for my 18th birthday party there. I don't remember there being one near where Iceland is now, tho'.

We shopped in the Hypermarket from 1975 when we moved to Bedworth. It was by then a Fine Fare store. Over the years it became Quick Save and Food Giant and at the same time gradually got scruffier and scruffier. The upstairs was rented out to carpet and furniture retailer and local lad Andrew Beresford. His shop was clean and tidy but the general appearance of the whole site just got worse. The car park had a very low roof so you had to be careful about throwing up the hatchback or else it would have clobbered the roof. Now we have Aldi on the same site which provides good value goods in the same way that the original hypermarket set out to do many years earlier.

Yes the Hypermarket, the misses insisted on going there once a week, I hated the place, and as you have quoted it was scruffy and untidy and the car park was something else. Yes glad to see the place gone

We shopped there a few times in the mid 70's. It was one of the first local pile'em high, sell'em cheap food places in the area. I seem to remember it was originally called the SP Hypermarket, possibly standing for something like Stewart and Patterson, although I could of course be misremembering that.

S P - Shoppers Paradise?

I seem to remember that the hypermarket in Leicester Road was started by two local lads, who first started in the retail business with a stall on Bedworth market. I never shopped in the Leicester Road shop, it looked like a warehouse. When they moved to where Aldi is now I used to occasionally shop there. The groceries were stacked in boxes, not on shelves; and they had their own bakery, where you could buy delicious hot doughnuts, filled with jam. Upstairs they sold furniture, carpets and a small selection of clothes, there was also a cafe. On the side of the building was a large sign saying Shopper Paradise. |Thumbs_up I'm sure Heritage will be able to help with this one. |