Hillfields

All suicides were buried there, upside-down and with a stake driven through their body "so their soul couldn't rise into heaven"!

Thanks for the info Herberts Lad. I lived in Coronation Road, opposite Primrose Hill Park and I have never heard of the Primrose Hill murder, or the history of the park. I found it very interesting, but may have found it scary as a child. Doug, I was just mulling over what you said about the shops in King Edward Road, and you are right, you could get just about everything you wanted there. Going from Berry Street, on the right was the doctor's surgery and on the left Berdots, that sold delicious pork batches (before it became Berdots it was Hammonds the butchers). Further along on the right-hand side on the corner of Alexander Road was a house, that in the 40s, used to sell lino and carpets. Then on the left-hand side, either side of an entry, that lead to the 'brook entry' were two grocery/greengrocery shops, the first one was called Gardners and the other Williams. Next door to Mrs Williams shop was Padbury's the cobblers. Further along on the right was Gale's hardware shop and almost opposite was the post office. On the corner of Alfred Road was Alf Simpson's bike shop, he also had a petrol pump. Then on the left was Richard's the butchers. I think there were other shops opposite the butchers, maybe a barbers or ladies hairdressers, perhaps Jan, scrutiny or Doug can help me here. As you say, some lovely people lived there. Happy memories.

Hello Tricia, I think your memory is prob better than mine, you have nailed down about everything I can remember. From the Swanswell to Primrose Hill Park, as well as the streets leading off, was a very thriving area where you could purchase almost everything you needed to live, if not all. Considering the population of Coventry was a lot smaller then, it makes you realise how much trade has passed over to the large supermarkets. Gone is the personal attention paid by the shopkeeper to the customer, replaced by an impersonal machine or indifferent staff!!! I do consider we (all of us) grew up in prob the most relaxed and nice era in history, post war. At least everyone I knew had a job after leaving school but there again that was prob because of the war and having to rebuild. Nice memories. ps. You will have to excuse all the "probs" but I have trouble saying it never mind spelling it, the full word that is, lol.

Tricia, Your memory is astounding! I believe that there was a barber's on the right side of King Edward Road just past Alf Simpson's, and for some reason I think his name was Joe. My dad had his hair cut there for ever. And I remember the "brook entry" too. It was very atmospheric to me as a child - very long, stretching the whole length of King Edward Road from Harnall Lane to the bottom of Berry Street, angled in a few places so you couldn't see down the whole length of it. It was overhung with trees in some spots, and with what seemed like very high garden walls all along one side. Dr. Ball and Dr. Bhalla were the doctors on the corner, weren't they? At least when I was a kid, although we had a different doctor. And I think the people on the corner of Alexandra Road may have been called Bayliss - there was an advertisement painted on the wall with that name, faded and flaking by the early 60s. As scrutiny says, Hillfields was thriving - no need to go into the town. Perhaps I was too young to notice it was declining. In the late 60s, though, it seemed to change quite suddenly.

I so agree with you Primrose,Tricia does have an amazing memory,far better than mine! I can remember playing along by the brook,walking down from the top end by Harnall Lane and coming out on Berry St by Keanes the butchers. Dr Bhalla and Dr Ball were my doctors and I recall that sometimes the people would be queueing out in the street if they were really busy. Dr Bhalla always used to have a cigarette on the go when you went in to see him. There was always an ash tray on his desk and he would puff away as he spoke to you,hard to believe now! Dr Ball lived near me in the Green Lane area in later years and I quite often used to see him,he would always raise his hat to me,such a nice man, Sadly he suffered a stroke a few years ago and later passed away. Like Tricia I had never heard of the murder in Primrose Hill Park,and to think of the happy hours we spent in there running up and down the big clay hill,don't think we would have been so keen if we had known about that.

Reading about the brook, I too used to play there on the way home from school, much more interesting than walking down King Edward Road.The thing that bugs me is, where did it go to? The brook went under Berry Street and then reappeared at the back of the houses in Brook Street and then vanished? I was always led to believe the brook was the overflow from the canal? I think all the entries are now blocked off with steel gates. Shame, as I wanted to walk along there last year. So much change in the time I have been away from Cov. It makes you wonder how many times our paths have crossed without knowing it?

I believe it's the Springbrook which meanders through much of Hillfields, passes under the lower part of Far Gosford Street and eventually joins the Sherbourne on the far side of Gulson Road.

You were right about the doctors, Primrose. We didn't go there, we went to Drs Navin and Lewis on the corner of Swan Lane and Walsgrave Road. Thank you for remembering the name Bayliss, I can remember it now, the name Evans kept coming to mind, but I had a feeling this wasn't correct. Now you have confirmed that there was a barbers in King Edward Road, I recall that my dad also went there for his short back and sides.

On about the Doctor,s Tricia, They were also our doctor,s. Do you remember a Dr Gill joining the practise? He used to wear a shirt with no collar on it and always had a bottle of whiskey on his desk? His eye test never got beyond the big letter A before he said "eye sight perfect", He done the medical examinations for the council apprentice,s. He done about 10 medical,s in about 20mins. LOL. Fast worker or what? Thats for him.

Yes scrutiny, I remember Dr Gill. Dr Navin used to do the medicals at the GEC and he also worked for the police. Dr Navin took my sister's tonsils out at home on the kitchen table. Mum said she paid him 7/6d and paid the nurse 1/-. This must have been in about 1940 (before I was born). Thank goodness for the NHS.

Dear god, i am glad i was not born then. Dr Navin was at our house a few times because of me but luckily i usually ended up in an ambulance and taken to either Whitley or Keresley hospital. Got bad memories of both. Still, it was better than ending up on the kitchen table lol. I could do with one of those now but at present i am into full blown "Cluster Headache season". Out of curiosity, does anyone else on here suffer from them? Its quite rare, but you cannot drink when in season.

Hi Tricia, You were quite correct about the shops. There was a ladies Hairdressers opp Alexandra Road, next to the entry which led to the Brook.(Which we used to play in,in our Wellies.)Then next to the entry was a Grocers, run by a family called Jones. Then Padburies-the Cobblers.(My sister went out with Harvey Padbury,-The Cobblers son for a time. There was The post Office, run by The Faulkner family. (lovely people.) The Butchers- Richards. Although there was another Butcher before them. We lived dead opposite The Butchers shop. Alldricks The Gents Barbers, was at No.110. I lived at 104. I went to School & was mates with Joe Alldricks son; Barry. He was still working in the Hairdressers till recently. Although I'm not sure if he is still there. His Dad passed away many years ago. Barry used to help his Dad, then took over later. Alf Simpson was also a character at the bike shop. Often used to smoke a pipe. I used to go to the shop to get paraffin, or to have my bike fixed. He used to have lovely looking bikes in his window. There was a small Co-op too, just past leopold Rd. Also, of course was Ansells Newsagents. (Again, a lovely family.) Their son Robert used to run The Newsagents in Empress Buildings, Binley Road, till a few years ago, & his Dad used to help out, even delivering papers when needed. Robert, like Alf Simpson & Barry Alldrick, used to be keen anglers. I went fishing with them once. Mr. Ansell was a really friendly chap. He even offered me a sum of money once,when I was a teenager,if I gave up smoking.(what a nice gesture when he could have easily have just took my money for fags, as many would do today.) Yes, there were so many lovely people in that Road. Not forgetting Ray,(I think his name was) at the Hardware shop,past the flats in Alfred Road. Incidentally, a guy named Mick Mcullough who used to live in those flats saw me at Tesco's recently, (where I work) & after some 40+ years since he had seen me last, still recognised me. Anyway, great memories,& happy days on the whole. Cheers Tricia.X

Hi Doug, Thank you for putting names to the shopkeepers, many memories came flooding back. I had forgotten that when Gardeners (next to the entry that lead to the brook) closed, the shop became a hairdressers. I now remember the Jones family on the other side of the entry, their daughter was called Susan; and I can now also recall Harvey Padbury, I had completely forgotten him. And yes, I remember Alf Simpson smoking a pipe, I also used to go to the shop for paraffin. My bedroom was so damp that I used to have a paraffin heater in it in the winter. You mentioned a Mick McCullough, I wonder if he was any relation to the McCulloughs who used to live in Alfred Road opposite the flats. My sister used to go to school with a Veronica McCullough and I think she had a brother called Jackie. As you say Doug, lovely childhood memories.

Someone I know grew up in Hillfields in the 50s and 60s and he said it was great - the main road was lined with busy shops and you could walk right into the city centre along a street lined with houses and businesses.

In our house, we always called the Alfred Road flats the "new houses", all run together as one word with the emphasis on the first syllable and no aitch - "NOO-owziz". I was always fascinated by them with their yellow bricks and the high walls that enclosed the backyards. I believe they had concrete and very little grass in the back but I only remember seeing the back once. I also loved the way the houses followed the slope of Alfred Road with the house at the Coronation Road end having a short flight of steps to the front door, and the flights of steps getting longer and longer going down the hill until the last few houses were reached by one long flight that led to a concrete balcony walkway that ran to their front doors, and maybe round to the back (Tricia, what do you remember of this?) Under those last houses at the King Edward Road end were some one-storey flats and a tarmac courtyard in front of them. If we ventured on to the tarmac to play, someone always came out and told us to clear off! Also, playing two-ball or doing handstands against the tempting blank wall at the Coronation Road end was not popular with the occupants of the house to say the least! I believe these were built to replace bombed-out houses, and they certainly didn't match the surroundings but as they occupied one entire side of the block, the difference wasn't jarring.