Spon End

I did some more research. The old dwellings last appear on a map dated 1937. These were also listed as unoccupied by 1939. The new houses first appear on a map dated 1950 so could have been built at any time between those two dates. I may also have mistaken the long front gardens for another row of houses which once stood next to the Old Dyer's Arms

Where the houses now stand there was a court, known locally as Cock court. This was beside the entry leading to the Broomfield Tavern. How do I know, because I was born there at 16 Spon End, and lived there until we were rehoused in 1936. My grandmother also lived there and I do believe my mother was born there. Does that make me a Spon End Kid? In between the court and the Dyers Arms was a terrace of three story houses.l

Thanks Tekmelf I've always regarded the south side as being in Earlsdon rather than Spon End but that's a moot point. I suspect the house where you were born was knocked down shortly after you were rehoused. Here is a map of the area from 1905 but not much would have changed before 1936: Old-Maps.co.uk By the way, the four houses Dean is referring to are numbered 19-25 with the even numbers no longer in use.

Ever so slightly deviating off the main topic but I noticed on that map dutchman linked there was another pub called the 'Punch Bowl' and looks to be about where the chip shop is now, has this been mentioned in any previous posts or photo's?

Yes Catshed Edward 'Duckfat' Bradshaw The Punch Bowl was where the Chinese takeaway is now, the chip shop is next door to it.

My aunt ran the butchers shop just the other side of the arches on the same side as the WMC

That would be Barlow's, I believe. My mother worked at Renold for many years and retired in 1980. She wouldn't get her meat anywhere else, and we became customers too when setting up home. He knew exactly how his customers wanted their meat prepared. A true personal service. I'm not sure exactly when he retired and the shop closed, but it was a major issue to have to find another reliable supplier of meat.

Without starting a new thread and as it was mentioned on this one. Does anyone know why it was called Four Pounds Avenue? Cost of the land?

I believe that the men who built the bridge were men who had dug canals, they were called navigators (that is where the name navvy, unskilled worker, comes from). These men were housed in camps where Four Pounds Ave now is. On canals the water between locks is called a pound. The original bridge was designed to have four arches, these the workers called pounds. They also called the place where they camped Four Pounds. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it Les

It was named after Four Pounds Mill which was a short distance away on the Sherbourne.

Well, my theory was more entertaining Les

And of course, Lake View Road off Four Pounds, where they forgot to build the lake!

I have heard about a mill before but that was it - only heard. Was there a mill originally. I remember the Sherbourne used to run at the back of where we lived (Lincroft Cres.) just a trickle across the fields.

There were quite a few mills in Spon End at one time Dreamtime and not so very far from the Broomfield Tavern either!

If you look at the rear of the Co Co building (the old Renold Chain offices) at the base of the wall there is the outline of an arch for a millrace. The Chain was built on a disused mill site. Of the two main workshops the one behind the offices was the second one to be erected because of the wet ground conditions - supposedly and the storage pond.