Hillfields

Following up on a story about Primrose Hill Street this afternoon I couldn't help noticing there's hardly anything left of it! Hard to believe it was once a busy shopping centre along with Victoria Street and King William Street.

Primrose Hill St.

The view today:

Which do you prefer? At least with the old Hillfields, you had people on the streets.

The old one of course! It wasn't then a "no man's land" where you expected to be mugged any second.

My own preference is the old photo (despite the lack of greenery) with street parking and a variety of shops selling allsorts (and not a charity shop in sight) Thinking about it, all the greenery should have stayed where the out-of-town shopping centres have been built and all the in-town shops retained And rear-entry buses, with conductors And steam locos And leather footballs And speedway riders in black leathers And . . . Oh sorry, I seem to have gone off topic

Thanks for the photos Adrian and Dutchman. Adrian, your photo brought back such happy memories. Then I saw Dutchman's photo - what a difference. Dutchman, were the railings and trees part of Sidney Stringer School playing fields, that is, if the school is still there? Of course, the school wasn't built when Mayjan and I used to walk home late at night and as you say we always felt safe and never expected to be mugged.

Yes Tricia and the shops that were once in White Street beyond have also been replaced by the anonymous-looking facade of the bus garage. It's a very unpleasant feeling walking from Hales Street to Primrose Hill street these days although the chances of actually being mugged, raped or murdered are actually quite small.

Great photos Adrian and Dutchman. Welcome to the club Midland Red !!!! So many of all your great photos can lead one 'off topic' and looking at your list above who can blame us. Anyway, that is what makes this forum so great - having our memories jolted into action. I too love the old photo and goodness knows how everywhere will look in even 20 years time I did not live in Hillfields but used to visit a fashion shop on that busy street regularly (when my purse allowed). I think you would have called it a boutique in it's day. Have a great day everyone. Will catch up this evening

An early 20th century postcard view of Victoria Street

The Royal Exchange closed as a pub in 1921. The ornate school building in Midland Red's scan was destroyed in the war and replaced by Phillips the ironmongers.

McManus Carpets was Brightwall wallpaper shop when I was growing up. Does anyone remember having to trim the edges of the wallpaper? In later years Brightwalls had a machine that did it.

Hello Tricia. When I left school I took an apprenticeship with Cov Council as a decorator. I was taught how to trim wallpaper by sitting in a chair and resting the roll on your feet, you would then hold your scissors half open and pull the paper through them, rolling the paper back up as you went along. The council allowed 10mins a roll for trimming. The trimming machine, unless they adjusted it, would very often give a wavy edge, a decorator's nightmare. Then they came out with a knock off edge, at least it was straight but with perforations. Brightwalls also had a trade centre and warehouse in Vine Street, they must have made a fortune out of all the council decorators as we all used Brightwalls.

I can remember my mum sitting in a chair, with the wallpaper resting on her feet, snipping away. I had completely forgotten about the paper with perforations - thanks for the memory.

The names are still retained in the housing estate which now fills the area between East Street and Berry Street. Vernon Close, Gilbert Close, Days Close, Vauxhall Close and Brook Close are reminders of the old streets and Vauxhall Street still uses part of its original line to the bottom of a further-reduced, one-sided Sparkbrook Street which is now cut off to through traffic. The Vauxhall pub was converted into student accommodation for Coventry University some years ago and Spring Street is there, but in name only and without any houses. Slightly further towards the city centre, on the other side of Canterbury Street is a large student complex where the Singer factory used to stand and the closes there are named after makes of Singer car.