Wyken Slough

I remember as a kid we used to walk for miles to get to the Slough Pool where I'm sure there used to be a boat hire hut. They were only small pedalos but they were great! Me and my mates had great fun on them. Then the council in all it's wisdom, more or less shut down all entertainment (including fishing) from the Slough. God knows what it's like today. Haven't been there for years.

Yep, every Sunday. (It was one of the few places open on a Sunday in those days). We used to get there by car and the big thrill was driving over the canal bridge which left a 'whoozy' feeling in the stomach. We normally hired the hand-cranked paddle boats in the smaller section of the pool but I think there were proper rowing boats for hire in the main section?

Yes, there were rowing boats for hire as well. We used to go on our bikes most Sundays.

I remember them as well, they were great, we had loads of fun there. It would be interesting to find out what the place is like now right enough. I do not suppose it is very good condition. Peter.

I first went there when I was 13 (a long time ago) and now go there every day with my dogs. It has survived well and is one of my favourite spots for taking pictures. There are still a line of the original posts which seperated the `pedalo` boats from the rowing boats.

Hello again greg, have you put any pictures on here of the place now ? What breed of dogs do you have ? Peter.

Wyken Slough is now part of a nature reserve and if you Google the postcode CV2 1PE you will see the lake and surrounding fields, most of which are part of the reserve. When I went there in the 50`s there were swings and roundabouts as well as the boathouse and boats and there was a toilet block just inside the gate.I will put one or two more pictures on in due course. All of the above facilities have long since gone (in the 60`s/70`s I think) but it is now a lovely quiet place most of the time but is still well used by parents and children feeding the swans coots etc. The only original feature left is the concrete ramp where the boathouse was, between the two trees on the left.

Pardon my cynicism but 'nature reserve' seems to have become the council's blanket excuse for not doing anything creative with natural beauty spots such as the Slough and Lake View Park.

I take your point, dutchman, but in this case I suppose we`re lucky with the Slough. There is a voluntary group which periodically carry out maintenance work and the Canal Society maintain the drive which they use for access to their boatyard. Also, I have to say that the Council cut the grass and tidy up on a pretty regular basis and empty the bins weekly . Also, some of the locals litter pick as they walk. I suppose the change of use from the crowded leisure facility which I remember to what it is now was partly down to elf`n`safety but there`s no doubt that there is a fair bit of wildlife there, especially birds. Anyway, the picture shows the old `boat ramp` and the posts are the ones which separated that paddle boats from the rowing boats, the top rails having gone long ago.

They used to have speed boat races at the Slough, I think it was about 1957-58. Don't know if they were full size boats but they were fast. They used to race around a circle of buoys.

My 'Claude Butler' at the Wyken Pool about thirty years ago. I admit to always having been a fair weather cyclist as I am to this day. I ride a hybrid Giant now which always looks like new, in spite of being ten years old. Until a few years ago my wife rode a 'Ladydale'.

I went to Aldermans Green Infants and Junior School 1963 to 1969, the slough was the centre for all kids together with their parents, I always remember going down on a long hot summer days and the field adjacent to the boathouse would be packed with picnic hampers, kids even swimming at the footbridge end, I am sure we even use to pick mussels (or similar) Coventry Evening Telegraph took pictures of us doing so (anyone help with these photos?). I had a Saturday job when I was about 8-9 in the boat house, I used to get half a crown for helping out. I could easily write a book on all the adventures we all had. I live in Yorkshire now and often visit Coventry and always make the effort to take my kids to the Chippy next to the scout hut on Aldermans Green Road and then sit in the slough car park to eat my Saveloy and Cods roe (which you can't get up here!)

I remember the Slough so well and the little cafe/shop that was there, you could get a pedallo or the rowing boat if you had an adult with you plus the fishing, happy days.

Have had a couple of long chats with an 81 year old gentleman who has lived at Aldermans Green all his life. He tells me that a wooden landing stage (which was used when the boats were hired out) was originally built as a mooring for a houseboat, before the war. The boat was the home of a chap called Reg Rose and his family and they moved away during the war when he opened a garage on the Bell Green Road opposite the Morris gates. The present park, he tells me, was three small fields in those days. He also gave me some information about the railway which served the Victoria Farm pit, at the back of Wyken Slough and this fills in a gap about the `burning banks` in Henley Road which Philipin recently visited and I will put this info on that link shortly.

Fascinating Greg, thanks