Bedworth and Nuneaton

Lol Woodford It was more or less opposite the Tesco they just knocked down yes as you said by Leicester Rd, but at that time that Tesco was not there then , it was Tesco that was where Iceland is now back then.

Funnily enough I was talking to Bedworth newspaper man Mort Birch about the Hypermarket and local man John Miller only this morning. John Miller, who is now tax-exiled in Jersey, introduced cut-price shopping to Bedworth (another first for Bedworth) with his partner Don Twigger when they opened Shoppers' Paradise in Bedworth and then built Bedworth Hypermarket. It is believed that it was also the first hypermarket in the UK. John has set up the Heart of England Foundation which has given grants to local charities.

Friday 23rd May 2014 will see around 1000 Bedworth school children celebrate Founder's Day (perhaps better known in Bedworth as Bun Day) at the Bedworth Almshouses. Children from the four schools of The Nicholas Chamberlaine School Foundation will gather in the quadrangle of the picturesque Almshouses and watched by teachers, family and townspeople will remember the generosity of Bedworth's greatest benefactor, Nicholas Chamberlaine who died in 1715, nearly 300 years ago. In attendance will be the Mayor of Nuneaton and Bedworth, Councillor Bob Copland in his full ceremonial robes, the Mayoress, Elaine Copland and the MP for North Warwickshire Dan Byles. They will be joined by the Trustees of the Almshouses, and the Patron of the trust, Lady Rose Daventry. School banners will be on parade and the much loved Bedworth Schools hymn 'The School of our Church' will be heard across the centre of Bedworth once again. After a short service celebrating the life of Nicholas Chamberlaine each child will be given a 'Bun' by the Trustees and their guests. This tradition has been carried out continuously since 1864. In rapidly changing times, this is a tradition that remains constant and unchanged. 'The school of our church is the school that I love I never would leave it, I never would rove, Whate'er be the lot that my god my prepare Wherever I wander, my heart will be there'.

I have been to many Bun Days as my children progressed through Canon Evans and Canon Maggs schools. I was always amazed at how delighted the children were to receive a dry bun with no butter on.

In my teens, when I believed in such things, I attended All Saints. I remember singing that lacklustre hymn on 'sermons' day

I remember John Miller and Don Twigger - I worked there from the time it opened. Yes, I remember 'piling them high' when having a break from the checkouts. I have so many memories of those years, I had lots of friends there and we managed to have lots of adventures in our breaks, lunchtimes and after work. Miller and Twigger sold it after a year - for £3million I believe, so we then all worked for Fine Fare. I studied for A levels in the evenings and eventually went off to Polytechnic. I think it has to be seen in context - in those days in was an innovation and, as heritage says, introduced very low prices to the area. It did get really scruffy over the years!

Oh yes that's right! There have been so many changes over the years, haven't there?

Yes there cetainly has Woodford, even the market used to be on the road by the bus shelters. The Hit or Miss pub was close by in Leicester Rd.

I remember the old layout, Morgana, as we moved there in '66. I can also remember when all the changes took place in the early 70's-the whole town was like a building site wasn't it! I hated living there, but only because it was such a shock to my system to be suddenly uprooted from all I'd been used to, in Keresley End, when I was 12. I remember starting at Nico and getting lost in the building! You have loads of knowledge of all sorts of local places!

Lol I too can recall getting lost in my high school, I think a lot do going from a small infants to a large high school. Yes a lot of the old buildings got demolished bit by bit of course. I like the old buildings but it does look nice now with all the flowerbeds from Hereford, Cornwall and up North. Everyone I've taken to Bedworth they think its a pretty town, not sure if they would think the same now if they came back now with that new Tesco. I have moved 30 times or more different areas, and coming from a big family and marrying into a large family, also my own children and 9 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren who live in different areas, then I have visited relations and friends all over. I too have lived in Keresley End, Knowles Farm, also Bedworth and Nuneaton, New Arley, hence my knowledge. Also other areas.

I worked at Tesco's 1977-1981 and used to go round the Hypermarket checking their prices with ours. If you wanted a good bulk buy then go to to the Hypermarket. If I remember Bob Brolly's sister called Alice worked there when it was Fine Fare. Old photo of the hypermarket

My dad was local councillor in Bedworth 1968-73, he was responsible for the developement where roads were turned into precincts. Looking back it may have been an error. Places like Leamington have thrived on traffic parking outside the shops.

I couldn't agree more Deanocity. On a whole they try to turn the towns on a small island to look like what Europe looks like which is a vast continent,or parts of America. They put up big car parks entrapping lethal fumes in multi storey car parks which proven causes lung cancer, tear down lovely to look at buildings which some just may need a bit of renovation to be replaced by concrete boxes, eyesores then build upwards which encloses the area to look crammed and harder to get around the shops, in some cases further to get to which causes people to shop elsewhere for easy access. The way they have built the new Tesco in Bedworth it has segregated itself from the rest of the town. In my mind the Victorians had more brains, they took into consideration of the effect of their designs on the whole area. The traffic fumes on Newtown Rd since putting new traffic lights in is awful