Kings Head Hotel, Broadgate

Neil. The refurbished lounge was on the first floor - I believe before it was the ground floor. They had to refurbish, big rich dealers were coming from all over the world to order Coventry cars. Unfortunately, like the Hippodrome, Trinity St and a good many more, it got clobbered. I have never heard if it had a ballroom, the military bands played there. I used to imagine it was the Vienna of Coventry.

The Council House. "Heraldic features were included to represent the city's story and the stone and stained glass used were symbolic of the historical, religious and civic elements that had made Coventry famous as a city. Unfortunately, the stained glass windows were destroyed during the Second World War bombing raids and replaced with plain glass - although the building escaped relatively unscathed." This report from the 'Telegraph' seems to answer the question as to what happened to the stained glass taken from the King's Head to be used in the 'new' Council House.

This was for sale on eBay a couple of weeks ago. I suspected someone on this site may have bought it but haven't seen anyone mention it yet. The seller claimed it is the Concierges Desk bell from the Kings Head Hotel and I didn't see any reason to doubt her. In communications she recounted this story to me, I don't think she would mind me posting it, hope it's of interest. My dad and Uncle Reg lived in Fog Cottages, Smeaton Lane, Stretton-under-Fosse, and both had a dispensation to work and miss school because they were working at Ansty, covering the wings of the Mosquitoes that were built there. Uncle Reg was a practical joker and played a joke which unfortunately led to some damage to a plane so he was sacked, but they did not inform the school, so he sought work elsewhere and ended up doing shifts at the Kings Head. Uncle Reg rescued the bell when he turned up for work and found it had been bombed. It came to me instead of my cousin because Uncle Reg and my dad liked to play cards and he lost it to my dad in a hand of three card brag. He didn't have the cash to raise the bet and put the bell up as collateral. He had three jacks, my dad had three kings.

How very interesting, CliffB! One wonders if there were other artefacts saved at the time.

Prof, I often look on eBay as I would like something from the hotel, no luck yet. Someone recently posted a photo on Facebook of an egg cup from the hotel, now that would be nice

I was tempted because I like things that go PING but I really had no excuse. Not my era. Too many of us haunting eBay if you ask me

It would be a lovely artefact to own, and a little piece of our history, but like with Helen - what would I actually have done with it?!? A couple of years ago on Facebook I recall someone had saved an inscribed "slab" (for want of a better description) from a skip, that had once been built in to the wall of the King's Head. They asked who'd be interested but it all went quiet.

Great item and worth buying purely so I could pass it on to the Herbert. Do we know what it went for, Cliff? Something like that should be for the citizens to be seen. Would be a great tribute to those who were killed. Do we know how many may have sadly been in the hotel at the time?

It went for £36 Neil, I had bid up to £35 and was winning at about £20 until 10 seconds from the end. I would probably have gone higher but didn't have time to try again All is not lost, the seller did tell me it went to a 'Coventry Lad' who asked her to write its history down for him.

CliffB I would have a lot of reasons to disbelieve her. It was my era. I thought I read his name as Reg Morgan, but no matter. What does she mean by school and work, you can't do both in wartime, what proof does she have that Mosquitoes were made at Ansty? That's a big 'if' for me. If you were in wartime work you were not allowed to leave a job without very, very special permision. Hotels could not employ new staff if they were capable of war work. How was it taken from the hotel, with police and rescue workers surrounding the hotel all night? By morning tons of rubble covered everything. Why were they not in the basement/shelter with the rest of the residents and staff? Does it look as though it was from Coventry's leading plush hotel? Do you not know that looting was top priority for police after raids? Yes, I would be very suspicious. No hotel manager would employ anyone without some sort of reference, even in wartime. And the distance, where did they travel from, to get to the Kings Head?

Morning Kaga Mosquitoes were built at Ansty (final assembly and flight testing) at the Standard Motors facility, later Armstrong Siddeley Motors and finally Rolls-Royce plc.

3Spires Thank you. Yes, final assembly and flight, I knew that, but that was hardly building. You could hardly get them from factory to airfield fully assembled, other than flying. Yes, they travelled on long lorries, the wings either side of the fuselage and then joined on the airfield. Saw one one day, the wings broke away during a dive. Believe they only tested at Ansty for a short period, but they were one hell of an aircraft close up. Spent a lot of time at that airfield, one way and another.

CliffB Although the lady may have been genuine in her reply, she would not have known. She says they were sacked from making Mosquitoes, went to the Kings Head, picked up the bell after the blitz - but the Mosquito didn't go in to production till a year after the blitz. Had the bell been placed in the hotel safe, I doubt it would have survived, for I have never heard of the safe surviving. The desk the bell may have been sitting on did not survive, neither did the floor the desk sat on. It was a night when few safes survived, steel girders got twisted, granite columns were reduced to rubble and dust. The hotel would have had to submit a list of guests, visitors, staff in the hotel every night to the police at dusk as they closed the blackout and door. On every air-raid siren, everyone would have been escorted to shelters. By the time we had our first bomb, we had had time to be prepared. Had the big-wigs prepared sooner it wouldn't have happened, as it proved twelve months later.

The Kings Head rubble was gathered in a huge pile, where its reception once was, boards placed in front and there I believe it remained for around six years.

Must have taken some clearance effort to move all that rubble