Coventry Buses - past and present

Would it be Priory Street baths?

I think Kaga is on about the building opposite Pool Meadow Cafe, with the single decker parked outside. We probably demolished it but I can't remember what it was

Norm, would it be Priory Street baths? Just looked at 1937 and 1951 maps on Old Maps (can't upload) and it would indeed appear to be Priory Street baths

You could be right MR, but I don't remember the baths being that near Pool Meadow, I thought it was further down The building in the photo had the Beech Tree Cafe on the front

Seems MR is on the money.

Yes, it's definitely the Priory Street baths, the horizontal white lines of brickwork dressing perfectly match the style shown in this link; (You'll need to click the newer image to reveal the old).... https://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/nowandthen/content.php?pg=swimbaths-priory-st It looks like the gable end bits of the roof were either removed or blown off in the war though. Also, the slightly zoomed in photo makes the baths appear a bit closer than they really were.

Thanks guys. Do we agree that the Beech Tree Cafe was at the front of the building? If so I have a memory of a mishap we had at the time.

Yes, Norm Copied from the 'Restaurants, cafes, coffee bars' thread (2012): This one!

Ken is spot on with what he says there regarding the distinctive smell inside a Corporation bus and it's often not just the sight and sound of something that can evoke a memory, but a certain smell can also do so as well! As a kid growing up in the 1970's, I did on a few occasions get to travel on the old Daimler CVG6 rear loading buses and I never ever forgot the smell inside them! I still get to enjoy that smell today whenever I travel on the Coventry Transport Museum's 1963 Daimler CVG6 (fleet number 333), as its interior is all original and looks virtually as good inside now, as what it did when it was new! Sometimes when a vehicle is restored and put back on the road, these certain smells can often be lost, if something like a bus or coach has had to have its seats recovered in new moquette, but if the original seats are able to be retained and were just in need of a good clean, then I personally prefer what they call an oil rag restoration, so that the vehicle is in as original condition as possible, but also so that smell of old can also be retained! I do have a few old seat cushions off some Corporation buses, one of which is covered in a red moquette and is off a 1961 Daimler CVG6 (identical to the Museum's 333!), and another I have is covered in a red vynide material and is off a 1965 Daimler Fleetline, but the one which appears to have the strongest smell of all is the one I've got from off a 1948 Daimler CVA6, which is covered in green & red rexine! I love the smell of all three of them myself, although it's the red moquette and red vynide ones that evoke many happy memories for me!!! (Am too young to remember the green & red rexine one! ).

Here is an internal view of preserved bus 334

Missed having a ride in it a few weeks ago at Wythall so can't tell you if it still had the distinctive smell.

I remember well going into town from Tile Hill on number 306 on its first day in service. When I was ready to come home I waited specifically in Pool Meadow for it to take me home. The smell of the newness of the bus is something I won't forget. I think these buses had pre selector gearboxes, little did I realise at that time I'd be driving my Riley which has a similar gearbox some 25 years later. I was told that you could always tell a bus driver who didn't use the gearbox correctly, if you didn't press the clutch pedal down all the way to engage the gear the pedal would fly back and catch you a nasty whack in the instep, hence they walked with a limp for a while, something I experienced initially, you don't do it too many times

When this bus (334) finished its passenger carrying service here in Coventry, it ended up over in Birmingham as a children's play bus called "RODNEY"! The only seats I seem to remember it having left in it when it first came into preservation, were its five rear facing seats downstairs at its front bulkhead and so to get this bus up to the immaculate standard that it's in today, sure wasn't an easy task, especially as a full set of seats was needed to be salvaged for a start. Credit for the restoration of 334 is to go to a Coventry guy called Roger Burdett (and his team of restorers), as they did a fantastic job with this bus. The acquired seat frames for it are virtually identical to its original ones and as Roger couldn't get the original pattern of seat moquette, he managed to get the nearest and next best thing to it! Regarding the smell of its interior, I've always thought it smells more of paint than of seat moquette and definitely doesn't smell anything like the Transport Museum's bus No. 333, but if you compare bus 334 from how it was inside as a play bus, to how it is today, you'll appreciate all the excellent/hard work done by Roger Burdett and his team!!! As for bus 333, which is still 100% original inside (regarding its seats & smell !!! lol), here is an interior view of its lower deck! (I do have better interior views of it, which I'll try and find and will post on here!).

Sorry about the poor quality of this photo, as I will post a better interior view when I lay my hands on them! This here is an upstairs view of bus 333, which is part of the Coventry Transport Museum's collection. I wonder how many people on a night out, once used that staircase mirror in the left hand corner there, to make sure that either their hair, tie or hat was straight before they got off the bus??? lol.

NeilsYard, hi, your photo of the opposite side of Pool Meadow surprises me as I thought it was just loose ash and mud where the coaches churned it up, on the left always stood the race coaches, on the right where that single decker bus stands was the Midland Red stands, in the centre stood the coaches for day trips to Hunstanton, Skegness etc. Sometime in the fifties in Pool Meadow there was a very nasty accident when a bus ran over a guy's head, that was a very nasty experience for me. But your photos are great, takes me back a few years. Thanks, good to see the old times.