Memories - early or general

Do you know, when you think back to everyday names and sights that were part of our lives in the 50s and 60s and we never thought in our wildest dreams that they would never be there. I have been reading this forum and some of the names of shops, factories even Coventry Transport buses, they were all part of our daily routine but now gone forever, but not forgotten, that is why this particular site is absolutely fantastic for remembering "Our Cov". It is the same here, where I live now, Bletchley, I remember it in the 50s and 60s from when I used to come to my Aunty's on holiday from "Cov". All the old names that I remember from my holiday days have gone and the main shopping street, Queensway, is nothing like it used to be. It is pleasant to walk around and do your shopping, but definitely nothing like it used to be. They call it modernisation, but it is not always for the good. Peter.

Yes Peter, I feel sorry for anyone growing up here today as they will have few views of the city worth remembering by the time they reach my age.

Good morning dutchman, well do you know I have a magazine every month, to do with classic lorries and buses and as I look through the "mag", some of the "every day" vehicles that were on our streets when we were kids growing up, are now preserved vehicles and not seen today, only at classic vehicle shows. Terrible really, to think that everything has changed so quickly, or so it seems. The Coventry I remember and some of the names of shops, places etc etc that we thought would be around for ever and ever have now gone and although I do not get to "Cov" a lot these days, I still get "reports" about the city as it is today, mainly off my forum and my members that live there and it makes sad reading of how the city, our city, the city we love, has changed and what is worse it is not always for the good. Peter.

Hello all. Life does go on. I have memories that are totally a thing of the past as you do, like seeing girls at the grammar school in Warwick Rd every time I travel past. I am glad that they are now there though, enjoying (I hope they are), what I took for granted as a child, which I thought then was just a boy thing. Some changes are not so clever. like changes where a little bit of forward thinking might have saved further scrapping of what have been poorly researched developments. The city planners do not have it easy though, where criteria changes from one decade to another. For me, the saddest losses from the past are our city industries, which provided good employment. Landmarks have gone, like our gasometer, Courtaulds' three hundred & sixty five foot chimney, the Morris car factory water tower, all of these once visible on our landscape. Let's hope that the current investments into both Coventry & Warwick universities are able to springboard a new era of development into technology which puts Coventry on to the world map of enterprise.

Hello Peter, The more I think about your first comment the more I delve. Once a fortnight on a Friday, I look forward to the Ringtons delivery van bringing our tea, coffee & confectionery. We still have a 'Betterware' lady come once a month but that is about it for home deliveries. Thinking back to my growing up days in Wyken, we had milk, bread, pop, greengrocer, Davenports (beer at home). Do you remember the railway van coming to collect your luggage on the Wednesday before you went on your holidays? It was so odd, as both my mum & dad had cars but would not dream of using their car for holidays. I miss the sound of the greengrocer shouting that word out loud & clear, "GREENGROCER"! I think his name was Mr. King but my other friend on here from Sewall Highway might know that. Now into retirement, I often re-step some of my routines from my school days. One day, I drove to Sewall Highway & parked my car. At 8.10 in the morning boarded the bus (No10) at the old No7 terminus and went to the grammar school. I still had to change bus in the city centre, the Finham bus, instead of the No17 Baginton Village as it was then. I met Mr. Vent, (very sadly recently passed away) who was so pleased to show me the new organ installed in the school hall (I had been a church organist for forty years). Some people refer to Coventry as a 'One Horse Town', but I am not going to knock it like that. Coventry has given me a very comfortable living & continues to do so, now into retirement.

Does anyone remember the Diddlum? When I was a child growing up in Hillfields my mum used to run a saving scheme for friends and neighbours and she called it the Diddlum. Various neighbours would come to the door with a few shillings and say "put this in the Diddlum" and mum would save it for them, to be drawn out for occasions such as holidays and Christmas. She kept a note of every transaction in a large blue book and never charged any interest for the service. Many housewives in those days did not have access to a bank account so the service was gratefully received. It never occurred to me at the time what a strange choice of words it was for a saving scheme.

Ah diddlum, haven't heard that for many years now. My aunt in Holbrooks ran one and my mum saved a pound every week or was it two? Can't remember for sure now but it got us two weeks in sunny Great Yarmouth every year. North Denes camp site! Honestly you could set your stopwatch with us every Cov fortnight. Happy days indeed.

If I can add into this in the 70's I recall the excitement of anticipation (on Wednesdays I think?) when the Alpine Pop man pulled up in his flat bed. Dandelion and Burdock and those funny white ridged bottle tops. Probably not Cov-specific but in my childhood Cov memories.

I can remember when I was young riding around with a family friend who delivered pop for Corona in a small Bantam lorry. If I remember correctly the Corona depot was somewhere near Gosford Street, but I could be wrong on that one, it is many years ago now. Peter

Coventry was, I can't say is because I have lost track of it, but it was the greatest city in the world as far as I was concerned. Nowhere was better than "Cov" and I, even today, am proud to be a "Coventry Kid". Peter.

Looking back on it now I can see it was but I didn't think so at the time. The biggest source of pride that I remember was that it was the home of Jaguar Cars.

.....and Standard Triumph, Morris Engines, Rootes (Humber, Peugeot), Massey Ferguson Tractors etc, etc....

That's true Wighter but Jaguar was a prestige brand, probably second in most people's estimation at the time only to Rolls-Royce. And the less I say about a certain football ground being named after a Japanese manufacturer the better. There was time not so long ago (when I lived in Craven Street) I would have been strung-up from the nearest lampost for even suggesting such a thing. And for those idiots on the Telegraph's forum who think my attitude has something to do with the war, it doesn't. (Although I can understand why the older generation would feel that way). It's about having a sense of pride in things created here and not by an arch rival in another country.

Absolutely, pride in "Cov", the greatest city in the world, all the names that we have mentioned in this topic are what went to making our city a great place. The trouble that I find, is that places such as Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow etc etc have all over recent years, had their "period of fame", but not so Coventry, it is very rare to hear "Cov" mentioned in the news or current affairs, it is the same with our old transport system, Coventry Transport as we knew it, we all remember the Coventry buses running around our city, OUR buses, not Birmingham coloured buses, OUR buses, very rarely indeed these days within the preservation world do we hear about Coventry Transport, there is always a good amount of interest in other operators, such as London Transport for instance, but never Coventry. Coventry always seems to be ignored in preference to other places and it is about time it stopped! Coventry was a great city and the city that myself and hundreds of other people that grew up in it remember it as exactly that! No way should us "old Cov kids" sit back and let Mancunians and Liverpudlians and Glaswegians talk about their cities and how they grew up, we should all shout "from the rooftops" about "Cov", let the world remember the city that we love so much. Peter.

I now live in a cul-de-sac. I have only ever had two homes, Sewall Highway with Mum and Dad, and where I am now. Cul-de-sacs were good for rat-a-tat. Not just cotton though. The fun I had with rope, tied to opposite letterboxes. I was cought once in Delhi Ave, having tied two letter boxes together. I could not run fast enough to get away. Built up shoes were not good for athletics.