Queen Victoria Road (inc Drill Hall)

Hi Mick, I remember the Drill Hall being used for counting votes after elections.

This obviously sadly came to nothing: There's also an interesting shot here on Flickr

Just another historic and iconic building which our Council wanted rid of so that they could pursue their god of `progress`.

Did this end up as a car park for years? Looks like a perfectly decent building. The damage inflicted on Coventry in the post war years continues to astound me. Everyone thinks the wartime damage was responsible for the somewhat low quality city centre, but it's clearly not the case. Even in my short time here there's been needless destruction and poor quality new buildings or just empty spaces. It's almost heartbreaking to see all this stuff needlessly demolished - whether it's the fine office block for Alvis or the city centre's surviving old streets, bustling with commerce and people... Just five seconds in a dismal place like 'Ikea Plaza' and it's pretty clear that some huge mistakes have been made, and continue to be made. It's not coming back now, though.

Agreed Flap. I was not just the war and tbh the demolition mistakes started before then (think Little Butcher Row). On demolition it did become this car park. Terrible waste.

I know 'generalzorn' who took that photo! When was it demolished? When I came to Cov in 1989 people were complaining that it had been knocked down or was going to be knocked down. People were also grumbling about the destruction of the old library building. But I think there are bigger problems locally these days than buildings.

Hello all I have sympathy with your posts on this. I was not born until 47, but I often heard my mum and her colleagues talk about the war finishing off the vandalism that started in 1934. The building of Corporation & Trinity Streets. I, having gone off subject, I do believe that the one feature that could bring character to our city is if a small length of the Sherbourne was opened up in the centre & looked after. There is a topic about our river.

I mailed generalzorns Flickr page to ask if I can share some of his photos on here - some good ones. Old-maps shows the outline of the Hall on a 1982 map. I don't think it was long after that that it disappeared, sadly

I knew I hadn't imagined it when this topic came up - recalled my grandparents mentioning about seeing the wrestling there too.

I remember the Drill Hall very well. When I was about 16 and saving for my first motorcycle I got a weekends work assembling frames to hold mail bags for the extra Christmas post. Just a bit of simple spanner work. A frame end fell over and landed on my instep breaking the bone. Went to hospital and got it bound up. Painful but as I needed the money I returned to continue with the assembly work. In the afternoon while moving some frame parts on a PO trolley I got my arm jammed between a wall and the trolley resulting in a broken wrist, back to hospital. I knew a couple of wrestlers, Adolf Dabrowski and Stew Graham. They occasionally appeared at the Drill Hall apparently almost killing each other but it was all well rehearsed. Les

I remember my dad taking my brother to the wrestling in the early 60's - must ask him if it was there. He still says that he was so disillusioned by it as it was so obviously staged. As a little lad, he'd enjoyed watching it on TV, but after that live performance he never watched it again!

My dad took me to the Drill Hall to see the wrestling, I too thought it was really good until I found out it was all staged.

I came across this picture when I was looking for a picture of QVR for the Umbrella Club page. It says on the back it was demolished in 1984. I can only remember going there once when someone took me to the wrestling to see Jacky Pallo fight Mick McManus. Very good acting

The council had been wanting to get rid of the Drill Hall for some time. There was a fair amount of opposition, then all of a sudden there was a serious fire. The building was now a serious hazard and had to be demolished. No further comment. Drill halls

Great find, Anne. The one thing I always remember about the Drill Hall building was the rather strange purple/pinky wooden doors.