Coventry Firsts

OK, so we all know that Coventry has been at the centre of innovation for many things over the years, and new Coventry Archive manager, Mike Bevan, has got the ball rolling with his article: First account of a witchcraft trial for black magic in England, 1325. So, let's fill this topic with some of the pioneering things that makes us proud of our city and the people who make it so. I'll kick it off with an every day item that we take for granted.... the differential gear. James Starley is often referred to as the father of the bicycle industry, but in some ways we might even go so far as to say he was the father of the modern motoring industry, which really spawned from our pedal-driven two, three and four-wheelers. It was when Mr. Starley was trying out his early tricycle that he tried to turn a corner and ended up flying into a ditch. He quickly realised that he had to overcome the problem of the outer wheel needing to spin faster than the inner one..... and so the idea for the differential was born. This was in 1876, so the gear we all have in our cars is older than we think! So, what else has Coventry been first in? (Oh, and what great timing.... my shuffle-play has just started playing Ian Dury's song "There Ain't Half Been Some Clever B****rds"!!! )

Just to try and give this subject some momentum, I'll continue with something a little more obscure..... in fact, a double "first". Many of us are aware that the Belgrade Theatre was the first civic theatre in the country to be opened after the Second World War, on the 27th March 1958. However, how many of us also know that in April 1961 it was this theatre that gave Ian McKellen his first professional acting job?

And continuing with the Belgrade theme - Monty Python's first ever live stage performance took place there on the 31st January 1971.

Ooh, I like that.... and now for something completely different!

James Buckingham tracer bullets Spon St during WW1 - BBC

Wow, that's a super one, Argon! I had no idea about that Coventry invention. So, our Spon Street chap gave our airmen a means of bringing down those Zeppelins.

And one of those Zeppelins was shot down over Hartlepool after bombing the football stadium. Its captain was Marlene Dietrich's uncle. Don't think Marlene ever performed in Coventry, though.

Our Steve just reminded me about a small Coventry "first" in our own family, and this coincides with the super photo that Neil just posted showing the William Morris Building. In 1939 my Granddad Orland, working at that factory with a reserved occupation, led the first team in this country to assemble the Swedish designed Bofors anti-aircraft gun, in readiness for the inevitable war ahead. They were 40mm guns, and this is shown in the following extract from the 1939 census of my grandparents....