Holyhead Road

In 1901, 50 Holyhead Road was occupied by John Hewitt (a watch manufacturer), Mary Hewitt & family. John Hewitt died later that year in 1901 and Mary Hewitt died in 1908. By 1911 it was a Medical and Surgical Home (see previous post). In the 1929, 1931, 1936, 1941 & 1943 phone books: "St Faith's Home & Night Shelter. 50 Holyhead Rd. 4957." By the way St Faith's is mentioned in another thread on this forum: St Faith's, Warwick Road (where the shelter moved to after it left the Holyhead Road house).

Hello, a bit of a long shot but I'm doing some family history research and have tracked down my great uncle's residence in 1939 and wonder if anyone knows anything about the house or road he lived in at that time. Frank Gray was a constable in Coventry City Police, although he was born and raised in a small village in Lincolnshire. In the 1939 registration exercise, he is listed at 323 Holyhead Road. Unfortunately the two other residents at that address are redacted, probably because they are not known to be deceased. Although I don't know Coventry all that well, Google street view shows that the houses on this part of Holyhead Road are large bay-fronted terraces. Would anyone here happen to know if Coventry Police owned or rented entire houses on Holyhead Road, or, perhaps more likely Frank lodged with a family there? As I said, this is very much a long shot but worth a try. For information, Frank served in Coventry City Police throughout the war and met and married his wife there. Although he was medically discharged from the Police in the late 1940s after a car accident back in Lincolnshire, they remained in Coventry for the rest of their lives, living on Walsgrave Road; Frank died in Rugby Hospital in 1999 and his wife Mary passed away in 2011.

Hi mikeweavers, looks like you are a newcomer to the site so welcome! Looking at the newspaper archive site there is a death recorded of Ralph Frederick Ash who died 24th February 1938 leaving a wife Annie. On 2nd March she put in the Thank you column thanks to the nurses at Walsgrave Hospital and also to the Chief Constable and men of the city police. It looks as if Mr Ash had been in the force and Annie took in lodgers from the police force. Hope this helps.

That's fantastic, thank you so much for the information, posted so quickly! I was fairly confident that Frank would have been lodging there, but this makes it almost certain.

Thats fine, a bit of extra information PC Ash died aged 42 of pneumonia and was in Coventry City Police. He had been a prisoner of was in WWI for 3 years in German salt mines.

Thank you again for this, it really helps to fill in the blanks.

On the 1939 register for Frank Gray his occupation as a police constable is clearly stated. So if you find your man on the register . . .

Note how as you move round the city you can get the spires in different orders and apparent heights. There are not many images from this direction.

Bridge Clock Garage is still just a petrol station (pre-dealership days).

There are some good images of that in the garages thread, Derek I remember looking down on it from the top deck of the no.23. It's scarcely captured by the camera.

Thanks to Nicola Smith on 'The Coventry we used to know' FB page, from the collection of Mr M Toms. Outside the Holyhead pub, looking east.

Know that corner well (not the pub). Mum was in a sheltered flat on the opposite corner for a few years, St Catherine's House. Morrisons was opposite then. Would the entrance to the Chain Gardens have been by where the crossing is on the picture?

Great pic again, Neil. Do you know what year? Is that all of the Alvis on the right hand side?

Undated, Mick but I would say it's early 50s looking at that car. It was all Alvis on that side right up until they went. Spent many times on the cricket pitch on the corner as my uncle worked there. They often had bonfires.