White and Poppe

Travelling into town today on the 57 bus from Bedworth I noticed that a building had been demolished on Lockhurst Lane adjacent to the Courtaulds footbridge. It looked as if it was the old White and Poppe building, another important part of Coventry's industrial heritage. Can anyone confirm this or did my eyes mislead me?

Hi Heritage You are correct. I travelled on the No4 today, passing the spot.

I don't suppose anyone has thought about preserving this? Former City of Coventry Police Box, Lockhurst Lane - 13 Feb 2007 The former Coventry City Police Force had a brick Police Box built on the wall outside the White and Poppe factory on Lockhurst Lane. This box still exists complete with its flap which used to house the public phone for emergency use. The building now contains electrical equipment.

It looked as if the box has gone as well.

Hi Heritage You may be right on that too. That empty building was severely damaged by burst top floor central heating tanks & sprinkler systems during very hard frosts two winters ago. The frost damage pushed the external walls completely out of vertical. I am struggling to find pictures, but I am sure that I have seen pictures of the outside of the building resembling an ice fall following several days of permafrost, the whole external of the building encased in ice. It was several days before the mains water was turned off.

I remember that frozen building Philip, I got a quick glimse of it as I drove by and couldn't believe what I had seen, so I turned round to look again, the whole front was covered in icicles, and I am not suprised it damaged the brickwork, there is a lot of power in ice if left to expand for too long.

Thank you both, You are all brill on our forum!

Hi, I have this picture of the workforce outside White and Poppe in 1917 that I thought people may be interested in. Alice Daniels became Alice Phipkin and she was my Grandmother if anybody can name any of the other people all the better enjoy

That's a wonderful picture, Phippo, thank you for this. It will be equally wonderful if someone can find a relative in this photo. (By the way, I hope you didn't mind me moving this into the "mother topic", where it won't be so alone. )

Hi Rob Sorry I don't know where the "mother topic" is located.

Hello Phippo, Don't worry. It's all in a day. Your photo adds a huge contribution to the topic. Thank you for your post. Also, can anyone help me with a memory, but didn't White & Poppe employ what became known as Canary girls, loading armament shells during WW1?

According to my late mother in law, yes, Phillip. The chemicals used (TNT?) turned the girls a distinct yellow colour.

Hello, Thank you for that, Bohica We possibly now have the outline of two sayings regards, Canary Girls & Treacle town. A century ago, there was a confectionary factory located in Nuneaton. I don't know where, if someone can add or correct me. The explosives being loaded into shells, need accelerates, of which sugar, is a basic commodity. One of the now banned weedkillers, sodium chlorate, was a terrorist tool when mixed with basic sugar. So employees in Nuneaton thought that they were processing sugars for an imaginary jam factory, when in fact it was being delivered by rail, to Poppe & White in Holbrooks. Hence Treacle town for Nuneaton. That's the most fitting explanation that I've ever heard about that saying.

Oh, it's nothing to worry about, Phippo, I just meant that I'd already moved your new post into this "White and Poppe" topic, where it is now, so all the relevant posts about the company are together.

Phillip, there's a list of old Nuneaton factories here Nuneaton Museum. Looks like Moorhouse & Sons, Seymour Road was the place.