Photo poser - Jack Frost and his steam roller

There were no arches on that stretch of line and the only factory was a small distillation plant next to the Holyhead Road bridge where coal was converted into motor spirit (benzole). It doesn't look anything like the Spon End waterworks either as that was a collection of decorative Victorian buildings similar in style to the nearby Spon Gate School.

Hi Dutchman, Hi all, Do the letters on the building roof give a clue? If the photo is Coventry, the steam roller letters could be County of Coventry as well as Coventry Corporation, depending on the date. I once saw a photo of an industrial yard at what is now the park end of where Bablake school is now. That would at least provide the viaduct arch background Other than that, I am lost as to the location.

Hi Philip None that I could find. I've looked at old maps of that area and can't find any evidence of a factory or a large chimney.

Hi & thank you Dutchman The park did not open as a recreation park until 1909. What I might try & do in better weather is to see if I can stand with the viaduct at that kind of angle to the lens that recorded that photo. As daft as it sounds, the construction of the viaduct & the re-construction after the Spon End part collapsed, would have required a construction yard somewhere on route which may have had a chimney stack. The viaducts were built around 1850 & 1857, so there is at least fifty years of history of activity for a lot to happen. Does that help us out?

Best of luck with that Philip, it will be interesting to see the outcome.

Hi Just been google map viewing. What if the London Taxi & the current BMW showroom were not there now? We could get the same photo aspect of the viaduct, but I don't think that I would be welcomed with a camera walking around there just now.

Hi Midland Red, On Google sat, please follow the line from Holyhead road travelling north. When the line comes to the end of Hewitt Ave, there is the second viaduct. The park tarmac path passes underneath. The photo arch angle could either be taken from the north side where there is a sports ground, or from the south side which is in the park. Shrouded in trees it does not look much until you are walking underneath. It is quite a tall structure. I have gone off the idea of where London taxi is as there is no viaduct. Knowing that it is Coventry corporation on the roller, which is an Aveling and Porter, I think moves the date forward thirty years at least. Pic from Wiki at a show in 2008 of an Aveling & Porter roller.

The man Midland Red says is in the picture John (Jack) Frost was 27 in 1911, how old do you think he is in the picture, it's difficult as they all seemed to look old then! He is living in Narrow Lane which is now Kingfield Road, Foleshill!!

I can only think of Spon End that has arches of that stature in Coventry. If the arches in the picture were demolished by the Luftwaffe and replaced be a single iron span then again I cannot think of a span of that height in Coventry...Les

I have found another White, White R & Sons mineral water manufacturers, Old Church Road, Foleshill, but again no railway arches. They seem to be trading in the 1930s

That's very interesting Anne. Do you know just where in Old Church Rd R. White's factory was? I always thought that White's was a London firm. I remember their lemonade very well, it was the only soft drink available during and after the war. Up until recently they advertised White's lemonade on TV, remember The Secret Lemonade Drinker ads? Les.

I am sorry I don't. I just had a look at some Warwickshire directories on Ancestry at any White names for businesses. It is in the ones around 1930's but just says "Old Church Road". I am drawn to that side of Coventry for this photo puzzle because Jack Frost lived that side of the City and I think it was more likely that he worked around there. I am also interested in the White and Poppe factory they had which was at Black Bank in Exhall. I think there was an old railway line there as well which has now gone but I don't know if there was a viaduct, there would certainly be plenty of coal in that area to stoke up the old steamroller.

Hi Annewiggy You may have come up with another line of enquiry. This is an extract from Wiki about White & Poppe. Quote--: White and Poppe was a Coventry based proprietary engine and gearbox manufacturer established in 1899 by Alfred James White and Peter August Poppe. White was a watchmaker and Poppe an engineer and together they produced precision parts for the automotive industry. Prior to World War I they served the booming motor industry with their engines in such high demand that at the 1906 British International Motor Exhibition 15 different firms displayed automobiles with White and Poppe engines. During the post World War I recession White, the greatest financial contributor to the company, sold his interest to the Dennis Brothers of Guildford and White and Poppe became a subsidiary with Poppe leaving two years later. Co-founder Peter August Poppe was born 17 August 1870 in Levanger, Norway and went on to play a major role in the English automotive history. If I can find where they were a hundred years ago & it is next to a viaduct. UPDATE White & Poppe had a huge factory in the area that is now the Dunlop & was once the Jaguar or Swallow sidecars. I have not given up on this yet. If I still smoked, this is where I would fill my pipe & go into our wendy house. They employed over 350 people in 1910. They could have started anywhere. White was a watchmaker. Where did he make them?

Hi all & hi Annewiggy, White being a watchmaker puts us right back into Coventry again. Spon End comes to mind again or anywhere nearby. Businesses often moved as they expanded or developed. Are we looking at an early White factory as he developed his watchmaking? Moving from watches into heavy engineering would require a location near to a railway, land that was cheap, a chimney for a foundry would need to be built & then maybe cleared when they needed more room in Holbrooks. All speculation, but it is starting to fit like the tobacco in my pipe & my pipe would need refilling by now. (I miss my pipe too somedays).