Coventry Pubs

hello helen F. im sorry I forgot that rainbow used to be the admiral lord rodney I never spent much time in that area and never entered that pub you see my old stomping ground used to be where it was noisy and loud but them times will never return.

Given how pub names change it could have been the Salutation even further back, the building was old enough but the earliest records of the Salutation puts it firmly outside the city Walls. I was amazed how many pubs Coventry had. It was possible to literally crawl between different ones. While they were physically close on the main road, each served blocks of courts and back streets, so it wasn't quite as odd as it might first appear. Some/most of them also served as hostels for travellers and those who hadn't found permanent accommodation. I wonder if people were faithful to their nearest pub or did each pub have a style that appealed to a more distant clientele?

Thanks all - yes according to Real Ale Rambles it was just outside the walls where New Gate was:

Hi all Me, having graduated at the Wallace with a first class honours in Worthington Cream, then completing an Arts at the Brooklands, I am now doing a Sunday lunch degree at the Nugget. That lot, a seven ounce gammon done to perfection, for Pam, the drink, my dinner which was accompanied with fajitas & a tray of dips, I had change out of £12 for the lot. I could not pronounce what I had, but it was appetizing & fun. The Nugget has not long been refurbished. I used it when I was involved with music at Coundon Court school a while back. The only drawback is for public transport, both the No 5 & 360 stop at the end of Norman Place Rd, from where there is a 200yds/mtr walk so not so good on a wet day. I drove today with Pam. It was all a very pleasurable experience & I am looking forward to doing a breakfast test there, the next sunny dry Wednesday or Saturday morning. The Nugget PS The pub does open at 9am for breakfast. Monday to Saturday. I don't recommend it for a forum breakfast, simply because of the walk from the public transport bus stops. This has been a Phily "Jam roly-poly" production

Well, I think we should give you the nickname of Philip the Foodie ! So many of your posts contain a reference to food, just like my Filipino daughter-in-law in Australia who is always posting photos of her meals on Facebook !!

Hello Janey O'h, you have noticed! I never ever got detention at school for missing dinner hour, leaving dinner or anything else other than eating it. I do like good food, but notice the low fat content of my dinner compared to the one opposite. I am trying to lose a stone before April arrives. Thank you for your post.

We used to go to the Market Tavern and then go on to Jaguar where we group sang Mary Hopkins "All my ????" or Ringo Starr's "Yellow submarine". Then go to top of Broadgate where we were offensively moved on by the police and safely catch bus in Pool Meadow to home in Wyken.

"Those were the days".

I`m glad you thought Water`s wine bar was "sedate" Disorganised! I remember one lunchtime was taken there by the Works Engineer from Morris Motors - I was with the Building Contractor`s Surveyor. We entered through the back door - had a few in the little back room then worked our way through to the front long bar - don`t know how many we had - don`t remember any nourishment other than liquid. Time to leave - picked up by our Contract Manager and dropped off at the office. Met him again the next day, he buttoned me with the words:- "Ay you! I got into trouble with my wife this morning - when she got into the car she said it smelt like a brewery" Not sure if the lesson learned was "don`t drink in sedate wine bars"

Hi all In a change to my Wednesday bacon butty routine at the Belgrade, I am going to be trying the Nugget Pub breakfast, with friends this morning. As said on the forum breakfast meeting topic, I am not suggesting the Nugget as a venue, simply because of the not so convenient public transport links.

Yes that is correct. Sometimes they had live music on and it was always busy mainly with students from Coventry Uni. I used to go there for a late one (a drink after pub closing time also known as a lock in) I used to drink just around the next corner at The Foresters, then further down the street was The Spittlemoor.

Yes I remember well. The disco club was called Fingals. I was a DJ on the circuit then and although I did not work there I used to go on a night off sometimes. Many disco clubs were small in those days, i.e STOCKS on Binley Road @The Bulls Head. You had to have a membership card to prove your age, and it was not a lot for the year.

HI DAVID MARLEY, the pubs you have mentioned I spent most of my time in these pubs especially in the 70s as well as the Brewer and Baker which was just up the road from the Foresters but the best I found was the Foresters where we always had a lock-in as well as the Brewer and Baker where I used to D.J.

This is a bit of a brain-dump of the Coventry pubs I remember - I've tried to put a bit of context around it all to make it easier to digest! Remember these memories cover several decades - it may seem as if I've been to a lot of pubs, but, this includes memories as well as visits - all over many years. In the mid-1970s through until the early-1980s, I can remember patronising the following pubs in Coventry's City Centre (not all on the same evening obviously!): The Bear Inn, Water's Wine Lodge, the Golden Cross, the Coventry Cross, the Tally Ho, the Silver Sword, the Alhambra, Ray's Bar at the Leofric (that was quite posh), the Black Eagle at the Leofric, the Three Tuns, the Penny Black, the Hen & Chicks. My now-husband worked part time as a barman at the Rocket in 1973-4, so that was also a pub we patronised. I also remember going to the Climax, the Godiva, the Jaguar, the Thistle, Claret's Wine Bar and Corks Wine Bar (although that may have been later on - it was certainly there in 1995). I can recall going into the Zodiac too, that would be in the mid-1970s. I can also picture the Saracen's Head, but never went into it. Other familiar names, although I don't remember ever going into the establishments, include the Elastic Inn, the Rose & Crown, Dog & Trumpet/Beer Keller, the Old Stag and the Smithfield Tavern. Away from the City Centre, initially coming from Finham I remember going to the Styvechale Arms and the Burnt Post. I attended a day release course at Tile Hill College in 1975-6, and can remember going to the Newlands before trying to cope with learning shorthand! Not a good idea. We got married in 1977, and, lived at Alderman's Green for three years. I used to be on the number 20 bus that went along the Foleshill and Longford Roads quite a lot during that time, and can remember going past several pubs (George IV, Prince William Henry, The Fiesta, The Engine, The General Wolf plus others), along the way. Never went in any of them though, and although it was our local whilst we were in Alderman's Green, I think I only went in the Miner's Arms once. And later, from the early 1980s, the Herald was our local (when we'd moved to Canley Road). And, we often walked into Earlsdon - so the Cottage, the City Arms and the Royal Oak were familiar. Maybe some of these aren't strictly in Earlsdon, but I can remember but never went into the Nursery Tavern and the Craven Arms. I think I went into the Port 'O Call once - when the fair was on Hearsall Common. I also remember driving past the Old Dyers Arms, the Black Horse, the Railway (not sure about this one), and the Summerland Tavern on the way into Coventry from Canley Road. I think there was an explosion or fire there at some point in the 1990s, and a hairdressers' next to the Black Horse was 'destroyed'. There was a story going around about a patron of the hairdressers' whose main concern was that her 'shampoo and set' couldn't be accommodated! We also used to walk from Canley Road to the top part of Tile Hill Lane sometimes, and so can recall the Fletch, the Phantom Coach, the Phoenix and the Light House (a short-lived pub on the 'cock up corner' development (A45/Tile Hill Lane junction) - it's now a fast food outlet). From a work perspective, there was far more of 'going for a lunch time drink culture' in the 1980s, and, working in Banner Lane, Tile Hill, I recall regular 'Monday Moans' at the Hawthorn Tree in Broad Lane, with Friday lunchtime sessions at local pubs such as the Bell, the Peeping Tom, the Poacher's Retreat (formerly the Standard), and the Unicorn. A gang of us always used to go Ten Pin Bowling after work once a week, and I can remember we generally used to have a couple of drinks at the Walsgrave pub afterwards. Where I worked, there seemed to be a lot of 'leaving dos' in the mid-late 1980s, and, we often used to go to the Albany, I can also remember the Old Windmill in Spon Street (plus other Spon Street pubs, now closed I think, for example, the Rising Sun and maybe the Shakespeare (and, I think there were more? but I can't remember). We used to refer to those nights out as 'going on the Spon Street run' - I think the Town Wall Tavern was also included). I can also remember a 'leaving do' at the Leg & Cramp in Walsgrave (I think it had only just opened at that point). There are other miscellaneous (non-city-centre) pubs that I remember for various reasons - these include the Rainbow in Allesley Village, the Tollbar, The Cedars, The Wyken Pippin, the Shepherd & Shepherdess, the Greyhound at Sutton Stop, the Old Hall, the Festival, the Wallace and the Holyhead. I was never one for night clubs, even in the early days, but I do remember going to Mr George's once, and the Pink Flamingo once (I think it was my Hen Do, so that would have been 1977). I can remember the Locarno, but I only ever went there when it was a library. I didn't ever go to any of these, but, can remember Shades, Top Spot, the 40 Thieves and Nellos.

Some great memories in there, Sue. I certainly frequented some of those places at about the same time as you did. The 'Lanch' had bands on at weekends and was a regular Saturday haunt, especially if there was no speedway on. I used the bar there a lot during the week too, especially in the late 70s/early 80s as an ex-colleague used to run it and kept some excellent Davenports Traditional Bitter. Many a work afternoon was written off there. I was never a student there, although I did manage a season playing for the college basketball team for some reason. I was never that struck on the Bear Inn, the Plough was more my scene at the time with Silk Disco, run by Jim Twyneham. This later moved to the Humber Hotel. I did like the Alhambra for a good beer session with mates, Ray's Bar to impress a new girlfriend, and the Black Eagle across the lobby of the Leofric for a good pub atmosphere.