Coventry Pubs

"Beheaded at Binley Gallows" Must have made the drop too long.

Thank you for reviving the Coventry Pubs/Real Ale Rambles website. Firstly a huge thanks to Fred Luckett for all the hard work he has put in, particularly as a lot was done before the days of online searches and involved trawling through masses of archive records. My question is will there be any process of updating the site as and when new information comes to light? For some strange reason my family seem to have had dealings with a number of the pubs around the turn of the 19th/20th century and in researching them I am finding the odd discrepancy. For instance my latest finding relates to the Nugget, Coundon Green, where the page on the website questions a possible link to the Californian Goldrush. However I have found a report from the Coventry Times of 19 June 1889, which attributes the name as follows: "It is said that the name was given to the house by its late owner and landlord, Thomas Green, some thirty-five years ago, after returning from a visit to the Australian Goldfields." More research shows that William Green, his brother (1817-1882) died in Beechworth, a gold mining town in Victoria, Australia. The witnesses at his burial stated he had lived in Australia for over 20 years. Unfortunately the report itself concerns the suicide of Thomas Green. I also found this from the Coventry Standard 20th August 1858: "Inspector Austin charged Thomas Green, beer-house-keeper at Coundon with keeping his house open for the sale of beer on Sunday the 8th inst. Pleaded guilty - Fined £2, and costs £1." That quite a sizeable fine!! Thomas was always described in the censuses as an agricultural labourer and publican, so it sounds like they were having a harvest time lock in!!

Hi Malvern. I'm sure Rob will be along soon, however Fred now has access to update himself utilising Rob's webspace so is able to maintain along with Rob. Anything new and missing I tend to message both with anyway so hopefully should be updated as and when new material surfaces. Rob and Fred have done a top job!

Hi both, Thank you for the kind words. Yes, Fred did the majority of the research, ably aided by John Ashby, plus some additional material originally by their first webmaster. It was an honour for me to be given the go-ahead to build a new website to showcase their years of work, which was far too popular to be allowed to disappear. At the moment Fred is writing another book on the history of pubs, so the website has taken a back seat, but I'll draw his attention to your suggestion, and I'll happily update the relevant page if he says it's OK. Cheers! Rob

My grandad, Jack Wheatley, kept the Chequers pub in Little Park Street during the war. Mum, Jean May, told the story of the night they were bombed out in the Blitz and she and her sister Betty (Dalton) then walked to Longford to stay with other members of the family in wellies and their pyjamas. Little else survived. Grandad also kept the Samson & Lion in Swanswell Terrace around this time.

Hi, welcome to the forum . Hope you don't mind that I moved this. It could have gone in the Little Park Street topic, or the one for Swanswell Pubs or something about the war. There are pictures of both pubs in the library pictures.

Swanswell Cottage Inn, Leicester Street, closed 1963.

Tally Ho / Wine Lodge was also known as Trumans due to the brewery plaque on the wall by the doorway

Curiously the photo of the Tally Ho in the Coventry Pubs section is from when it was Trumans.

Of late both Fred and I have been working on other projects, however we are noting any new information the amount of which is considerable. It will be added to the site in the not too distant future. Thanks for your comments.

Hello Malvern, Fred and I have been working together on pub history since 1974 and we are pleased that all the info from our book "1000 Years of Coventry Pubs," composed together with David Mcgrory, is on line. Regarding updates both Fred and I are working on other projects including some pub items. We have many changes to make and they will be sorted in the not too distant future. We also appreciate the hard work and fine contribution that Rob has made to our research. John Ashby

Hi John, your work on Coventry pubs has been essential to me and before your site moved here, Real Ale Rambles was my second go to site. When you return to Coventry pubs, give me a yell as I've got various bits of information that may interest you.

The Coventry Watch museum does have on display a collection of items related to local hostelries. This is just a few of them: They were used by the Great Supply company and the museum also has other paperwork from that company, but that is not currently out on display.

Around 1850 time it was kept by a D Claridge, not far from the sewage farm and Swifts mill. It is stated that several small contractors went broke trying to build the London Bridge, in the end the London NW completed it after the bank slipped killing several people.