Coventry's history - let's get it noticed

Hi all, I don't know about you but I am exceptionally proud of my home city and its heritage, and I am amazed that as a city we do not make the most of our history and heritage. I have visited many areas of historical interest outside of Coventry such as Stratford, Warwick and Bosworth and I amazed that Coventry is never mentioned as an area of interest or a tourist trap. As a city we have an enormous history that is richly entwined in the prosperity and importance of the United Kingdom. Could we not focus on this and give the city its identity back and give those of us who have become disheartened over the years a sense of pride again. Why not bring a change of industry and make Coventry a tourist trap, heaven knows the history is there! We need to focus on the good and bring positive change! I have now stepped off my soap box and look forward to hearing your opinions/ideas.

I have often thought that the piece of derelict land next to the Belgrade car park would make an excellent site for 'The Coventry Story'. Entering on the ground floor you would climb into a replica of one of the many cars built in the city, before being carried through a montage of the Arden Wood and Babba Laku before starting a ride back down through the building featuring tableaux from throughout history - Godiva's ride - The execution of the Martyrs - The start of the Civil War - The Ribbon Industry - The Cycle Industry - The Car Industry - The Coventration - The rise from the ashes - The future? Just a few ideas of what could be created, given a council of imagination, and I'm sure many other features could be added. If you've been on the Yorvik tour, you'll know the sort of thing I mean.

I agree that more could be made of our heritage, and would like it used more to regain a bit of civic pride amongst Coventrians. But it does have some problems which do affect its being used as a tourist area. Firstly, a lot of the areas you mention, and other like York and Chester, have a high concentration of heritage in areas. Coventry has heritage but it's spread out - little pockets here and there which don't really give a sense of history as they're surrounded by more modern stuff. It's all a bit too spread out to walk it comfortably, too close or inaccessible to do it by vehicle. I increasingly think it would be better to create an historic area centred around the cathedral and the oldest parts of the city (say between Warwick Road/Hertford St/Burges/Bishops St to Much Park St/Priory St) with old buildings moved into this area, such as Spon St, Burges, FGS etc, to become something akin to a living museum and tourist centred retail. A bit like Spon St but more planned as a feature rather than it being a 'dumping ground' Obviously some buildings it would be impossible to move but I think enough would survive around Coventry to fill the area with structures from various time periods. This would then have the added bonus of allowing redevelopment of other areas unhindered by working around older buildings. The other thing to consider is that such industry is often a side product nowadays. The number of people who visit places solely for this reason isn't massive and has fallen for some years. Often people visit these places as a way of killing time before doing something else, like a show etc. So for this to potentially be a success the city would need to massively improve its entertainment offering. For example, places like Manchester and Liverpool have much higher numbers of visitors than places like York and Chester, despite not having anything like the same level of history, because they have more to do there overall. Secondly, the one thing the history of this city tells us is that it is dangerous to rely on a single industry. It has suffered numerous peaks and troughs based on the fortunes of single industries like weaving, cars, watchmaking etc. Once an industry begins to fail, it decimates the whole area as everyone works in it. Work should be based around numerous areas - primary, secondary, tertiary and quadreniary - so that should one suffer the city as a whole can take the hit until such time as new industry can replace it. A lot of places that rely heavily on tourist income are doing very badly - seaside resorts, historical towns and cities. The income is highly seasonal and interest is at best levelling out after years of decline. It is not sufficient to support the population and why many of these areas have seen a decrease in population for some years. Some of the places you mention above like Stratford and Warwick don't actually rely on tourism - they actually rely on a wealthy population who live there but work elsewhere. This gives high council tax yields from high value houses mixed with low outgoings from less social problems associated with lesser affluence. Take those away and the areas would suffer terribly.

I had a similar thought for a sandstone castle-like historical museum coupled with a new library/archives, but I'd prefer it closer to the historical heart of the city, near Broadgate. Lose Cathedral Lanes and place the museum between Bayley Lane and High St to create a park/square framed by this and the two churches.

May I ask you all what draws you to towns or cities to visit or reside in, if you still reside here what draws you to go to town, also why do you travel out of our town to other towns, also those that no longer live here why do you return if at all, eg, is it to visit friends or relatives or to see your home town. I have in previous threads AD suggested a working museum but that was a no no with others, which I thought would create jobs too. On the net I found a while ago a link stating they are going to link a trail of our history around the town for tourists as it was recognised the history of the town is important, my thought was it's a bit late now they have knocked most of it down to attract business, which only makes the true Coventry people, what's left of us, feel we no longer belong. I know a lot prefer it prior to the war, in which I feel we lost some thing unique. I went to Leamington yesterday, a woman I was talking to didn't even know we had a nature reserve and nature walk around our town which she was very interested in, my friend in Blackpool didn't know we had a car museum, which her husband now wants to visit, on return cutting through Coventry to get the bus there also back home, I felt it was no longer the town I was bought up in, rubbish all over the place, by Sainsbury's, and cluttered with buildings, not recognising anyone I used to know while at the bus stop like years ago. Cathedral Lanes hiding half of our lovely old bank which survived the war looking odd to me, whose idea was that?

I'm confused, morgana! Surely you wouldn't recognise anyone you used to know, at the bus stop, if you don't live in the area any more? That could be said of anywhere! I do agree about the rubbish - the town centre could be much cleaner if people weren't so uncaring and took their litter home. Just like the people who leave toilets filthy without a care for the rest of us or the people who have to clean them

I still reside here because of family reasons. If I were to move it would probably work or family related. Places I visit tend to be to see certain events, be they sporting, theatre, music etc. As for knocking down the old stuff to attract business that is always inevitable. We've seen numerous plans over the last decade or so basically designed to rip out the old post-war stuff as it no longer provides an economic viability. Had they not done so the old stuff would have fallen down anyway as no-one could have afforded the repair bills and the city would suffer even greater funding problems. The city can't be preserved in aspic just so a certain generation remains comfortable with it. It has to provide employment, housing and services and to do that it has to provide the means to enable them. As business practices/housing standards etc change, so must the structures that provide them. As I said above I think any tourist related industry would be a very small part of the overall economy of this city. The museum idea was mainly about improving civic pride and providing a more detailed background to the city rather than job creation. If I were looking at it from an economic perspective it's not an idea that stacks up well in favour of other options, such as office jobs and research/high tech industries. I saw in the paper today the seaside towns are fairing the worst out of everyone at the moment, as they rely so heavily on tourism. When the rest of the economy struggles, the first things to be cut back on are non-essentials and leisure, so they lose a massive amount of business overnight.

I do still live in this town, that's just it, yet never see anyone I know down the town except two people who when going into the market where I know a few of the stall holders, which have owned stalls on the market for years. I have lived in a lot of areas so know a lot of people from the areas I've lived. I am pleased I am not the only one who sees the rubbish and agree with the toilets too, that's if you can find one close at hand when shopping. If one town can do it, keep clean, why not ours, spot the rubbish here, taken yesterday in Leamington Spa

AD so was I thinking of pride for our town also to show our history, I just thought the idea of jobs too would be an extra, I do understand about business, it's just they seem to pile one building over another which I find makes the town look as though it's crammed in, spoiling the town, like the bank for example. I have one of my thoughts answered, what I was looking for all to do with funding.

In parts the city may seem a bit more crammed in with the odd tower, but in terms of density the current city is probably a lot more open, if due to nothing other than planning regulations. It has obviously expanded quite a bit post-war, but in actually building density and even height in many cases it's no worse than before. Some of the factories were huge! It has more open and green spaces than ever before, as well as open parking areas. For example you talk about covering the bank. When that was built itself people probably didn't think it fitted in or covered up the view of something, making it looked crammed in. Some people think that Cathedral Lanes helps hides the horrid rear entrances and services areas along Bayley Lane and in some cases the very bland, featureless side of the old County Court And just because you don't recognise anyone doesn't make it an alien or worse place. There are probably plenty of people who are just as nice as those people you knew before that regularly use the city centre, just you haven't got to know them yet. I notice in your picture there are a group of youths sitting in it - is this not a reason to avoid the place with this noisy, disrespectful and troublesome group of society or am I making a massive and totally unjustified generalisation? I admit littering and toilets are more of a problem, although the former is likely to be down somewhat to an increase in consumerism and disposable packaging which there was a great deal less of pre-war.

Oh, I see what you mean, morgana! When I lived in Coventry I always saw people I knew on the bus. Maybe because I used them every work day at a regular time.

AD, I was born after the war, when rationing just ended, even then rubbish wasn't on the streets like now, yes more packaging I agree nowadays than even in the early 70s, when I would go to town nearly every day there wasn't the rubbish like now, sit and have a bacon batch, cup of tea and a chat in the market cafe with people I knew, like some HC forum people have meets in Wetherspoons, would they have if they didn't meet on here first, I doubt if they went there they would talk to some one strange, I don't believe it's to do with how much packaging it's to do with one having pride in your town, two, where you come from or how you were brought up and what you are used to, even though I don't think there are enough bins, but I am told that's to do with bombing. I do talk to people I don't know, as a rule I find the youngsters better than the 20 yrs and upwards sometimes, as for the youth sitting in it, my photo that is not Coventry but Leamington Spa, I was making a point how clean their streets are compared with Coventry. As for the buildings yes lots have been built over the years as I see added here and there closing the town in, I don't recall the large golden building in Corporation Street, that stupid caterpillar in the Precinct and the glass roof enclosing the Lower Precinct, the large blue glass building up by station, then when you come out of Pool Meadow that Whittle Arch with a large statue of a soldier, so close together. The metal car park further up Corporation Street, yuck, Ikea, Sky Dome ice skating rink, West Orchards, none of those were there years ago, Hertford Street, well they in my opinion ruined that, how grand it used to look even after the war. I always thought it was just me but even the younger ones agree when they look back on how it used to be to now. I disagree with Cathedral Lanes sticking out so far hiding half the bank, it looks pathetic hiding most of it and High Street which I always thought used to be a lovely street until they messed about with that too.

Oh, I see what you mean, morgana! When I lived in Coventry I always saw people I knew on the bus. Maybe because I used them every work day at a regular time. I bet you would nt now even if it was every day, come back and try it.

It's great so many of you have responded to my post/thread. I am not trying to say replace or save the city's problems by introducing more tourism but to try and invoke pride, we were once great and that greatness is still there but we have lost our way somewhat. To some of you it may come as a surprise that I am 29 and will talk to anyone & I smile at everyone I meet. I once met someone whose dissertation was based on Coventry's community spirit after the war and his conclusion was that as Coventrians we have the power and determination to rise again and again just like the Phoenix!

I am so pleased you mentioned pride as with litter bins in Leamington Spa on their bins it says take pride which sinks in to the mind, Coventry's bins say keep Coventry tidy which the brain take in as a task. There are few Coventry people left now like that, most just are wrapped up in their own lives and where they are heading, as when they petition not to have Coventry this way or that, no one ever listens, a friend of mine who was born here and has a business in the town has even stated Coventry is a .... hole now. Nice to see some one younger cares like yourself.