Hertford Street

Here's a similar view from Jan 2010

Shame the bank building wasn't legally protected from something so bad.

Ah, seeing the bridge reminds me of when I was 17 I worked for Harrabins, I drove a digger, a Fordson Major tractor with a bucket on the front and a backhoe on the rear, like todays JCBs, loading coke etc. One day I was asked to take it on the road, I was over the moon that they trusted me as I hadn't been out with it before. Anyway I set off for the Leamington Road to dig footings out for a house, I got as far as the Swanswell when my boss overtook me and waved me down, he came to the cab door and said "Don't forget to lower the bucket before you go under the bridge" (I was travelling with it up for better visibility). I was disappointed that he thought I was going to hit the bridge, of course I was going to lower it..... honest.

The building on the corner of Hertford Street was demolished and then a wedge shaped building was constructed. Later still the Coventry Hotel was demolished and the bank looking onto Broadgate was built. At the same time a lot of buildings on Greyfriars were demolished and you could see all the way to the High Street. The grey roofed building you can see below St Michaels could be the bank on the north side of the High Street. I think this is almost the same view as the right hand side of the painting but after the demolition had finished. I think this is solved. Well done folks

This is J & J Cash warehouse, 70 Hertford Street, from Coventry Up to Date 1912. Looks pretty good to me although the buildings around are different. Look at the building on the left of the picture!

The building on the left of the picture is the Johnson and Mason warehouse: ../poc/disp_img.php?img_num=5127

Good pictures you two. There are more images of the left side of the road than the right.

This is a later view from the Broadgate end. Note the overhanging first floor of the Coventry Arms which appears to have been transposed from the Greyfriars Lane side to the Hertford Street side in the painting. This would date the painting to 1929: ../poc/disp_img.php?img_num=1262

Hertford Street was done by Terence Gregory, who carried on the work of Gibson and Ling. It was not a good redevelopment. (I think he also put in the bank under the bridge).

There are two April 18th's being a Tuesday around that time. One is 1950, the other is 1961. Michael Miles would say "Take your Pick".

Must be the latter of those two dates then because the Ford Anglia model didn't start production until 1953 and the two lads to the left are wearing what we called 'drainpipe' trousers which became the fashion only in the late 1950s.

Is anything actually going to be done to remove the stuff blocking the top of Hertford Street, which the council promised, and open it up to Broadgate? Or was it just an empty promise?

I'm sure the painting is of the remains of the Queens Hotel in Hertford Street. And if you looked through the gap you would see Fords Hospital. The spire is St Michael's Cathedral.

Is this the post office under construction, or maybe the bank further up?

Clearly the bank.