Coventry to be 'Heritage Action Zone'

I agree that there's a lot to see in Coventry, despite the ravages or war and town planners. As a whole, it's somewhat disjointed, but anyone willing to spent the time can find some fairly unique buildings. We don't seem to know how to use them, though. I wouldn't say there's a lot of 20th stuff listed. The Cathedral, the Market, the Swimming Baths, Station and Broadgate House are pretty much it. They're not actually bad. The market could have potential in a similar way to places like the corn exchanges were developed in Manchester and Leeds. Its setting is awful, though, and as a market it's terrible. I'd rather the market was in a square building!

I meant that more post-war stuff WOULD BE listed/preserved as a result of this. Top of that list given recent noises from the council would be the precinct, the cruciform and, most worrying of all, the ring road.

I am really sorry if I sound very negative about this once proud City but the fact remains that the destruction of the historic City centre was well under way before I was born here (during the war) and is well documented. It would have been good if there had been a museum telling the history of the City instead of which we have a transport museum showing (when I last went in some time ago) the history of car making. The car industry did not even survive 100 years and the bicycle trade lasted about as long. What about the mining industry which lasted about 200 year and brought in miners from all over the UK many of whose families settled here? What about the watch industry which, as I understand it, paved the way for our engineering expertise being available when Mr Daimler set up his first factory in Drapers Fields? What about weaving? What about armaments? What about canals? I could go on.

The Herbert Art Gallery has a large gallery devoted to the history of Coventry.

The concept of the ring road isn`t far off antique is it? Well pre-war!

Why is it in an ART Gallery? That`s another place I was utterly disappointed in when I went in.

Another major planning blunder!! As Terry Wogan famously said, Coventry is the only town in the country with a ring road through the middle!!

Because its full title is Herbert Art Gallery and Museum? Maybe you should just go somewhere else instead.

Yes, a great deal has been lost for a number of reasons, but there is still far more left, covering a large time span of the city history, than many give it credit for. The watch industry has its own museum in Spon St. Quite a few of the structures survive, but they exist largely outside the ring road in Spon End and FGS and thus don't register on many local people's maps, let alone visitors. Some of the industries you mention weren't technically speaking in Coventry at the time they existed (canals are more Birmingham and Victorian growth town based), while others like armaments are again further out. I accept there is not much on weaving but those structures were never going to last this long anyway. A century of history in one particular industry is very significant, especially in an industrial age with increasing competition due to globalisation from improved transport. What appears to be an issue is some believe nothing should ever be knocked down and is vital in telling the history. But to do that would mean every new development, housing estate, factory etc would need to be built on greenfield land and most of what remained would end up being derelict and end up falling down anyway. That is just not feasible, and it is the constant re-use and redevelopment that GIVES the city the depth of history you talk about. As has been mentioned the Herbert does fulfil this historical museum remit you set out, but because it also covers other areas in can get a bit lost. I would like a dedicated museum of this nature (as the images of my Broadgate proposal in my gallery show) to bring it all together with an element of Living Museum created within the High St/New Union St/Greyfriars Lane/Little Park St quadrangle

Well said AD! I did try looking at your gallery. I can view the gallery as a whole though not individual Later: It was my adblocker preventing me from viewing. OK now.

What the hell is an action zone, another fancy name that means nothing. Like Greg says, Coventry lost its history and rebuilt it with boxes as museums. Coventry was a working man's city, but no longer, it's full of students and student's apartments, and when they go it will be a worse mess than it is now. The ring road was thought to be forward planning, older Coventry people did not want it, but were ignored. I guess I write from nostalgia, but buildings like the sand castle are far removed from anything I knew of Coventry.

Sorry, Kaga, but that's total nonsense. Coventry isn't just 'full of students', there are masses of employment sites. Why do people fall back on unsubstantiated comments like this? As there's a university in the city centre (one which I am a graduate of) then it's quite reasonable to see students around! What is a 'working man's city' anyway? Now I enjoy reading your reminiscences, but you are so out of touch with Coventry as it is today and just resort to the sort of narrow minded comments that we see on the Coventry Telegraph website every day. So there are student flats being built? Good, the university has always been short of decent flats for students. I'd certainly have preferred some of these new developments to the AWFUL houses I had to live in. Most of these sites have been empty for decades and had no other use other than car parks, and they're high rise which means they take up small amounts of space.

If you want to know about heritage action zones, try googling it. It means hopefully that some of the neglected heritage may be brought back into use and utilised by businesses (we've already seen some good things happen such as the re-use of the old power station, the New Buildings renovations and Far Gosford Street).

And 'Mr Daimler' didn't set up a factory in Coventry. Daimler in Germany had nothing to do with it - it was actually set up by British businessmen who just licensed the name from the Daimler company in Germany! Bit complaining about a lack of museum when your own knowledge appears to be somewhat lacking.

This doesn't sound like your normal sunny self, flapdoodle!