Raglan Street

Hi everyone. For part of my uni work I'm looking into the history of Raglan Street. I've looked on the maps on here and seen it appears on the 1900 one. I'd love to know what it was used for, and shops, etc that were there. Anything anyone can remember would be a brilliant help. Thanks

Hello Nova I hope that you will receive responses to this request, Nova. That was the heartland of several of our members on here. I know it was home to the Singer car company in the fifties & also Coventry Glass Co plus many others. Best wishes.

Hello Nova It's much older than that. It was a centre for immigrant Irish weavers who flooded into Coventry in the middle of the 19th century looking for work. The earliest reference I can find is 1855. A convent was founded there in 1861 and a school in 1863. A church was added in 1883.

This map is from 1888. The Springfield Brook (extreme right) marks the boundary with East Street rather Hood Street, a common occurence in Coventry. As you can see it was mostly residential at the time.

Hi, Going down Raglan Street from town, the Vauxhall dealers used to be the main Glass factory, also running part the way up Vine Street. Also, across the road in Vine Street, where now stands a newish building, was another part of the Glass factory and the rear entrance to the Singer Company. On the other corner, Vine Street and Raglan Street, the two front windows as now used to be one shop front, a green-grocers, then houses as is now. Then Don's driving school (previously it was called the "Belvedere Driving School" and at the back and above that shop was a catering business), Swain's sweet shop, a general stores (a bit of everything, also my mum's shop), a pork batch shop (pigs trotters, etc) and then West's, another general store. Then a bomb site but rebuilt on and became part of the Glass factory, houses, then a second hand furniture shop on the corner of Raglan Street and Canterbury Street. Going across to the other corner (if I remember right) a cobbler's shop, houses, a barber's shop, more houses, Goddard's removals (a family firm), a furniture shop belonging to the removal firm, the Mount Pleasant pub (I think that is the right name), a car accessory shop. Crossing the road and going back up Raglan Street towards town, a coal merchants, I think a shop but might have been part of the coal merchants. Crossing Hood Street, corner of, St Mary's Church, then the Catholic club, blank (don't know), factory, This factory became part of the BTH (Bill, Tom, Harry's place, as my dad led me to believe until I was about 15 - thick or what?). The Raglan Tavern (this pub had a lovely deep bottle green tiled frontage, shame it was pulled down), more houses, then the shop you see now was the butcher's, Lytham's and finally The Foresters, which is still there. The Singer factory ran from Vine Street, along the back of all the properties in Raglan Street, to Canterbury Street and then ran up almost to St Peter's Church. Also as a mention, nice to see Portland Terrace on the map as I was born in the front living room of 30 Lower Ford Street. Standing roughly where the traffic island is now, there was a circular 'Green Man', with a police box adjoining it, for men to use (made of steel sheets with perforations in it and having 2 openings for access, one on each street, and the urinals in a semi-circle), this stood in no-mans land. Do not know if it was Raglan Street or Lower Ford Street. Alma Street finished at the two pubs maybe? Do not want to stand on toes, Dutchman, but I am afraid the church was there when I was a kid, it was my playground. More information up top but needs retrieving. Hope this is of some help, Nova.

Hi all What a fabulous lot of responses. I am intrigued now. The two landmarks that I remember as a child were the lion on top of one pub & the face at the lower front of the other pub, as we approached the Ford St junction. Before I had a car or motor-bike, when returning from our youth group in Foleshill on a Sunday evening (1960ish) I often waited opposite the GEC entrance in Ford St for the No7 to Sewall Highway. It was around closing time and as the punters were leaving the pub I was aware of a kinship that was nice. One chap lived right next to the pub & he always said good night to me at the bus stop. It is that kinship that I enjoy on here, this site of ours. People matter, in fact people matter the most. Where that is no longer the case, we then have a failed state & there are plenty of those for us all to see. A couple of years on from this, I had a Saturday job, working for Lilly's greengrocers in Primrose Hill St. That same warmth was still there as I delivered stuff to each of the homes. Happy days!

Hi Philip, the lion's head is on top of The Foresters, on the other corner used to stand The Canterbury Arms, this is now demolished. Could I just ask? You say Ford Street but do you mean Lower Ford Street?

I think that it was the junction of the two Ford Streets.

I never lived anywhere near Raglan Street but I did walk up there every time City were at home, as I used to have a couple in the Elastic Inn before the game. I worked in Weights & Measures, as it then was, from the early 70s and we had to go to scalemakers to test and stamp the scales they made and repaired. W & T Avery had their Coventry branch in Queen Victoria Road, but it was demolished about 1972 and they had a new, purpose-built workshop constructed in Raglan Street, by the junction with Canterbury Street. It was state-of-the-art at that time. It seems that the building was short-lived, however, as it has now been demolished to make way for what I presume are student flats. What sort of throwaway society do we live in when such a building lasts no longer than about 25 years?

On the crossroads were The Elastic, The Sydenham and the Alex Theatre, on the other corner was a building that I cannot remember what it was for. Remember what it looked like but not its purpose.

Victor Engine Works - link

Brilliant

Hi Nova, Nova, is anybody there? Where are you? Look, posts, pictures, maps & no doubt they will still be coming.

Wow. Thank you so much for all of this info guys. Really overwhelmed with all of the responses and pictures. I lived on Vine street from the mid 80s so this is all really interesting stuff. What a lovely helpful bunch, thanks again. Actually excited to do my assessment now.

What, you mean you're not normally excited about your uni work? Its really good to think that "we" have been able to help, and we all really appreciate your comments. Don't forget to come back when you've graduated! (or even before)