Albany Road / Butts

Yes, I was customer of Atkins and Barker for many years. They stocked spares for just about all domestic appliances, in the days when everything was made in England and could be repaired. I believe Mike Atkins lived in beechwood Avenue because his car was often spotted outside his house near the tennis club (IIRC, it wasn't a car but an SUV/4x4/Chelsea tractor, maybe a Range Rover). And the batch bar was a favourite late at night after a beer or two; especially as one of my friends lived in Earlsdon.

Some interesting but unconfirmed information, I've been rattling my brain regard to which business was in the building between the former BOL (Business office Links) and the former Astoria cinema. I do recall when walking past there some mornings, mid/late 1970's, Bedford HA vans often reversing out on to Albany Road. There were two electrical installation contractors quite close to each other. One was between the former Chandos Motors and railway bridge, the other was between BOL and the Astoria. My guess after doing a little digging, ROLCAR Electrical (69 Albany Rd) was between BOL and the Astoria and another was between the railway bridge and Chandos Motors. Now I don't know how accurate the next bit of info is, so take it with a pinch of salt, but I understand that a former Woodlands School teacher called Rollason (the Woodlands School thread does confirm there was such a teacher, but no obvious business links) was responsible for setting up ROLCAR Electrical. Checking Companies House, the earliest director mentioned was Vernon Whitby-Smith, appointed before 1991. Any former directors are not mentioned, though the business was started in 1958. I'm now trying to recall the other business next door to Chandos.

If I remember Correctly, Mr Rollason was our RE Teacher at Woodlands during the 1960's.

This section of road is between two railway bridges. Rolcar was there in the early 1970s. It was situated about halfway between the Astoria and the Broomfield Road railway bridge. I believe Rolcar was a portmanteau of the names of the owners/directors, e.g. Rollins and Carr or whatever. One of the people who worked there had the surname Wildsmith.

The location of the photographer you give is exactly right, Neil. My dad's family lived in Broomfield Road. When he bought his first car (a Singer Le Mans) he rented a garage somewhere up Winifred Avenue. Now then. The small property on the right: what are you trying to imply? A house of ill repute? A bawdy house? In Earlsdon of all localities? In my dad's day, people from Spon End (where my mum came from) would taunt "oooh, la-di-dah; brown boots and no breakfast!". At my school in the 60s it was "ooh, Earlsdon - who lives there, all snobs are they?". I'm fairly sure the apparent use of the house is true, because around the 2000 CE we had a colleague at work who made it her business to know everyone else's business, which was very useful; e.g. "do you know where Dr Fensterstrop is, because he's not in his office?". The immediate answer would be something like "he's away all week on a symposium in outer Mongolia". Saved a lot of time, she did. This lady lived in a house near the Albany pub. (I won't state the number or her name.) I was amazed when she nonchalantly told me one day over coffee what the house up the road was used for. It was common knowledge in the area. So was the going rate; she said it was £30 for you-know-what. I'd never really noticed the house before, driving past, as it always seemed derelict and in a very poor state. Further evidence of its nefarious use at the time was when the house number was suddenly painted in large numerals on the adjacent wall or fence, obviously to make the place easy to find. I daresay residents noticed a sudden increase in comings and goings (no pun). In more recent times, about ten years ago, with the house empty and neglected for a long time, I got interested in using it to do business (no, not that sort of business!). I'd just started in property, and I thought it would be a good place to buy, do up then flip. I soon found out that it belonged to the railway company and they did not want to sell it. I rarely go into Coventry but a few weeks ago I was driving up the road and noticed that it has been demolished.

Rollins and Carr would make sense of the business name.

I do wonder if the house, whilst being used for business, was officially rented. IIRC it had been derelict for a very long time, I daresay uninhabitable. I suspect they may have just moved in and used it. It was probably off the radar of the railway company. I would not be surprised if they got kicked out when eventually discovered.

Not just Coventry. It goes on everywhere, businesses used as a front. When I get time, I'll tell you about what I call "the pub that wasn't a pub".

Right then, here it is, as promised. Here we go: The pub that wasn't a pub It was over ten years ago. We had been in London and had a couple of hours to kill before getting the train at EUS. It was a sweltering hot summer day and we were thirsty. We were walking up Tottenham Court Road, but the pubs had fizzled out. I suddenly spotted Tin Pan Alley in Denmark Street, that famous street where all the music shops are. So we went into this big pub, and were amazed that there was not a single customer in the place, just empty tables and chairs. Nobody behind the bar either. Just as we were about to leave, a middle-aged bloke with a London accent appeared and in a very unfriendly manner, without a flicker of a smile, obviously irritated that he had to serve a customer to drinks, said "what yer want?". I thought no wonder there were no customers, with such an unfriendly landlord. He poured two lagers, took the money and without saying a word disappeared out the back through the door, to continue doing whatever he had been engrossed in before being interrupted by paying customers. We quickly drank up and left, thinking no more of it. But a week or two later, the place was in the papers and on national TV news. It had been under surveillance for some time. I daresay the police have a picture of us entering the premises. The place was raided and closed by the Met. It was a front for the headquarters of the biggest money-laundering outfit in the country. It never reopened as a pub. It has been split into two and is now something like a coffee shop and sushi bar.

If my Mum was here she would have said "Hells Bells and Buckets of Blood". She never did like to hear cursing at the Navigation. As if anybody would !!!!!