Black Pad and Tin Lizzy

Hi Anne & Dutchman, "Black" as in "Tarmac" (but does the phrase pre-date tarmacadam?)

I think it does Tony? Also Tarmac was mainly used where there was horse-drawn traffic but these were strictly footpaths only, and also unmade as far as I can tell. There may have been some other substance spread on the footpaths to make them less muddy such as ash or coke? Then again the 'black' may be a reference to them being unofficial, unlit or simply dangerous. "Footpads" were a type of highwayman who preyed on walkers as opposed to coach travellers.

Actually Dutchman, I think you may have just answered it, wasn't coke especially used quite a lot?

I can remember coke being used myself but am unable to find any historical references to its use.

There is a section on 'footpads' in a great book I've had for years, called 'The Victorian Underworld' by Kellow Chesney. Here you can also read about all manner of weirdly named classes of criminals. Your post has reminded me of this book, so thanks!

Hi all A picture recorded this afternoon, from Lockhurst Lane railway bridge looking towards the area that I knew as the Black Pad.

I remember when my old gran lived at the side of those lines in the fifties, I used to go out of her back garden into some wasteland and watch old Tin Lizzy going past.

Years ago I remember asking this same question, I was given to understand that the black was fly ash from the factory boilers.

Hi there, I'm new to this forum and find very interesting but my reason initially for coming on here was to find out (if at all possible) why "The Black Pad" in Holbrooks/Radford by COVENTRIANS RFC is so called ? I have seen a few variations which are possibles but I could do with a definitive answer for my research. I did hear that it was once an aerodrome and was called that because of the ash that was spread on the ground? Can anybody help?

Hello Dicko, and welcome to our forum Are you asking why this particular "Black Pad" is so called, or where the generic phrase "The Black Pad" comes from?

The Black Pad that many of us are talking about runs across Burnaby Road from the Coventry / Nuneaton rail line. If you were to look at the 1936 map of old map scans, it shows The Black Pad being there before Burnaby Road was even built. It was a part track / road, then turns into a footpath linking to Penny Park Lane.

Hi TonyS, Yes i would like to find out why this particular "Black Pad" is so called! I have found out the various generic possibilities, so the real reason would be cool!

Pad is from the Anglo Saxon or maybe even Dutch, and does apparently mean path. Black is derived from old words that mean 'dark'. So, maybe 'dark path'? They may have passed through woodland or something and that's how they got their name? It's a common name for a path.

The Black Pad I particularly remember somewhere in Wyken, exactly where I'm not sure, was composed of ash and clinker, the same material used for footpaths / lanes on private allotment sites such as Stratford Street and those which used to cut Sewall Highway in two, possibly known as Stoke Heath allotments. Incidentally Sewall Highway had confusing street signs at one time, some read Sewall and other Sewell.