Spon Street

Can anyone remember the Sun Sun Restaurant during the 60's, it was on the left as you entered Spon St. from town?

Thank you, that's great, I want to visit Coventry and see where people lived.

Don't know how missed this? The Board Vaults ceased trading as a pub on 27th December 1930. It was used as a succession of different shops until it was bought by R.J Speed of the Evesham Seed Company in 1952. It was then rebuilt as a single storey building. Planning records make mention only of the shop frontage being rebuilt and not the entire building. In 1973 it was demolished and replaced by a two storey building from another part of Spon Street. The original building is partially visible in this picture:

My great-grandfather John Smith kept the Recruiting Sergeant, Spon Street c.1900. Here he is outside the pub with his three youngest children Arthur Harry, Emily & Mary

Me again with more relatives in Spon Street, 186 this time. I'm wondering if it's there or gone, am confused because of the moved buildings and renumbering. It's not made easy for those of us delving into the past!

Yes it's gone, it was destroyed in the war. For most of the time before that it was occupied by Soobroy - confectioner. Before that it was occupied by Caldicott (poor rate collector) in 1874, Everitt (painter) in 1886 and Jephcott (plumber) in 1890.

Thank you Dutchman, you are a fountain of knowledge

The Dutchman is the expert For anyone interested in Spon Street may I recommend Spon Street & Spon End by John Ashby. I've only just got hold of a copy and it's a fount of information about the area, plus wider facts about Coventry. It's got images I haven't seen before, including the original position and appearance of the new number 16. Talking of which, on page 10 it shows a picture of Mr H A Kavanagh in front of his confectioners shop in what was previously supposed to be the old Recruiting Sergeant after the 1930s. I'm dubious that this picture shows that building as the windows, passageway and shop front don't seem to fit the older or newer images of that block. Anyone any idea where Mr Kavanagh might have been? The upstairs window looks more like the Board Vaults and even more like the building beyond that. Actually scratch that. I'm now fairly sure that Mr K was at number 17 as there are features that match later pictures of that building.

According to the 1901 census the Recruiting Sergeant was No. 14 Spon Street. From 1909 until 1930 it was kept by members of the Athersuch family. It ceased to be a licensed premises in 1930 and the following year became the Abbey Building Society (information from Cov. History Centre doc. 1691/23/928).

Thanks OldCaludonian, the author notes much the same information and couldn't quite pinpoint when Mr K shared the block. I think the confusion stems from the iffy numbering and that he was directly next door. Coventry's odd numbering probably stems from how buildings were split up or rejoined at the will of the owners and users. Originally many blocks started off as a hall on one side and bedroom/storage end. There was a big arched doorway at the front and back, directly opposite each other. Later, as demand for property soared they converted the single dwellings into two and the doorway became a passageway to the back where more building formed the courts that were so prevalent. Later still, buildings sometimes split with the upstairs being one business and the downstairs being one or two. After the pressure for accommodation was eased by building beyond the old boundaries, the buildings saw another change. Buildings started returning to single occupancy or even merged a section from next door. Thus the Windmill and Recruiting Sergeant may have been three bays or they may have acquired legacy blocks from demolished sections (called a bay). All that separated many buildings was an infill wall and in some cases it may have been easier to expand next door or back into the court rather than reacquire the other half of the same building with an intruding passage. Once all the court buildings were acquired or demolished, the front could be dealt with however the owner wanted. It sort of explains the complicated numbering.

According to my reference he shared the former Recruiting Sergeant building along with the Abbey Road Building Society from the 1930s to the 1950s. To confuse matters No.16 was also shared by a confectioner with a different name up until 1930. I can find no record of a confectioners at No.17.

There are two companion volumes frequently referenced in the book. One is "Spon Street: A family history viewpoint" and the other is "Spon Street: A family history viewpoint", both are published by the Coventry Family History Society and contain maps, tables and directories for the relevant streets.

That's what the book says but all the evidence in the photo points to it being the left end of what is now 17a. The clues are - top left of the photo is a sign saying 'watches and clocks est 1870' and another image I've got of the one to the right of Board Vaults says 'watch repairs'. The big sign would hide the window over the passage. Next to that there is a hydrant plate which is different to the one there now but too close to be a co-incidence. The window style is quite distinctive and none of the pictures show the Recruiting Sergeant having them but the next two buildings do. The shop front is very similar to the current left hand side of 17a but unlike any of the window, door, passage groupings on the Recruiting Sergeant. Whatever Mr Ks normal location was, he was probably photographed in front of 17a or 17 or whatever number it was

Hi all, does this help, taken from the 1935 Cov Directory. One more to follow.