Friargate development

Coventry was in MY 'travel to work' area for Birmingham for many years. I worked in Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield for various spells between 1976 and 1996, totalling about 15 years. At that time many people did this, using various transport methods. It used to be possible to commute by road but congestion would prevent that now. Commuting from Coventry to Birmingham centre by train was also possible, and also very affordable in those days. Lousy transport links were the main reason for us moving away from Coventry. We were living in the centre of Coventry and MrsD-Di worked in the centre of Birmingham. But it was hopeless trying to commute as the trains were so unreliable. And my car journey to Sutton Coldfield, which took 25 minutes in the 70s, was often taking an hour. Moving away from my home city was the only solution. Coventry should be accessible to Birmingham for commuting, and many people did it back in the day. Getting around is so much more difficult these days so it would be absurd to rely on getting there on time now.

When I mentioned commuters to B'ham, the Network Rail document didn't say that all commutes to B'ham were for business, just that there was a reasonable amount of back and forth between the two cities, more so than commutes up to London.

Ah, I see. That'll be because the retail and entertainment in Coventry is poor you have to go to Birmingham.

You could put it that way. With access so easy by road and rail to Britain's 'second city', it is difficult to see how Britain's thirteenth largest city could possibly compete..

I don't agree with that at all, it's an excuse that Coventry always uses to justify its own mediocrity. Of course certain things won't happen in Coventry, but the city doesn't even have a music venue for bands that regularly play Wolverhampton and other towns that are closer to Birmingham than Coventry, and our local theatre can only handle small touring plays. Coventry has a catchment of 800,000 and hardly makes any attempt to capitalise on that. The last time I went to see a live band I went to Leamington Spa! The endless decades long flow of people outwards has certainly left its mark on the city centre. Without leisure venues, there is no footfall at night, and no incentive for other businesses to move in. The fairly dead state of the city centre beyond 5:30 is testament to this. It's no surprise that the only development that's managed to sustain businesses is Belgrade Plaza - the theatre brings people in, as do the hotels. Priory Place failed because there's nothing nearby that attracts people in the evening and it's not really on a route to anywhere - another hidden development stuck behind a dismal street that doesn't go anywhere. It's about time this place started to act more like a city and less like a small commuter town.

And the last train out of B'ham to Coventry leaves at what time? After the stores have closed and before the nightlife starts up, so its a car trip both ways, and the entertainment is not all based in an entertainment quarter either. Its all over the place.

Coventry has entertainment too, quite similar to B'ham if you look at the websites, albeit not as many venues.. Coventry.. LINK.. Birmingham.. LINK.. but Coventry never had as many venues, and places that could have been were converted to BINGO halls. The people get what the people want..

RLS has two venues. The Assembly was known to locals as the Clifton cinema, a venue which has had mixed fortunes over the years, re-incarnating itself as one seedy nightclub after another, full of kids and fighting outside, to what it is presently, great music but don't annoy the staff. The Spa Centre is as much a community centre as it is an entertainment venue. When I lived there, restaurants came and went other than Indian restaurants and a couple of Chinese, not exactly varied cuisine. If you don't like either, it's fish and chips. Also note that the Spa Centre exists only because the most impressive dwelling other than Warwick Castle was KNOCKED down to make way for it.

I think that you all expect too much from a frazzled industrial city. It's now being turned into a modern city for the young and the restless, just like all cities are other than London, and none of you like it. It's not my cup of tea either, but who ever said that life was all about living museums, frumpy people, and holding on to a past held loosely together with nostalgia..

Reluctantly I agree. It does seem that what Coventrians want these days, is fashion stores, mobile phone shops, opticians and fast food restaurants. And of course pound shops. As for something encoraging about the city, well despite the recession and the number of vacant shops, any visit to a supermarket during working hours will find the vast car park almost full of shiny nearly-new cars and 4x4s with queues at the checkouts, so a good proportion of the population are making ends meet nicely.

Mike H - 'The Assembly' in Leamington is not the former Clifton Cinema but the large dance hall next to it. I don't recall what it was called previously, but the ground floor was at one time occupied by Percy Johnson's Garage who sold Rootes cars. The Spa Centre stands on the site of what was reputed to be the largest house in Leamington Spa, but from my childhood memories in the 50's and 60's it was always empty. Coventry was not unique in knocking down properties which would now be saved, but back in the 60's and 70's they were just old and often derelict big houses that nobody wanted.

Sadly it's not what Coventrians want, it's what current footfall dictates We will not attract the big high street names while we've got a city centre populated by thousands of students with, lets face it, little to spend (on those sort of goods anyway) As for opticians? I reckon I must need one as the only opticians I can recall seeing are in West Orchards, the Lower Precinct and downstairs in a certain chemist.