"Burglar Bill" and other old tales of Radford

Do you know Tony Bend? He used to be in the Scouts his hq was on the corner of Beake ave ,he then moved to Dark lane near the Coach makers. he was a good mate of mine, and thanks for the input. Colin.

Hello Tek, the only fight I remember was between the Longford rockers and the Radford mob, the fight was on the Radford Common, from what I remember the fight was planned a few weeks before, I remember a large police turn out because it was well know that it was going to happen, I was a bit too young to be involved, not that I would have , anyway my very best friend was stabbed in the back that night, a most appalling affair. He watch his friend get knocked down ,he raced across to help him when someone knifed him in the back ( I think he lost a lung, could have lost his life) I remember the morning after the Police roped off the Radford Common while they examined the scene it was like a medieval battle field , knives, bike chain, bike crank ( the bit with cogs) and bottles. Not a very nice scene. Billy Goode was the person stabbed. As for the spring you mention ,I remember the stream but that's it I did not know it was a Spring. The only Spring I remember was the one on the Radford road just opposite the Radford Garage it used to pour out of the brick wall onto the road.

The "battles" that I wrote about were probably before your time. There was no way would knives etc being used, only the fists as was normal with young lads at the time.I don't remember the spring that you mentioned, the only two being the one that ran into the stream behind Porettas and the one that came out of the wall by the house next to the entrance to the Savoy car park. The house was owned I believe by a Miss Redfern a schoolteacher. Yes I do remember Tony Bend with his infectious laugh, many years later when he, still a scout was involved in the gang show. Before the sream went below the bridge on Warden Rd there was a hollow tree inside which, if you had an imagination you could see what appeared to be a face.

I cannot remember the stream you mention? i remember Porretta's Yard in fact my Dad used to be a Coal man working for Porretta. As for Tony Bend i used to go to school with him and he lived next door to me for a while when we were young. the battle as you put it was a big event i remember a few getting hurt. from what i remember i think they were Teddy Boys but not too sure. i seem to remember the spring out of the wall by the Savoy? but it was such a long time ago. i wonder if you remember the steps leading down from the upper level to the Radford road opposite the Chapel and Radford Garage? the spring i refered to was next to the steps. its long gone now . best regards, Colin.

The Savoy occupies the former site of a large house which was named after "The Spring" Pictures of Coventry

Is their no end to your knowledge? Dutchman, you amaze me. Thanks for that, so was the Savoy the name of the House that stood there? I am thinking the spring was also called the Savoy spring ?

No such things as teddy boys in the 40's, just boisterous gangs of lads. The stream in question meandered along the back of Cheverai ave, under Warden rd and then disappered somewhere about Villa Rd. The other direction after the Poretta pad it was culverted until it resurfaced beyond the Radford school ,the one that was bombed, and then carried on behind the Grapes, under Bridgeman Rd, where it had been dammed to provide water for the fire brigade, under the footbridge and over the waterfall before going under the railway line, through the Nauls Mill parkkeepers yard, under the two footbridges leading to the swings, finally going under Middlesborough Rd into the gas works. Maybe this was before your time, I'm just an elderly gent who was a member of the Fynford Rd. gang.I do remember the steps along Radford Rd leading to the cottages, at the bottom of the steps there was the afore mentioned batch shop which also sold delicious bread pudding. Edited by TonyS, 5th Aug 2012 8:29 pm (Quotes abreviated)

No RK, the house was actually called "The Spring"!

I am back to ol Burglar Bill, well his yard . He had loads of junk tipped in a big pile, I found wire and all sorts. Well as a kid I was somewhat into Radio and electronics ,as I am now I guess. Anyway i had been into experimenting with an home made inverter ,it was made from an old line speaker transformer working on about 80volts then (if you apply an AC current in the reverse then from a low voltage you get a much higher Voltage, similar to the way a coil works on a car) as transistors were just coming in I used a buzzer to provide the pc current . I put the said items in a box or bag( cannot remember which) and attached it to my belt. Ran two wires down my sleeve and fixed the wires onto two electrodes fixed to a leather glove. The electrodes were spaced by my middle finger ( I didnot wish to short the two wires) in school the next day I would have some fun giving lads electric shocks and they did not have a clue how It was done ,it was great. Now this is we're it all goes wrong! Just after the morning break and back in class I was called to the front of the class to explain this mystery , well I thought I was the Bees knees the Teacher was asking me how it worked, me ? Well I showed him the basic function but he said he would like to see it working , so I donned my coat and fixed the contraption to my belt , clipped on the electrodes, meanwhile the Teacher had produced a glass of water??? "what's this all about ? I thought. He said "can you switch it on" ? " yes I replied" once it was up and running and you could just about hear the buzzer running he said " so if I grab your hand now ,I would get a shock" " yes was my reply" at that point he proceeded to reach out and grab my hand but not from the palm side but from the back of my hand , turning my hand over he poured the water into my hand , which had no effect until the water had soaked into my leather glove , parts of my fingers were now a conductor and I was having a shocking time, could not pull off the electrodes as I would get another shock! I must have run round the class room for what seen a life time, I ripped it of my belt while getting shocks all over the place. Can you imagine the laughter from the rest of the class. They were in bits as well as being impressed Because after School I had a few orders to build some more lol. Well that's what you call "poetic justice" , bet the Teachers had a good ol laugh at that one , no Detention was issued as the Teacher thought I had leaned a valuable lesson, ( " yes I did , don't get caught") I went on to build Crystal sets after that. Much safer. One funny thing I remember was building a crystal set ( anyone who has ever built a Crystal set wil know it has to have an earth" )well I could not get my Crystal set to work for some time, in the end my Brother had a look and being somewhat older than me pointed out that the Earth must be in the Earth and not in a Plant pot. Silly me. Hope it made you smile. Colin

Cheers for that Dutchman , I had a guess it was not going to be the Savoy. Thanks again.

Do you remember Jim Walton, Bill Goode, Bill witington and Jim Robinson? all about 72 years old now. As for the stream you mention is that the one that flowed under the Radford road on the corner of Beake ave? It was culerted until it came out just behind the Wooden Scout hut on the corner of Beake Ave it flowed past Burglar Bills Bus , I remember the wire grill that used to catch the debris ,at that point it flowed above ground ,past the end cottages where a Window Cleaner and Nell Leather lived then it went underground again ,under the Radford Common just by the old Toilets , not sure after that? it's getting interesting now . This site sure fills in a few holes. Regards. Colin. Edited by TonyS, 5th Aug 2012 8:26 pm (Multiple quotes removed)

Different age group, unfortunately for me, If the scout hut now standing at the corner of Beake Ave, which was the h.q. of the 32nd scout group, is the one that you mean, then this stream could easily be the one in question. Incidentally I believe the hut has, since the demise of the 32nd group become the home of the Coventry gang show

It certainly is the home of the Gang Show and has been renamed The Satchwell Centre after Bernard Satchwell who was involved in Scouting. My late husband was a member of the 32nd Coventry, 1st Radford Group as it was officially registered, also he was involved in GS for many years.

Hi TeKmelf. Did you know Derek Dry and his brother who lived id Fynford Rd ?. Also George, Norman or Michael Edwards who lived just off Fynford Rd. We always called the stream behind the coal yard THE BROOK and I had many a drink from the spring. Edited by TonyS, 6th Aug 2012 8:10 am (Quote abreviated)

I remember the Dry family as I lived opposite. The "brook" where it emerged at the Fynford Rd end passed through two concrete walls. There was a bridge over the brook which led to the back field where Radford school is now situated. During the war there was a barrage balloon based on the field just behind the underground shelter. Anyway back to the brook, we would dam the brook below the bridge to raise the water level so that we could splash about in it. At the Nauls Mill section of the brook the gang there would build a dam to try to match ours.. When their dam was complete then we would break down our dam, rush along Hewitt Ave to see the devestation caused by the rush of water. Little things pleased little minds. Edited by TonyS, 6th Aug 2012 8:11 am (Quote abreviated)