Trinity Church Hall / Art Schools

Is there a date for that picture? Looks like a pretty decent looking place. Very urban. I can't quite place where it is, though. Great picture, by the way. No doubt it was all demolished.

Thanks Anne That's the corner of White Street and Ford Street viewed from Jesson Street, in case anyone doesn't recognise it. Barnwells moved to where TJ Hughes is today.

Uncovered this new terrific photo which clears everything up for me!!! Its embedded in Facebook so shout if people cannot see it and I'll add to my own photobucket and repost.

Nice one Neils, fantastic to see this shot, and taken from an unusual angle like this.

All the buildings in that area were a lot more interesting back then than they are now.

What a great photo Neil and I have only just realised after all those years of using ye olde Pool Meadow that there were actually two cafes. A good photo to dissect. Any more like that?

Seeing Annes photo of Jesson St / White St etc earlier thought this was worth an add here looking the other way:

As an apprentice painter and decorator I went to the art school in Ford Street from 64 to 67. The college scarves that we wore were black, white, grey and yellow and were the same as the students that went to the proper art college. In later life I made a friend who was a technical illustrator, he too was entitled to wear the same scarf, and was a bit miffed to find me wearing it as well. I used to wear it sometimes just to wind him up .

NeilsYard, about the third shop inside Ford Street was named 'Lawrence' sold hammers, drills, spanners etc. I had a friend that posed for the art schools, think he was paid direct by the Council, another friend of mine (female) posed as a model for one of the car factories camera club. Think the club paid her.

I can't read the names on the shops in the above photo, does anyone remember whether one was a school outfitters?

Mod's note: There is a thread about the designer, James Murray, here

Someone named Michelle Goodlad has put this wonderful photo of Pool Meadow onto the Pinterest website. My guess is that it could be the mid 1960s, if the bottom left corner is showing part of the new, relocated Fairfax Street. It looks rather muddy, as has been described, but I could imagine that in the summer when the soil would be dried out, the place would look a lot tidier - especially if photographed from a great height. Does anyone know when the lovely Art School and Trinity Church School were demolished? Post copied from topic Pool Meadow on 30th Jan 2020 3:19 pm

Hi Rob. Yes I have seen that one before from my friend Paul Michael Kennelly (who used to run The Time Machine Shops in Cov). He went to the Art School and attended the final class in there in 1967. This cutting is from November 1967. George Hilditch was the demolition contractor and he offered the five James Murray panels on the side of the School to The Herbert during demolition as the contract allowed him to possess. They ended up only taking four - I know where the 5th one is but that's another story!

A past friend of mine was a pupil of the school in the mid-fifties. I have a beautiful picture of a Cotswolds village painted by her. I also knew a lad that was a nude model for them in the fifties, he was short and tubby. It was a very popular place in the fifties. Why Coventry got rid of such a beautiful building beats me, but then so did many things they did.