Hostels and Guildhouses

Hi Morgana I am interested in your hostel register, possibly you can help or any other member. I am looking for information on a John (Jack) Arch who lived at the hostel around 1930 / 1940s? At one stage he worked at the Coventry Market as a buyer and assistant on Norman's fruit and veg store and was a regular drinker at the market traders' bar (was it called the Market Tavern?) I believe he was a regular visitor to the Rainbow Inn in Allesley and the Holbrooks dog track. Thank you for the picture. Tony

Hi Tony, I'm sure my brother regarding the register got it from the library in Coventry, not sure if its the electoral list for that year, he took a photo of the page which our family that all lived in the munition cottages. I have checked the page which our family is on along with other names but not John or Jack Arch on that page, there are more pages of the munition cottages who lived in them. Not sure if the Market Tavern then might of been called the Lamp.

I currently live in Duggins Lane, and the chap 2 doors away has lived in the house man and boy since they were built in 1934. I will get and ask what he can remember. By the way, they pulled down the old Berkswell Engineering factory a few weeks ago.

Thanks Mick, I would appreciate that!

Hi Bertie. Spoke to Geoff today and he remembers the hostel, said it was built around 1940 to house the war workers from Banner Lane and Torrington Ave. He says that he has a letter somewhere that was sent to all of the residents in Duggins Lane, that says the building would be turned back to farm land after the war, but that never happened. He told me a guy called Peter Palmer owned in and rented it out to a slate / tile firm called Keystone in 1954. Apparently, part of the original building is still there. Keystone was taken over last year. Regards Mick

Thanks for the information Mick, i read somewhere that a lot of people squatted there, after it closed, waiting for housing to be completed in Tile Hill and Canley.

Hi Bertie, asked him about that and he says that they squatted for quite some time. He also said that they held dances and shows there on a regular basis. I have tried to find a picture but have so far failed.

Hi Mick, Don't know if you remember me we went to Woodlands and served apprenticeship at Wickmans together. I have lived in the US since 1974 when I came over for Wickmans. My parents met at the hostel on Duggins Lane and my brother Pete was born in 1946 while they were living there. My dad worked at Wickmans and my mom worked at the Massey Ferguson factory on Banner Lane that was being used by Standard to build aircraft engines. She was inspector checking engines when they were finished. They moved to the steel houses on Charter Ave where I was born in 1950. I remember seeing a photo of hostels a few years ago. I hope all is well with you and your family. Steve Griffin (ex Canley Kid)

I was part-way through a description of the foul hostel on Duggins Lane, when a spectre from Coventry's housing department (circa 1950) advised me that I was "over the top" (well, yes, the spectre did no such thing, but it shut me down, nonetheless). That such places as the Duggins Lane hostels were deemed fit to live in for young families of the day (circa 1950s) by the forebears of the modern social engineers is a disgrace. With "living areas" separated from "sleeping quarters" by communal passage-ways, passage-ways that led to what it pleased social workers to call communal bathrooms, speaks volumes about the way the bureaucrats at the Council House treated/treat working-class people, people who - in the view of middle-class social engineers - "didn't know any better, wouldn't expect any better". Social engineers today are much better educated, but I fear that their collective sensibility to the needs of the working-class "froze" some time in the 1930s. In my own middle-class existence, in my entirely comfortable life, I have no need for social engineers, and - until I slip the surly bonds of this Earth - I hope that I never do, for nothing good ever came of detrimental reliance on well-wishers - the scourge of life. I dedicate this short piece to MikeH in London, in my own province of Ontario. MikeH, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and enjoying an education (private education) commensurate with such a state of grace, has evinced a greater understanding - on this fine site - of the duties we owe one another, most particularly the duties we owe those less-fortunate than ourselves, than any other contributor, myself included. While I suspect MikeH might describe himself as a small "c" conservative (perhaps a small "l" liberal), there is no finer voice on this site for understanding the needs of the dispossessed, the racially-marginalized, and such. MikeH, a regular contributor to this site, is one of the good guys, par excellence.

I agree LongfordLad - on both points. I was lucky, my family never had to endure hostel living. But, we lived very close by to Charter Ave Hostel and I watched them being pulled down - and helped in their destruction when the demolition workers had gone home. To say they were flimsy is an understatement. Many people had bomb shelters in their garden which afforded more protection from both bombs and weather. As for MikeH, I sometimes disagree with his arguments. But I attack those arguments, not the person. I believe that someone on the outside looking in, often has a better overall picture than someone staring out from the middle.

Sorry Bertie that I cannot help with the Duggins Lane hostels specifically but as the conversation has widened to include hostel life in general I might be able to contribute from the perspective of having lived in Whoberley Hostels in the very early 50s. My parents lived with my dad's parents in a three bedroom council house in Whaleys Croft, Radford, where both myself and younger brother were born. We were allocated a hostel when the third child in our family was due and my parents really appreciated having space. I should think my grandparents were pretty happy too. Maybe we were fortunate but living at Whoberley was not considered a form of hardship. Whoberley Hostels were self contained to the extent that each family had their own kitchen and bathroom although these were each separate rooms off a communal corridor. My parents have fond memories of our couple of years at Whoberley, there was a genuine community spirit and they made some lifelong friends there. The hostels were an invaluable stopgap until the large new estates were ready for occupation. There was such a pressure for housing that I remember moving into our first council house in Empire Road, Tile Hill while the surrounding houses were still in the process of construction - and it was a while before the roads were surfaced. The shops came much later.

There's so much more I should tell you about the hostel on Duggins Lane, Tile Hill, but I am in the midst of moving to our new home, overlooking Lake Ontario, and - accidently, I'm assured - my Internet access was cut off yesterday and will not be resumed until late this coming week. Needless to say, I will miss the Duggins Lane thread (keeping things on topic) while I am away, and I will miss the many and various contributors' comments on this thread and others. I am beside myself - and as one wag observed - not a pretty place to be.

I have reason to remember the men's hostel in Clifford Bridge Road somewhere near the two hump back bridges. I was out exploring on my small two wheel bike, would be about eight at the time (1946) and I had a puncture or the chain came off the bike or both. A kindly man, who I took to be Polish (weren't those hostels inhabited by ex-prisoners of war?) took me to the back entrance near his kitchen and put the bike back in order. Of course this took some time. When I arrived home late I was given the 3rd degree by my anxious parents, though I had no idea at the time what they were concerned about. I am quite sure there had been no ulterior motive just a man who may have been separated from his own children and genuinely wanted to help to get me back on my bike. No-one today would dare approach a child in distress for fear of mistaken motives. How sad the world has become.

Philip said "Yes, but it is a hard cover book which I will need to scan on a library scanner. Glad you have reminded me. A then & now picture." see you are having problems with scanning images from books. It isn't a problem of needing a better scanner. The originals are in a dot-format (screened) and printed at possiblt 150 - 300 dots per inch. You scanner's default resolution is probably 300dpi also. Change the resolution to some 'odd' number like 236dpi and the strange marks (moire) should disappear. Hope that helps.