Pool Meadow and Fairfax Street (new and old)

Pool Meadow didn't open till mid-thirties when the buses started to take over. Now, the trams had fairly straight runs along the Foleshill Road and Stoney Stanton Road but, oh my, when they reached the Swanswell they turned sharply, the wheels grating and screeching, sparks flying. A few yards on they again turned slightly, again screeching - then again in to Hales St, again into the Burges, then yet again across Broadgate. You could hear them groaning all over the centre of the city. The west side of Coventry was mainly farmland until the war, farms' fields, and scores of brooks - these flowed into each other, until the Holyhead Road and Spon End, Nauls Mill, the Swanswell - also part of the scene that got flooded regularly, The Burges where the Sherbourne met the Radford Brook near the Fire Station. Coventry was really a damp, unhealthy place to live.

In the left background you can see the Bus station office and tearoom in Pool Meadow. The Birmingham stand was towards Priory St as far as I recall.

This has appeared on FB, reputedly from 1951

My elder brother and I used to get the bus from Pool Meadow, we must have been about 6 & 11 years of age as our Grandma & Grandad lived in Winchester Street. We would catch the 8 or 8A to Tile Hill. I remember the terminal road was oily and the smell of diesel fumes, I would always try and get the seat behind the driver so I could watch him change gear, I didn't know at the time it was a preselecter gearbox. Happy days!!

Hi Hopeful, welcome to the forum. Isn't it the funniest things that stick in our memories and often related to a smell.

MR, I recognise nothing from the angle of that photo. I'm not doubting that it is Pool Meadow, I just think it's funny how blind I can be to a different view.

You are so right Helen. I finally got my mind round it by concentrating on the buses facing that way, the way I was always used to in my youth (goodness did I say that, seems so long ago now - well it was!)

When I read this post I thought "I must have seen these 2 kids at some time", then I realised that after some cajoling to join the forum the writer is my brother

Taken from the fire station - Wheatley Street School top left!

Coventry bus station getting £1.5 million makeover ahead of 2021 City of Culture (WMCA).

I bought this photo thinking it was Pool Meadow, but after looking at Britain from Above I'm now having some doubt. Apologies if this has been identified before, but I'm sure this can be put straight by those more knowledgeable than me....

Rob I would say it is definitely Pool Meadow. The stands look right and I think the gabled roof belongs to Trinity Schools, or the Art College. Let's hope someone else can confirm. An excellent photo.

Prof, you are quite correct, the roof above the bus is the art college, Trinity school is further back.

You can just see the crenulations of the Swanswell gatehouse just poking up beyond the building with the 2 chimneys. There are a lot of things popping up that claim to be Coventry on eBay and aren't but this one is legit.

Thank you all so much, that's great that it's genuine Coventry. So, Swanswell Gate's crenulations, eh? You're so observant Helen - at first glance I thought that was just another chimney poking out! I looked at the gabled roof, too, but on mine it has a horizontal prominence that wasn't on the 1953 aerial shots, which was what made me have doubts. That must've been a later addition then. Cheers folks!