Friendly chat (Click to see this topic in full)
I often keep an eye on auctions for Coventry pictures. Coming on Wednesday there is this lot. The one that caught my eye was an old photo on the left of photo 2. The pub on the right is the Eagle and Child Inn. Unfortunately the photo is of the Shambles York, not Fleet Street (which had a pub of that name) or Butcher Row that the photo resembles. The lesson is that auctioneers don't always know what they're selling.

Palmer Lane (Click to see this topic in full)
Just to bring the conversation back on topic, I recall having driving lessons in 1969 at the Yorkshire driving school, based on the east side of the Burges. The cars were parked behind with access via Palmer Lane. I remember it as a shambles of old and new between the backs of Trinity Street and the Burges, it gave good practice of parking in tight spaces.

Railways around Coventry (Click to see this topic in full)
Hi all I don't pretend that our ticketing system isn't very complex, that it should be far more straight forward & I am well aware of the shambles of reliability of our local network, although that might change since a senior head has rolled recently. A return journey to Glasgow, part of which was peaktime, cost £53. That journey was without delay & very comfortable. That was using a pre-booked split ticket. I paid a premium for the first part of the journey being before 9am. Last summer, I provided a week of holiday cover & since all but one client was in the East Midlands, I bought a week's ranger ticket for £75. I enjoyed the best working trainspotting holiday in ages. A friend joined me using the any three days out of seven option on the same ranger.

Railways around Coventry (Click to see this topic in full)
There's clearly something fundamentally wrong with the whole UK rail ticketing fares system. Last week, I had to go to Liverpool and back the same day. The return fare cost me just under £20. I was going from THL to LIV, on the one train, i.e. no changes. But I didn't purchase a return for Liverpool. I had a return from THL to BHM, then a single from BHM to LIV, and the same but reversed for the return journey. So although on the same train, I had to show different tickets to the inspector depending on where the train happened to be. What nonsense! I saved a few quid by booking online. Last weekend, I had to go to London at short notice (85 year old lady had a cardiac arrest, was in Barnet Hospital, sadly since passed away), so no time to get advance tickets. I checked the national rail online service first, for the train times and fares. I wrote the details on a sheet of A4. At THL, I asked for a return to EUS and showed the attendant the piece of paper. He immediately said "You won't get those prices today; they are not valid today". I retorted: "They were valid a few minutes ago on the national rail site". He was floored and said nothing, just acting dumb. I ended up paying almost double the fare quoted on the national rail site. Clearly one pays a lot more, on average, by buying at a ticket office. My advice is to always book online, split-ticketing if advantageous. Staff are not there to give one a good deal. It should not be the case that one can save money by booking online and/or split-ticketing. A lack of consistency which is typical of many/most large organisations. It's a shambles. The extra tickets issued are a waste of precious paper of course. (Green Party supporters take note!) I have to go to the funeral soon, so will definitely be booking online.

Coventry Police (Click to see this topic in full)
Around 1830 time Coventry was a city and a county, and the police force had to go to places like Ansty, Wyken and Whitley and such villages as there was no Warwickshire force. At that time there were day constables and night watchmen - there was a setter of the watch, and the watchmen met at the watch house and started their rounds at 10pm. On their beats watch-boxes were placed for them to rest in, constructed like sentry boxes but with doors to their openings. The old lock-up or watch-house in the Women's Market was taken down in 1865 to make way for the new market hall. On the one side it adjoined an old inn (Talbot) and its yard, which stood on the corner of West Orchard and Cross Cheaping. The old night watchmen cried the hours and half-hours throughout the night. The Women's Market adjoined the watch-house, it was one storey, covered with a tiled roof, and open on three sides to wind and rain - it stood on 14 brick pillars. Here on market days sat the farmers' wives with butter, eggs and farm produce. The inspector trying the weight of the butter with his scales placed a constable at each end of the market, to prevent them running away if they had short weight. But they would slip through the back way to the Dolphin Inn. The butter sold by the quart (two and a half pounds weight), but in 1839 the council made them sell in pounds and ounces. The sheds or shambles around the market hall were small with a frontage of about 8 to 9 feet, 7 feet tall. and different trades - erected in 1829 to give more stalls to the market, the hall having been erected before that date. Each shed had a door and a wooden window flap on hinges, made to let down to form a stall

Coventry's Markets (Click to see this topic in full)
Around 1830 time Coventry was a city and a county, and the police force had to go to places like Ansty, Wyken and Whitley and such villages as there was no Warwickshire force. At that time there were day constables and night watchmen - there was a setter of the watch, and the watchmen met at the watch house and started their rounds at 10pm. On their beats watch-boxes were placed for them to rest in, constructed like sentry boxes but with doors to their openings. The old lock-up or watch-house in the Women's Market was taken down in 1865 to make way for the new market hall. On the one side it adjoined an old inn (Talbot) and its yard, which stood on the corner of West Orchard and Cross Chesping. The old night watchmen cried the hours and half-hours throughout the night. The Women's Market adjoined the watch-house, it was one storey, covered with a tiled roof, and open on three sides to wind and rain - it stood on 14 brick pillars. Here on market days sat the farmers' wives with butter, eggs and farm produce. The inspector trying the weight of the butter with his scales placed a constable at each end of the market, to prevent them running away if they had short weight. But they would slip through the back way to the Dolphin Inn. The butter sold by the quart (two and a half pounds weight), but in 1839 the council made them sell in pounds and ounces. The sheds or shambles around the market hall were small with a frontage of about 8 to 9 feet, 7 feet tall. and different trades - erected in 1829 to give more stalls to the market, the hall having been erected before that date. Each shed had a door and a wooden window flap on hinges, made to let down to form a stall

Dirty Stop Outs from the 1970s & 80s! (Click to see this topic in full)
Sorry for delay in saying a big thanks to you Dirty Stop Out Supporters! I'm nearing the end of writing the next one on the 1980s. There is still time for you to get any memories, plus pics, over to me about the nightlife, and daylife, of our fair city in the 80s. Tiffanys, Cov Apollo Theatre, Busters, Dog and Trumpet, Shambles Arcade, the market, Owens, General Wolfe, Warwick and Cov Uni Student Unions, Brandon speedway, the fair, the carnival - loads of places and things going on. Look forward to hearing! Have a lovely day, don't get wet Ruth

Shambles Arcade, Hales Street (Click to see this topic in full)
Morning! Does anyone know where this picture came from originally? I'm writing about the SHAMBLES which will be in my forthcoming book and always interested in pictures of places I write about but want to know who originally owned them. Look forward to hearing. Thanks!

Barnby's toyshop (Click to see this topic in full)
The shop which later became the Shambles was the one with the train in the window. If you dropped a penny in the slot in the door frame, the train did a couple of circuits.

Barnby's toyshop (Click to see this topic in full)
I have very fond memories of Barnby's, although I only remember the Smithford Way shop. There wasn't much to detain a young lad on the ground floor, and I do seem to recall there was also a basement sales floor for larger items. The real deal was on the first floor, a magical world for us. There were train sets, in which my friends and I only had a passing interest, and construction kits of all sorts. The advert posted by Heathite mentioned electrically operated boats. I'm sure there was a big water tank in the middle of the first floor at one time where such boats could be demonstrated. They also had a huge selection of boxed board games there. It was model cars for us, specifically Corgi which were far superior to the cruder Dinky cars. My best friend and I would get the bus into town with our pocket money, go straight to Barnby's and spend ages selecting our latest acquisition. I'm sure the very patient staff must have loved us asking to see several before deciding where to invest our five shillings! There were glass cases with the latest cars stood on their boxes, and the rest of stock piled on shelves behind the counter. There was also a display of larger remote control cars which would be for birthdays or Christmas, I had a Ford Consul, I recall. In the run-up to Christmas there were always wrapped parcels stored on high shelves for collection. Barnby's was not the only toy shop in the city centre, and someone has mentioned Harvey's which was at the top end of The Burges. But they were more into sports and camping gear although they did stock some toys. Another was the Model Shop in Hales Street, where Shambles Arcade was later located. They were another shop to have a working train set in the window which you could operate with a push button, free as I recall. They were always the best place to go for Scalextric and were the only ones who could get the set I wanted in about 1966. Certain shops specialised in specific items, for instance we all knew that the best selection of Subbuteo equipment was to be had at Aubrey Hill in the City Arcade.

Shambles Arcade, Hales Street (Click to see this topic in full)
If this was the stall just before the restaurant and opposite the comic stall then it closed before Shambles did.

Restaurants, Cafes, Coffee Bars (Click to see this topic in full)
No Swiss Alps remain - That one became Bourbons owned by a friend of a friend of mine before closing then being redeveloped as part of the Lower Precinct revamp. The other was in Hales Street by Shambles Arcade. Where was the other?

Part of Birmingham (Click to see this topic in full)
No. If you read it again you will see that I conclude that amalgamation would not work now. That ship sailed long ago. The WMCC worked incredibly well in those 12 years because of the way it was set up. Very local issues were dealt with by Coventry but the bigger, strategic issues were dealt with on a regional level. It was constructed quite logically so there was co-operation but no overlap. None of the districts ever lost their identity in those years because the district councils still functioned. However, come 1986 metropolitan councils were just smashed up and thrown back to the districts which became unitary, and all the expertise and specialist staff were spread between the 7 districts so it was like trying to complete a puzzle with only a few of the parts. It was political vandalism on a huge scale and resulted in a shambles that suited nobody. If it were to be attempted again the reason would not be to provide services in a better or more efficient way. It would be an attempt to save money, which means provide a poorer service. So there is no point, reorganising for the sake of it never works. Power blocks were never an issue because the councils did different things. People are becoming paranoid about the influence of the EU but it is classic misdirection. Far better to consider how many everyday services are now run by unaccountable quangos or private companies rather than councils. Nobody was ever consulted when that commenced, it was all done by stealth.

Drinkwater Arcade (Click to see this topic in full)
No Tony, "Shambles Arcade" was between Hales Street and Palmer Lane and has its own dedicated thread: Shambles Arcade

Drinkwater Arcade (Click to see this topic in full)
Apologies as I may be way out here.... but is this the "Shambles" arcade?