Hundreds of alcohol bottles found under Coventry shop after 70 years

[dutchman]

They were found by workmen carrying out repairs to floorboards



Builders made a surprise discovery during repairs at a shop in the centre of Coventry. Upon taking out rotten floorboards at the shop in Hales Street, they uncovered hundreds of dust-covered alcohol bottles which appear to have been hidden away since the 1950s.

Electrician Marc Gosling was called by colleagues who had been working at the site with news of their shock discovery. Mr Gosling said: "It was inside a shop in town, who I don't think want to be named, and their floorboards were rotten so we were called out.

"We took out the boards. We looked through the hole and saw there were 200 bottles down there.

"I looked at the labels on them and the most recent one is from 1951 and the earliest one is from the 1920s. It looks like nobody's been down there since the 1950s.

"I went down there and it was totally sealed off. I took one of them home with me as I heard that they would be okay to drink but when I opened the bottle it just smelled like water. It looks like they were display bottles for an off-licence."

Despite the discovery, it may be some time until they are seen again. Mr Gosling said: "The owners of the shop weren't that bothered so we just sealed it back up so they're still down there. It's definitely something you don't expect to see every day!"

Judging on how long it had been since it was last discovered, it could well be another 70 years until they are rediscovered.

[dutchman]

H.D. Moore wine merchants were based at Nos. 1a and 3 seventy years ago (close to the corner with The Burges).

It's dead-centre in this aerial view from 1949, below the clock: