Coventry History...

[dutchman]

Very interesting Blitzkid

There are few clear pictures of that side of Broadgate but here's one from 1936 with Flinn & Co. on the extreme left hand side:

[Blitzkid]

One of the strangest sights in Broadgate, Coventry. on the area as cleared after the November 1940 BLITZ was two large Smoke-blackened Safes. Amid the ruble they were testimony to what had happened to the prosperous heart of Cioventry. so wrote the reporter of The Midland Daily Telegraph.
The Heat of the fire had so distorted the locks that the safes had to be cut open on the spot some days later. ( Blitz- kid was witness to this ) Inside these safes were the charred remain of watches, Jewellery, gold, and diamonds, Paper money, and documents had been reduced to ashes this had been the double=fronted shop Jewellers. Flinn co 14-15 Broadgate.

The heat of the city broke every window in the Council House,reduced thousands of books and documents to ash only the severe cold of the night saved the life of firemen. and to the south and west of this building there were no incendiares, no fires, no soot blackened walls.

The Germans knew from history how to bring down great stone buildings Like the Cathedral (Fire )

[Blitzkid]

Thank you for the picture, sure reminds me of happier times.

Now there were scores of businesses put out of action with Blitz, and Owen Owen's was a smoke filled empty shell, but they did not fit the story the reporter was trying to tell.

His second story was about the BFP (British Fascist Party) fighting the racecourse gangs in London, 1939 taken from a daily paper. Once again it would have been easier to show the marching and fighting of BFP in Coventry, but the BFP cleared and burnt all their stuff in Coventry before they were arrested for the duration.

So what is the connection between the two? I asked him and he pushed me away, and wagged his finger at me.I think he was a religious man.

Could he have taken documents and hidden them in the Cathedral thinking them safe? The great oaken chest in the cathedral, first to be set on fire, first to receive incendiary bombs. Reporters were threatened, their wives abused, if they wrote about the BFP.

What is the truth about Coventry, any other day than Thursday the shops would have been open till 8 pm, hundreds more would have been killed or burnt. By 7.40 pm the phones went dead the trams stopped, there would have been no escape.

Recent weeks have shown the Peaky Blinders and just what gang warfare was like. In the 1950's it all started up again on the race course's. I knew most of them, rubbed shoulders with them. Asked to join them I flatly refused. The great train robbery was planned in the fifties by ex-military, but was abandoned when not enough people could be found.

[Blitzkid]

It amazes me that Coventry's greatest story maybe that no one wants to check it out.

In 1934 the M.D telegraph posted an advert saying that the White Lion of 50-51 Smithford street was now opened for business with restaurant and function room, the B.F.P made the function room their meeting point. Since then Nothing, no photo, no story, until about two-years ago the adverts of this famous pub accidentally came to light, still "No Real Story", no photographs.

I believe in 1940 the reporter in the Telegraph afraid or not allowed, tried to tell us, but no one is interested. If any one can throw light on it right or wrong I would like to know? I watched this beautiful old Hotel being built, and in 1942 it had a Gallery on it's shaky second floor, pictures of its future. By 1944 it knew it was not going to replaced so all the fire artifacts, tongs, poker's, bellows, from the 17th century were thrown away with rubble that surrounded it.

In early 1950, it opened a ground floor shaky bar, with back-door entrance, (the front door still had wartime railings round) and a settee with its back to the front door. 1955 and this old pub was demolished for the new Precinct.

[Blitzkid]

So where do you think these water carts where kept when not in use?



They were where the Telegraph offices are now, at the basin. The water came from the country in the narrow boats. In 1934/5 the wells ran dry, yes ours did. It wasn’t till 1936 we had running water in our street.