Radford

For Philip scroll down a little to the disused mill on the Coventry Canal Basin. Britains 1st ever motor car factory 1896. Thought about your Canal Basin photos. This is on the link above under photos suburb Radford

Thank you Morgana for some great pics of Radford and some wonderful information about that part of area which i happen to have lived in for the past 30 years.

Hi Bernie, pleased you too enjoyed the photos, yes there is some good information on there about Radford, I probably know you by sight then if you've lived in Radford that long, you'll be classed as a Radford kid then hehe by the locals hehe, as once said to me when I moved to Coundon by a Radford chap living there, I'm ok he said as I'm a Radford kid I was born in Radford, Telfer Road, then mum & dad moved to Sadler Road, I myself have lived all over Keresley, also Keresley Village on Knowles Farm, one of our councillor's dad's farm which sadly is no longer there, they built houses on it Wood End, Radford, Coundon, Tile Hill Village, Longford, in the town itself, Foleshill, Cornwall, Exhall, Nuneaton too but my mum always remained in Radford.

I was born in Radford, 16 Whaleys Croft, off Beake Avenue, in my gran's back bedroom 64 years ago this week. Gran moved to Tulliver St some years later. The area has street names associated with George Eliot characters. Here's a question for local historians. Links Road, off Beake Avenue, suggests that there might have been a golf course in the area in the dim and distant past. Any suggestions?

I know there was a farm where the flats are on Sadler Road, Bruce Road, also Hill Farm School was a farm too, never heard of a golf course being on Links Road, prior to it being a road, but wouldn't surprise me, as Links Road was renamed wasn't it, it was Wallace Road but the private houses at the top by Dickens Road when they built the council houses complained that they couldn't be seen as of the likes of council dwellers, so hence the name Links Road was given, my aunt who is now in oz who is 83 recently informed me of this. My mum's last address was in Links Road, by the Davies family, Idy and John, most of the friends I used to play with were from there, so if you are from Whaleys Croft you will know the the Ridleys, also the Lallys, my aunt also use to live in Whaleys Croft, Audrey was her name. Here is a bit of history of St Francis Church which prior was a church before standing there on Links Road so not sure of what date there would have been a golf course there perhaps inbetween dates, interesting to know that the names of the streets were named after George Eliot. ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, Links Road, North Radford, was consecrated in 1959. (fn. 48) It was designed by N. F. Cachemaille-Day (fn. 49) and is built of yellow brick in a simple traditional style. The only external ornament, on the south wall of the bell turret, is a fibre-glass relief of St. Francis preaching to animals and birds. The accommodation consists of a clerestoried nave with passage aisles, a south porch, north and south transepts, and a chancel with a freestanding altar. To the east of the chancel is a Lady Chapel with a rectangular bell turret, containing one bell, against its south wall. The north transept houses the organ and in the south transept is a chapel dedicated to St. Francis. The church replaced an earlier church hall, a mission of St. Nicholas, Radford, which occupies the adjoining site. This was opened and a conventional district assigned to it in 1939, (fn. 50) but the building was twice rendered unusable by bomb damage, in 1940 and 1943. (fn. 51) A parish was formed in 1952 out of St. Luke and St. Nicholas. (fn. 52) The living, which was styled a vicarage from 1959, (fn. 53) is in the gift of the bishop. From: A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 8

Following Dougie's post for old photos, here's one of my daughter from 1970. Does anyone know where this paddling pool was?

Adrian, this is a guess but it looks like the park on the Radford Road as I remember it. I have just looked at a map and it shows what I said as a park is Radford Common.

Spot on mattash, I thought that would have been harder to find.

Hi Adrian, nice to know my memory is serving me well. That side of Radford was not in my playground area, however, the road at the back of the common is where I did my reversing for my driving test in 1965.

There certainly was no paddling pool on Radford Common when I was growing up in the 50s, grass and that was it.

I don't doubt you heritage, but I can assure you there certainly was a paddling pool in the mid to late 1960s. My wife used the paddling pool with our 2 children in 1969 and 1970. I don't know when the pool opened, or what year it closed.

Hi, I suggest a quick look on the Radford Kids forum Coventry Telegraph.net, as there is a reference to the paddling pool on the Radford Common.

I have no memory of a paddling pool on Radford Common in the 50s. The slide and swings were up in the top corner. There was the Beaker cafe on the corner of Beake Avenue and Radford Rd. where the Teddy Boys gathered. Nearby was (is) Villa Rd where I took my gran's bets to one of the cottages, the bookmaker had a large fruitbowl filled with coins, it seemed like Aladdin's cave to me. Because off course betting was illegal everyone used pseudonyms. My gran's was, ironically, "Lucky May".

The paddling pool was made sometime in the 60's and we used to go there, (except I was a bit old for paddling pools then) so I kept an eye on my sisters. In the 70's, I used to take my 2 eldest children, but after that it wasn't maintained very well so we didn't go any more. At first, there was a brick built cabin and someone was employed to sit in it and look after the pool, but that soon stopped (council cuts?) and it soon went downhill, with rubbish and broken glass in it. There was a sweet shop on Radford Road, facing Engleton Road where we bought our lollies if the icecream van hadn't arrived, usually parked in the road at the top of the common, possibly Holland Road.

At first I did not think it was Radford Common, I was looking at it from the Radford Road, looking up the bank but now I think it is looking from the top of Radford Common towards the Radford Road. The tree line looks the same, but the photo is not that easy to make out the buildings on the other side of the road? I was born at number 404 Radford Road, 1945. The paddling pool did not last very long as the IQ zeros at the time dumped broken bottles and all sorts in (all in the name of fun). Based on what I can see I think it is Radford Common. Not sure if you know this but the hump or small rise on the common contains air raid shelters, as a kid we used to play in them I remember them being water logged, can you imagine how much fun that was for a small kid. We were not happy when they were filled in (still intact, not smashed but all complete). Nice to see one opened up again. That's all for now hope I have not bored you all. Colin Walton. Ps I think the shelters were filled in as part of the health scare about polio, lot of it about at that time and it was thought to be caused by foul water.