Stoke

How sad this beautiful house in Stoke has bit the dust!

Prof. Exactly what a friend who lives close to me and went to school with me there said when I told him of its demolition. Almost vandalism I think.

Stoke. A collection of postcards and photos mainly around Binley Road and Stoke Green, Many old views that I had not seen before. Once more on YouTube Stoke

Argon, thanks so much for this super tour of my birth parish and that of my parents in Coventry. Most enjoyable. Two I think not seen before.

Argon Brill.' loved it. Thanks for the reminder.

Thanks for taking the time to put those pics up Argon, I've a few friends would love to see them too. Having been born in Wordsworth road I used to be taken to paddle in the pool on the Binley road. Simpler days, eh ;-)

He he.... the chap who put that video on YouTube used all the postcards that I'd put onto a Facebook group (Old photos of Coventry & Warwickshire), plus a couple that others had posted ! If anyone wants to see them on here, simply click the blue "Rob's pics" button on the left and type "Stoke" into the search box.

How can anyone possibly keep up with you Rob! You beat us to it every time with your store of information.

Well done Rob, your details under the photos are very useful at placing the views, thanks.

Just to the right of the bus stop. near telegraph pole, was the #9 terminus at Copsewood, during WW2. The bus drove into Bromleigh Drive and then reversed into Momus Boulevard, facing town. The bungalow had a direct hit and left a crater until rebuilt well after the war as there were no materials available. Edited by member, 24th Mar 2020 7:36 pm

Good thinking Kaga - that had not occured to me - I'll follow it up and see what I can find. I like to look at archives from the time when having a bit of a lead but unfortunately archive office closed until August so for the moment relying on what I can find online and verifying as and when possible (although nothing entirely certain after living memories of events die out!). I'm happy to repeat memories which were passed down from family and family friends of previous generations if I have no reason to doubt them - but with the proviso of reporting them as passed down generations. Your comments regarding the weighing machine have raised some doubts - I remember a weighing machine outside the Youell's (major builders in the area) premises opposite the Walsgrave pub when I was growing up in the area in the 60s/70s. In a forum on here there is a mention that Youells took over the site of the weighing machine but the building housing it was demolished. My understanding was that coal merchants would take coal weighed out on the site. There were also weighbridges at the canal basin used to calculate tolls - coal being one of the main cargoes going into there. As Craven Colliery closed in 1927 my assumption had been that Youell's found it useful to keep hold of the equipment for their own operations. The weighing machine that I remember is certainly in the same location as that building mentioned in the other forum. Maybe possible that this was installed by Youell and nothing to do with the previous building (which was also suggested as possibly previously used by funeral processions to nearby St Michael's Church)? Post copied from topic Greyhound track, Wyken on 29th Jun 2020 6:21 pm

Phil I'm glad you raised the weighing machine, it had a short spell on here but quickly lost interest. I think it has deep history, as a small kid I used to cross those fields to Ball Hill and the Forum. I don't remember Youells being there in those days, in fact few buildings. The little stone hut was thought to belong to the church, with a graveyard beyond, I think we were told it held the coffins before burial. There were certainly no signs of coal or materials about to be weighed, I'm talking 1933/4 time. It's a damn long while ago, and I left Coventry 60 years ago. In 1927 my father worked at the Craven when it closed, not once did I hear of a weighbridge that far away, so, did the bodies come from Stoke, or the very old church in Courthouse Green?

VE Day Wyver Crescent.

Wow, what a super photo! Apart from the modern cars nowadays, it's hardly changed at all.

There are now many more telephone lines from the poles. That will give the Amazon drone deliveries more of a challenge!