Coventry Hotels

Did Hylands become the Hylands Hotel in the early 1970s. It rings a bell with me as I collected football pools coupons in the area - sometime between 1972 and 1974.

Well before then! It's certainly listed as Hylands Hotel in the 1936 Telephone Directory

I remember taking a young lady to the Hylands on a first date about 1975. It was an excellent carvery in those days which suited my then gluttonous appetite. It is now a bottom-of-the-range hotel, more of a dubious doss-house if you read its Trip Advisor reviews. They are worth it for a laugh and will leave you wondering (a) how such a place is allowed to remain open, and (b) can there actually be a worse hotel anywhere in Britain.

Fred Kilpatrick retired to Guernsey not Jersey. We used to live a few doors away from Fred in Keresley and looked him up when we were in Guernsey, we had a very pleasant day with him and his wife on his boat, we took them to The Old Goverment House Hotel for dinner the next evening We opened a shop in Far Gosford Street in 1963 and was told that Fred was the previous tenant selling fruit and veg. Tom Bromwich from the cycle shop opposite told me this, Tom was a lovely guy. Other members have mentioned he had a batch bar in Spon End, I cannot remember this but know he had a cafe in Ford Street about 1964, it backed on to the old Pool Meadow site so would have catered for the bus drivers. from what I remember he gave good value for money at the cafe as he did at the Royal Court. Fred then moved to the Berkeley Hotel in Holyhead Road and then to The Royal Court which he bought the whole site (except the cottages by the entrance) for about £24,000, it was an auction so everybody had the same chance to buy it. He then bought the Allesley Hotel and pub near Marton, as someone mentioned a hotel in Jersey. I believe my neighbour in Keresley, Ken Forth, bought one of the cottages, Ken had an engineering factory in Holbrooks and I believe he was a partner in Modern Machine Tools in Gosford Street with Harry Weston. Dutchman I am sure you will remember Modern Machine Tools. Back to the Royal Court which I think was built by William Hillman who died in 1921, Sir John Black who married Hillman's daughter also lived there I believe. The Quadrant Club bought number 7 the Quadrant from Hillman in 1917 for £2500.00 and believe Hillman lived there before the Royal Court. Alan H

Quite a rare colourised inside shot of the Leofric - was that the Black Eagle bar? The mural was by an artist called Guy Egan apparently. Edited by member, 10th Jul 2019 11:22 am

That must have been the 'Cocktail Bar' at the rear of the main reception before turning left into the Leofric Bar/Lounge

Wearethemods. Yes, the ground floor bar, to the left as you entered, had cubicles down the right-hand side.

I used to go with school friends to the White Lion jazz club at the Leofric in the mid 60's. It was fantastic. We saw acts like Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart who eventually joined together to be The Steampacket. They introduced us to American blues and soul music. We were way too young to be there but a friend’s father worked there and was able to get us in.