Albany Road / Butts

Thanks MR, It's all come back to me now, No.15! One of the 5 children was my grandmother, also called Amelia and she married Frederick Lewis. They both resided at 11 Kirby Road all their lives and bought the house from new I believe. I always thought they moved in before WW1, but obviously this may not be the case. Also thanks to Heathite for providing the info. from Spennells Directory for 1921. I notice that Fred's name is listed but not Amelia's, yet my mother was born in the house in 1919.

Thanks to John Gregory from the True FB page, I think this is the first ground level pre Ring Road image I have seen of York Street, junction with Moat Street -

Here's an unusual view of Butts / York Street area before the Ramada Tower went up. Thanks to my friend Cliff Berwick.

I think we have referenced it before but for those not local - they have finally started to build what appear to be houses on the 'gap' that seems like its been there forever between properties on Albany Road - just opposite the junction with Broadway. It’s always only ever been a grassed gap to me with advertising hoardings. My mum was brought up just behind in Newcombe Road and she says its been like that ever since she was born which was 1942. I always thought it might have been a space caused by bomb damage but looking at old maps it appears that it’s always been like that for some reason. I drive past most days and could not see any evidence of rubble being dug out of any old foundations that may have been there before. Anyone know why it was like left like that when there was a row of terracing beside it? It’s this spot. Edited by member, 6th Nov 2020 9:29 am

I think photo 153 shows the remains of Roach’s Scrapyard, which was opposite the Tech. It had an entrance onto the Butts at one time but in the photo it's moved down the side. The 60's flats don't seem to have fared well either.

Neil, looking at the maps and stepping back, I think the land may possibly have originally been shared. They liked to give people a bit of land with every house but on both sides of the plot between the two roads the angles mean that several houses were short changed, so to the north it looks like shed/garages and to the south a garden, possibly belonging to what is now the funeral directors. I note that the houses on the two sides of the garden plot are different. Maybe the first builder to the right just failed to build on the land? Maybe it's where the stonemason used to work on the gravestones?

As I got bigger, I wanted a bigger bike, so my mate who was into bikes sold me one. Admittedly it needed a bit of work, but when my dad saw it he said "where did you get that, Roach's yard?" It was his sarcastic way of saying it was tat. He often used that expression if he disproved of something. Of course, at first I didn't know what he meant, so he had to explain. Now I know where it was. I think that was classed as Earlsdon in the olden days. From what he told me, I gather Roach's was well known as the scrapyard, even when he was lad.

In 1906 J G Gray was the owner developer who in Coventry Collections is listed as applying for planning for 3 houses at 116-120 Albany Road (the 2 buildings occupied by Grimmet and Timms and the house, now a shop, next door). In 1924 E J Sutton was the owner developer for 128-146 Albany Road and was applying for planning for 10 houses. There is no mention of 122-126. Current planning on the Coventry site shows a planning application for 3 shop units, 122-126. It does say the space was either left as a quiet area which would explain the steps leading up to it or it does say bomb damage but on the 1939 Register there are no houses with those numbers listed, so that does not seen likely. We have two gaps in the house numbers in the road that we live on. Most of the houses were built as council houses after the war and issued in blocks to various builders. Maybe this happened in Albany Road.