Hillfields

What a lovely detailed description of the flats Primrose. I never liked the look of them, they just didn't fit into the surrounding area with their yellow bricks. I remember the stairs up to them but I don't recall seeing the back gardens. One of our neighbours moved into a flat at the King Edward Road end, mum used to visit her but I never did. I smiled when I read about playing two-ball and doing handstands against the wall. There was a house opposite ours that stood on its own and me and Mayjan used to play ball against it and do handstands. They used to tell us to clear off; but we couldn't understand why they complained, we thought they were just being mean. When I think about it now, it must have been awful listening to the thud, thud of the balls.

I teach adults in the area and I can confirm there are still some lovely people there!

I will ask my mum what she remembers as she would have been living in Coronation Road at the time they were built. Of the families there that I remember, none were connected to the police, and I'm sure I would never have dared walk on their wall etc. if I thought a policeman lived there. That's not to say that there might not have been some police among the families I didn't know. There were firemen's houses in Freehold Street that were also much newer than the surrounding homes.

I never knew they were police houses, I always thought they were council. Perhaps they were not used for long by policemen; I know one of our neighbours moved into one of the flats, but I can't remember exactly when. I recall small blocks of flats being built for policemen around the city. There was a block at the bottom of Burnaby Road (Holbrook Lane end) and a friend of my sister lived in an ex police flat in Tile Hill.

Does anyone recall The Ring of Bells murder? The licencee was Ann Davies, she was murdered during the early 50s, the culprit was never caught. It was believed at the time that Ann was murdered by a serviceman on leave. She was a pleasant woman who made everyone welcome. Shame the same couldn't be said about her husband, he was a councillor whose name I believe was Lee. The pub used to stand somewhere to the right of Berry St but all that area was demolished to make room for those lovely flats Les

Yes Les, there's a thread on the subject here 51 Yardley Street, the pub managed to survive for a few years after the tower blocks were built

Hi Tricia, No problem putting names to the shopkeepers. It's amazing that one can recall unimportant things from 50 odd years ago, but can I ever remember where I put my car keys? Mick Mcullough lived in the end flat(see photo provided I think by Philip)on the top floor. (The one nearest the camera in photo.) Incidentally I saw Mick only last week in Tesco's where I work part time on the trolleys. I also bumped into Barry Alldrick on Sunday, who still has a Hairdressers shop in King Edward Rd. Hadn't seen him for years.He told me his mum is now 90yrs old. I remember her so well as a kid & Joe Alldrick his Dad. Yes King Edward road was once a great place to grow up in. The loveliest people in The World lived there. /Bye the way, Tricia, (If you live in Bedworth.) Have a word with whoever designed the kids playground in The Miners Park in Bedworth. I bruised a few ribs in there on Sunday. I slipped on one of the slopes in the playground trying to get my grandaughter on the slide. I came down like a "ton of bricks" I can tell you. They've made it worse instead of better as a playground. It was lovely before.(That's my opinion anyway.)

Dutchmans quite correect. The end houses by Coronation Road were definately known as "Policemans houses." But I am unsure whether any policemen lived there. I know there was an old man, who was a Councillor, lived in a flat on the bottom row of flats, directly under Mick Mculloughs one. Cause we used to hang by our hands from the railings & drop down to the ground, which sometimes annoyed him. I used to thnk they were quite nice inside, compared to our old houses. They had the luxury of a bathroom, which we didn't. I used to watch Wagon Train on Micks family T.V. sometimes.In black & White of course.(My apolgies to Dutchman. I said earlier that Philip provided the photo's of the flats. But it was Dutchman.) Nice one buddy.

With reference to what "Primrose USA" said about playing ball against the end wall in Alfred road/Coronation Rd. It reminded me of when my mates & I used to constantly kick a football against the walls of the end houses at the bottom of Leopold Road.There was an old lady in one of the houses who often used to come out & tell us to "clear off to a park." We also rode trolleys down the hill too, but had to make sure we braked at the bottom, or we'd run the risk of getting hit by one of the few cars driving down King Edward Road.I also recall being dressed up as a "Guy", by my so-called mates,so they could collect pennies off passers by near bonfire night. I must have been a prat to let them do it. One man kicked me while I (the guy) was slouching,unmoving on the pavement."That's not a real guy" he said, & proved it with a kick in my shins. By the way Primrose, it's lovely to know some Coventry kids are in the U.S.A.like yourself. I love your great Country, & one day before I'm too old will take a trip there. I want to see places like The Alamo, & Niagra falls, etc.

But no separate bedroom in the ground floor flats, an omission which also applied to the later 10-storey tower blocks!

Pickens...... Yes remember them well. I think Cov used to be THE best pork batch city in the world. When we moved here I asked on a couple of occasions for a " batch" did not know what I was on about. "Oh" you mean a roll.......... Bloody Londoners. LOL.

I remember the long and tempting slope of Leopold Road. In my memory, the side of the street that had the lockup garages on was the sunny side while the sun never seemed to shine on the other side. It was a very straight street whereas Alfred and Augustus Roads each had a distinct angle in them. We used to come home from Freddies via an entry on Harnall Lane, cross some waste land on Leopold Rd, probably a bomb site, cross Leopold Road and cut through more entries to come out on Alfred Road directly opposite Coronation Road. Describing this just brought back a memory of a house on Nicholls Street (which the previously described route avoided) that had a name - "Y Wurry". It always intrigued me.

Hi Primrose, I too used that same route sometimes. On Google the entry is still there and the "bomb site" from the look of it. I remember watching an Eclipse of the Sun standing on the waste ground, i am sure it was a dinner time. Never thought about that until i read your memories. Thank you Update. Just found out on line, The partial eclipse i seen was on the 2nd Oct 1959.

I lived on Bradford Street, and have fond memories of Hillfields. Remember Dedi's ice-cream palour.

Hello Rosie and welcome to the forum - you'll find (most of) us a friendly crowd! I think you refer to D-Di, and if you check through the "Famous Coventrians" list you'll find an entry for him and a link to some information about his arrival in the district Cheers