Coventry Cinemas

Ah! the Regal my Saturday morning 6 penny rush ! watching many Westerns there, usually punctuated by the odd cap gun retort from the enthusiastic would be 'Goodies'. I seem to remember a very nice cake shop a couple of doors down.

Now - I wonder what made you remember that ??

We used to pass the remains of this cinema when walking across the bomb sites from Foleshill to visit my baby brother's grave in St. Paul's cemetery. I later played most of my early tennis on the courts in the large park almost opposite.

If I'm seeing this right, the white building in the distance on the right was a dance school - - Jones ? where I first learnt to Jive !!

Pre war l used to go to the Brookville but more often to the Rialto in Radford. My minds eye seems to remember it being a white building in my day. The reference to it being bombed may be the reason most pictures seem to show it as red brick today. I'm wondering if it was bombed as a Cinema at the time the Dunlop Factory was raided in broad daylight around 12.30 school lunchtime, which l personally partially witnessed from Sadler Rd. Does anyone know if it was daylight or nighttime bombed, is my question?

Keith Jones comes to my mind - in the 50's.

It was Keith Jones' Dance studio which he ran with Hazel Hathaway. My teacher was June Bunyan, I laboured on tap, ballet and acrobatics there for about two years when I was in my mid single digits and hated it. We did some shows at the Coventry Theatre, which was fun but my mum thought it would be nice for me so I went there every Saturday on my own. Actually, not every Saturday - sometimes I just kept walking up Hill St. until I got to Gosford Green - passing a great shop that sold lucky dip bags for thruppence. I then walked down Ball Hill and got the bus home. Eventually some people put 2&2 together and the game was up. I also once joined the end of the Coventry Carnival parade - much to my parents' amazement who were in the crowd outside the Opera House. I was dressed as an Italian peasant for the dance lesson I wasn't attending. The school moved to Ball Hill over the Moo Cow milk bar. Our doctor's office was in the same building as the dance school near the Swanswell.

Does anyone know if the commercial building Global House High Street Keresley started life as a cinema? I'm sure I was told some years ago it was but I've had a few glasses of sherbert since so I could be wrong.

I know I'm responding to myself but there was a pub across on the right from the cinema - can't remember the name but I believe that during the early/mid sixties the landlord's name was Laxton.

lindatee2002 - would the pub across from the Alexandra Cinema have been the Elastic Inn on the corner of Lower Ford Street? If so, the building is still there but closed as a pub in 2012 (according to Coventry Pub History, courtesy of this forum).

Thank you, Not Local, for the info. I always thought that was a very weird name for a pub. Anyone got any ideas?

Cash's of Coventry did labels and ribbons. I wonder if they also did Elastic tape somewhere close by. Complete speculation on my part as I'm just stretching the truth a bit with this idea!

According to the pub site "In 1857 one of Coventry's first factories was built to manufacture a new product for the weaving industry - elastic. An elegant and imposing factory was built where the bus garage stands now. All that remains now is the pub used by the elastic workers." So you're spot on Neil It's amazing that a name like that dates back to 1874, and informally, probably longer than that.

Thank you for your fast answers. Another new piece of information especially the part that elastic was available in 1874. Much easier than all of those ribbons and draw - and drawer - strings.