GEC Telecommunications, Spon Street

There was also another car-park on the slice of land beside Croft Road next to the GEC. Where the Skydome is now - you'll remember that one Rob!

Oh yes, I do remember it, Neil, although I don't think I ever parked there as I used to cycle to work 99% of the time. I did once or twice park nearby in that "bowl" of a carpark beneath the Ring Road, though - between the GEC and the Tam O'Shanter place. That's all gone now, of course - and quite recently too, as they've only just finished straightening the route between the Butts and Croft Road.

Yes we used Moat Street car park as it was known often as my lad Jonny had a few seasons playing Ice Hockey with Coventry Blaze - here you go mate - just as I remember it - just wish I had taken more notice of the buildings around it at the time (70s for me).

Hey, great picture, Neil, like it! The car-park looks bigger than I'd recalled, too. I do remember a tale of carnage from there, though.... one day back in the 80s, when I worked in that factory, someone came running in to tell us about what they'd just witnessed. An automatic car (I think they said it was a Rover SD1) somehow had its accelerator stuck down, and the lady driving it, instead of quickly switching the engine off, panicked instead, and tried to brake and steer it round. Apparently she wrote several other cars off in that car-park before it came to a halt !!

My Dad always had company cars and had a brand new SD1 that was two weeks old. We were driving towards the GEC going past the Tech College when there was a massive bang - the gearbox has literally separated from the engine bell-housing! 70s BL build quality at its best.

Would I be right in thinking this has been taken from Queen Victoria Road looking west? That 'tower' that was part of the GEC - poking over the top of the rest of the building (Any idea what was in there Rob?) was on the west side so this must be looking from the town centre outwards - Post copied from topic Queen Victoria Road (inc Drill Hall) on 6th Mar 2025 9:19 am

All I recall is that the main section of that strange tower was the inter-floor stairwell - but what was in the protruding top section, goodness knows! Post copied from topic Queen Victoria Road (inc Drill Hall) on 6th Mar 2025 9:18 am

I used to wonder if the bit sticking out of the top was a wartime fire watching position?

Could it be a lift shaft ? GEC did own a lift company .

Never got up that far myself, but my guess is a water tank for fire fighting purposes. Many such tanks were built following the blitz, GEC Telecom's main site at Stoke had a large freestanding one.

From memory, the lifts were marked as being the Express Lift Co. Ltd., although as with many companies, they might have been owned by the GEC ! Having said that, those lifts might have been there since it was the Rudge, so pre-GEC. There was no lift in that location on this side, though - the two main passenger lifts were centrally located. The top of one lift was definitely the protrusion about half way along, sticking out of what looks like a huge shed on the roof - but was, in fact, our canteen. The other lift, from memory, can probably be seen as the other smaller protrusion near to the left-hand end of the "shed". There was also a small goods lift on the far side of the building, so not visible in the photo. Whether or not it was added retrospectively to the factory for fire-watching, I have no idea - I wonder if Britain from Above can help with that? If any other ex-employees can remember other details, I'd love to hear from them.

Quick follow-up.... in this 1920 aerial view, far right-hand-side, the tower above the stairwell is already there, so not a wartime thing - unless they did fire-watching in WWI ?