Friendly chat

Hi all on a very wet bank holiday, Have you all remembered to return the umbrella that the bank lent to you? Now then, now then. Forum discussions in the past have included reference to "Jeffrey Woods Cross". Can someone please explain all about who Jeffrey Woods was. Any relation to Frederic Bird?

And who made him cross ?

Hi Anne, Do you know? I know there was a Coventry pharmacist called Frederick Bird, but neither the council of the school staff could tell me anything about or who their school is named after. Both names associated with that area of our city. A trip out for a brunch in a bit might help my thought process.

I hope the brunch was good for the thought processes. 110 years ago the school was founded by city chemist Frederick Bird who chaired the city's education committee and visited the school regularly. Geoffrey Wood's Cross was there on the 1850 map so is much older. I don't know who he was but maybe he was cross because nobody remembers who he was? I can't find a saint or martyr with a suitable name.

A query. Two arterial roads in Coventry, were built with dual carriageway sections. One going out to Tamworth & one to Leicester. Why?

Philip, I am guessing that the dual carriageways out towards Tamworth and Leicester were built at a time when planners recognised the need for improved routes in and out of the city. Other main roads such as Foleshill Rd, Binley Rd, London Rd, and Kenilworth Rd were probably too well established by this time so any improvements had to be done within existing street widths. Those road planners back in the 1930's would have had no concept of future councils and governments having the power to buy properties, knock them down, and build motorways and ring roads.

It's been suggested to me that during the planning stage, tram route extensions might have been in the thinking. Any thoughts on that?

I looked at the 1937 map of the Ansty Road. It's possible that they were making provision for trams but the trams were almost at their end by the time they were building the houses that defined the boundaries. Trams didn't need that much space anyway. The grass central reservation looked more like ornamentation than anything. It seems like the road was designed for lots of cars. The nearby Sewell Highway had roundabouts even then. The same stretch of road in 1926 was wide enough for the type of road that already had a single track tramway until it got to Walsgrave on Sowe.

Hi Helen, Why I'm enthusiastic regards the tram notion is because whilst Coventry tram routes were being curtailed, Sheffield tram routes were enjoying a renaissance. Sheffield is of interest because our council had engaged in dialogue with Sheffield transport people, who at the time were running a most noteworthy transport undertaking, at the time being managed by the Fearnley family. CCC, then did no more than to invite Ronald A Fearnley, to come & manage our transport undertaking. He did that right up to his full retirement in 1966. Any thoughts on that?

Hi Philip. Trams have an appeal that comes and goes. They need overhead power supplies, which are both dangerous and vulnerable. They have to follow a set route, so if a road is closed, they can't reroute. One of the reasons they were removed from Coventry was that the tracks were a problem for cyclists. The modern trams that I've been on, often have their own route, like small trains that only cross ordinary traffic at specific locations. I can see that different cities might suit trams better than others. The dream of battery powered vehicles has been ongoing for over a century, which would have done away with the overhead cabling but battery life has always been the confounding factor. The other major factor is convenience. People like cars. People like to be able to physically and temporally set the start and end of their journey. Policy has always been a tug of war between what the public want and what society deems good for us. Lots of people on public transport means that the system is more sustainable, and we now have issues of pollution and climate change that electrically powered trams/busses might help, but people still like cars, for lots of good reasons. The bus was the more flexible version of the tram but even they struggle to supply a balance between convenience and affordability. Policy now seems geared towards driving people out of cars but some political party will eventually push back against this. Whether electric cars are the answer remains to be seen. The same goes for automated driving, which might liberate those who for whatever reason can't drive.

Gosh, another half year gone. I joined our forum in April 2010. Joined as a result of a location query. I couldn't believe the speed of response from some chap called Rob!

Hi all, I was listening to Five Live this morning, to the presenters total displeasure to his Burger King Burger experience recently. I can't remember my last Burger King, but I tell you what I do enjoy. Greggs Bacon butty, or sausage, with an omelette, plus a drink for £3. I'm calling for one this morning. Have a good day, all.

Anyway, An item in the general news regards the poor millionaire who might start charging for use of his social media site, I'm reminded of how grateful I must be for the one who maintains & funds our superior media site here. I can only say "THANK YOU".

Seconded! I've already stated that my favourite price for things is 'free' but for Rob I'd make an exception.

Just thinking chat. One of the reasons that I welcomed being asked to join our forum here, way back in 2010, was for the benefit of my own sanity. I am often an over thinker. A hangover from accountancy probably, but never mind. Any subject that I become passionate about, I could easily become locked into. "Oh it's him again" type of thing. With me, it could be railways, food, my faith & so on. Being part of our forum, ensures that I don't get locked inside of myself, no matter what strongly motivated ideas I might have regards any subject. I usually know where I'm out of my depth. I know & recognise the skill value of individual members who contribute, who I simply could not & cannot compete with, not that we are in competition. It's not just posting content. Sometimes it's the sentiment of loyalty. I wasn't going to mention folk, but an exception this year has to be the contribution of our friends from down under, who went out of their way to make their visit & presence known. They enjoy & value belonging. Just as I do. The forum helps me maintain a balance regards my faith in God. The forum forces me to scrutinise any whim, notion or idea that I might have. It behaves like a check rail. Whether each of us has a faith or not, our forum is almost a point of security & wellbeing. In all my lifetime, I've never witnessed such global catastrophes like I'm seeing now. So called acts of God! (By what I believe, they are acts of God. Maybe discuss that another time). World communications are often sited as why we are seeing more of these awful events, hardly a corner of the world not affected, but that I believe is now very thin reasoning. Our forum is Coventry centred so what's world events got to do with our forum. Am I out of order! Which one of us in Coventry, hasn't been affected by the world pestilence, the price you pay for your cheese from Sainsbury's, or Aldi, the number of folk being forced out of their newly bought or rented home. Rents up by over 12%. It's not just mortgage payers that are struggling. Gloom, gloom & gloom, but yet, I remain optimistic & very sure about my future, dead or alive. I love reading the posts from our core of historical Coventry researches, fascinating, yet the current world events that are impacting on each of our lives today, possibly helps us to see the reality of what our Coventry forefathers were experiencing years ago. The civil war, mini ice age, cotton mills, deep mining, engineering plus the new revolution of battery powered chariots. My porridge with full cream milk was just like it was seventy years ago, but I didn't know the delight then of lemon & ginger tea. Love to you all. Forum, carry on, please.