Gosford Street

Hi Helen and Neil! Thank you so much, that is really helpful. Will enjoy lurking around the rest of the forum - there is some great stuff! Thank for the link to the well too. (and the pub site - sorry I just noticed that too!)

There is an article in a 1939 newspaper about whether it should be demolished then under a Ministry of Health enquiry but there is no follow up. Another interesting article says that Blondin who crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope came to Coventry in the 1860's. He walked from the top of Sydenham Palace to the fields behind the one time Blue Pig Inn public house, the performance consisted of playing a violin, blindfold in a sack, pushing a wheelbarrow and carrying clients on his back!

Thank you everyone for this interesting thread. I have learned so much from this site, that I thought I ought to register! I was born in Coventry, but moved to Derby as an adult. Richard Fitzhugh (bricklayer) 35 Gosford Street, was my great-great-grandfather.

We'll forgive you, twd60 Welcome

Hi twd60, welcome to the forum. Every new contributer adds to the sum of knowledge. In my opinion number 35 was the left hand side of this building on the north side of the road. Two copies of 35 + 36

Gosford Street 1874

Helen - just realised this one Rob has in the Library collection, stated as Whitefriars Lane towards the junction of Gosford Street, is showing both the rear of The Mermaid Inn and the Baptist Chapel over the road. Looking at maps Whitefriars used to run in a U shape - would have needed to have done to have got that aspect.

Hi Neil. Whitefriars Lane was originally a backwards L starting under the gate at Much Park Street and then heading north to the the Black Lion/post office. Then Whitefriars Street was cut through the lane. This photo view wasn't possible before the war because there was a row of buildings on Whitefriars Lane and the Black Lion would have obscured Gosford Street. The photo you posted recently fits in very well and quashed any doubts that I had that the Mermaid might not be a timber building. It was a big beasty and was probably jettied over the pavement. By the time Gosford Street was photographed it looked a poor area but the size, durability and quality of the carvings on the buildings suggest that it was once high status.

Brill again Helen - do we have any images of the Black Lion?

We do. I've got photos of the demolition and it refers to it as the post office, which would explain why the Blue Pig inherited the job.

Your awesomeness is limitless Helen! Rob - one for the pub site as I don't think Fred has it captured there? I would've loved a pint in there. Actually looking at maps Whitefriars Ale House (which I drank in though that's now closed) was No.114 so was probably a similar as the same type of property. Now I'm off to find a period image which captures both.

Yes, I try to ping Rob with any pub pics I find not captured on the site but it's confirming who owns the pic to publish that's the problem. Was that photo of the Black Lion taken from Gosford Street? I can see the road-sign for Whitefriars Lane on the right - was that just for the entrance to it via that walk-through beamed passage?

That one is from the library pics Neil, but the Historic England site has several from that stretch. I can recommend looking at those two sources and Rob's cover to cover. You might be surprised at how many images there are. I'm almost due another walk through them. Each time I see something new because I know the broader picture better and I can see the hidden gems. The sketches are useful too, and books by Mary Dormer Harris fill in a lot of blanks. The image is from Gosford Street and yes, that was the entrance. The buildings are bigger than they look but nothing massive was using these entrances anyway. Plenty of room for a horse and cart. In trying to recreate the gatehouses, I realise that the openings were smaller than the stripped out gateways suggest. So when you see a photo of a small bus going through the Cook Street gate it was using headroom that wasn't there when the gate was in operation. Even most of the coaching inns weren't served by gateways as tall as you'd think. Those riding on top, including the coachman would have had to dismount and walk in. I've had to learn so much my head might drop off

Yes I need to go through them all again too - like you I thought I'd been through them all but like that one there's images and detail I've missed. So much goodness to see!