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morgana
the secret garden
31 of 512  Sun 4th Dec 2011 8:00pm  

On 3rd Dec 2011 11:58pm, dutchman said:
On 3rd Dec 2011 11:27pm, morgana said: the old geyser in the bathroom
Was it one one of those big ones with an arm which swivelled between sink and bathtub and a flame which shot across the room when the water was turned on?
Yes Dutchman it was one with an arm with fire that shot across the room lol it was black with a window for the flame. But my aunty who now lives in OZ owned the wool shop in Spon Street
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
dutchman
Spon End
32 of 512  Sun 4th Dec 2011 8:50pm  

On 4th Dec 2011 8:00pm, morgana said: Yes Dutchman it was one with an arm with fire that shot across the room lol it was black with a window for the flame.
I could fill the board with stories about our's Lol
On 4th Dec 2011 8:00pm, morgana said: But my aunty who now lives in OZ owned the wool shop in Spon Street
Don't remember it I'm afraid. Two thirds of Spon Street had already disappeared by the time I moved here Sad
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
sally watson
coventry
33 of 512  Mon 5th Dec 2011 1:17am  

Did your aunty become Mayoress of Coventry? I remember going to the shop as a child, they also sold beautiful knitwear, I think I called her Mrs Allen, there was also a shop that sold cooked meats and they had the bacon slicer there, I used to buy sixpence worth of spam with my pocket money, I also remember my gran giving me farthings to spend in that shop, again I think it was called Bates, then again I was only a child (lol)
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
K
Somewhere
34 of 512  Mon 5th Dec 2011 11:52am  

On 4th Dec 2011 6:25pm, dutchman said: As mentioned in the other thread that was Edwards' shop until the 1970s and is now a hair and beauty salon:
They were in that shop until at least 1980, because I took a watch there in that year, and were still there, so far as I am aware, when I left Coventry in June 1982. (OMG, was it that long ago?? Oh my ) They were still supplying watch materials at that time, and had a separate shop and counter for them. They were the last Coventry supplier of such things. It would be very interesting to me to find out if they continued to do so after they moved, whenever that was, or what happened to that part of their business. Maybe the BHI would have info on it; I could e-mail them, I guess. But turning their old shop into a hair and beauty salon.....sad. Sad I find myself getting disorientated by so many changes having taken place in the years since I left Coventry.
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
dutchman
Spon End
35 of 512  Mon 5th Dec 2011 2:17pm  

I probably should have said they were based there up until at least the 1970s. Smile I don't know when they moved into the Tudor timber-framed building or indeed when the latter was reconstructed there after being demolished in another part of town. The Spon Street Townscape Sceme took place over a long period and I wasn't living here at the time. I think I've read a planning application from Alexander Edwards regarding the demolition of an air raid shelter behind the former Plough in 1983 which might be the date they moved? It coincides with the opening of a shop selling cheap costume jewellery close to their original premises. By the way, the building to the left of the salon in the picture is another reconstruction and the facade of the pub to the right of it has been altered beyond recogniton only recently despite being in a so-called 'conservation area'!
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
K
Somewhere
36 of 512  Mon 5th Dec 2011 3:29pm  

M'mm, 1983 sounds not at all impossible. I'm surprised they turned themselves into a cheapo jewellery shop; no-one in their right mind would expect to survive with that somewhere like Spon St,out of the mainstream. Ironically, if they had expanded their parts business, and gone over to mail order, they would probably have prospered, like others that have done so, elsewhere. Never a good idea to forget your roots, and why they were your roots! "Conservation area"...now where have I heard that phrase before? Isn't that a euphemism for 'urban decay'? Wink
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
dutchman
Spon End
37 of 512  Mon 5th Dec 2011 3:53pm  

On 5th Dec 2011 3:29pm, KeithLeslie said: M'mm, 1983 sounds not at all impossible.
It was even later than that it seems Keith. In 1985 plans to convert No9 into a restaurant were abandoned and towards the end of 1986 the Bridge Club behind No17 decided to expand into the retail area formerly occupied by Alexander Edwards. As usual the city planning records are about as clear as mud on the matter! I don't think the costume jewellery shop at No21 had anything to do with Edwards. It was broken into with monotonous regularity and was very soon converted into a cafebar.
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
K
Somewhere
38 of 512  Mon 5th Dec 2011 4:12pm  

Phew - glad to hear it! Smile So it sounds like 1986, then. I have somewhere a 1997 BHI Directory, it would be interesting to see if Edwards' were listed in it still.
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
K
Somewhere
39 of 512  Tue 6th Dec 2011 1:39pm  

Hi dutchman Wave I've found my BHI Directory. It's 1996/7. Alexander Edwards isn't listed, so they must have ceased supplying parts by then. (Unless, of course, they were not members of BHI, although that wouldn't necessarily matter, on the one hand, and is unlikely if they were still supplying parts, on the other.) So it looks like the business was at that time more or less defunct, certainly, so far as watch parts and repairs were concerned.
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
dutchman
Spon End
40 of 512  Tue 6th Dec 2011 4:38pm  

About the only part which needs replacing in modern watches Keith is the battery and they can be bought from a kiosk in the precinct for a fraction of the price that Edwards was charging. As a bit of an aside I was following a particularly attractive* blonde along Spon Street the other week and was surprised when she crossed the road just to look in the window of the shop which has replaced Edwards. Then again, maybe she was just trying to get away from me? Lol *Hope she's reading this and responds Big grin
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
K
Somewhere
41 of 512  Tue 6th Dec 2011 6:09pm  

Hate to disillusion you, but there are more mechanical watch movements being made now than in the late 1970s. Mostly fairly expensive ones; Rolex, Zenith, Omega, TAG Heuer, Breitling, Jaeger, Lange u Soehne, IWC, etc, etc. and of course millions of classics still in use. And an awful lot of collectors out there, for example collecting especially WWII military ones, a lot of which are now rather valuable! Smile And having said that, the better quality qtz ones can even be repaired!
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
dutchman
Spon End
42 of 512  Tue 6th Dec 2011 10:20pm  

Maybe so Keith but the people who own them are not the kind who shop in the centre of Coventry. They would probably travel to Leamington or Birmingham and spend a lot more for exactly the same service.
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
K
Somewhere
43 of 512  Wed 7th Dec 2011 1:22pm  

Mmm, I bet there isn't one high quality watch shop in Coventry now. Watches of Switzerland went years ago, did it not? And as you said, Flinn's. At one time there was James Reid, Walker's, and another whose name I've forgotten. If you look at this link, you'll see what I mean about how Edwards's abdicated from a valuable type of business; they wouldn't have needed the shopfront, just a small office type premises, and a bit of business initiative. But such has been the lack of forward thinking and nous of so many Coventry businesses over the years. After all, the demise of the watchmaking industry in Coventry was due to a general refusal to modernise and change their practices, wasn't it? And motor cycles. And cars. And machine tools. A great shame, but we can't change history.
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
Dreamtime
Perth Western Australia
44 of 512  Wed 7th Dec 2011 3:13pm  

H. Samuels comes to mind also Gilbert's
Streets and Roads - Spon Street
Dreamtime
Perth Western Australia
45 of 512  Wed 7th Dec 2011 4:00pm  

You think you have problems there in Coventry - my husband has just been informed if any major problem occurs with his Tissot watch here in Perth, it will have to go to Switzerland to be repaired and it will cost around one thousand dollars for starters. Oh my
Streets and Roads - Spon Street

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