Spon Street

Be prepared Ang. You are in for one heck of a joyride on this Forum. Nice to meet you.

Does anyone have a map including this junction circa early 80's? My era but I can't clearly remember for some reason how this junction looked - possibly due to the fact that it was on the Pub run and on the way to Studio 21! As mentioned before that's the old section from Much Park Street on the end that had the LEA FRANCIS logo on it originally before it was moved -

No map, sorry. Queen Victoria Road ran straight into what is now a car park. It was diverted into the roundabout. That's the corner that used have the Plough on it before the war.

Yes thanks Helen - this one as well which is interesting as it shows that same corner but before the LEA FRANCIS section was moved there - so we should be able to date it approx. when I look it up -

Neil, the car is a "C" reg, so that's 1965

According to the Coventry Society the Spon Street Conservation Area was declared on the 8th of August 1969. I know the Hewitt's building on Much Park Street that became 163 Spon Street (Frank Harvey) was moved in 1970 and completed in '74 so guessing its sometime between there.

I would agree, late 1960's/early 1970's as Meadow House, in the distance was completed around that time. Furthermore, the section of the Ring Road cutting Spon Street in two hasn't started being erected as the photo shows buildings adjacent to the GEC in process of being demolished.

Here's a close-up from that negative showing what looks like work being done to finish that section of the ground-level RIng Road, with a partly demolished (or is it partly built?) structure just the other side of it. Does this help to date it? When I got these negatives from eBay a few years ago there were no dates given, unfortunately, but I've always labelled them loosely as "around" 1970 - give or take a year or three!

If I'm right Rob, the structure in the centre of picture is on what would be the other side of the Ring Road and become a Multi-Storey Car Park for local Residents with Garages for rent on the Ground Floor, (I had one for a while), I believe the whole structure was demolished in the 1980's or 90's and new dwellings built on the site.

This page might explain what the part built building was. There were to be two 4 storey flats next to Meadow House. Considering that and several other features of the original plan are now different suggests that they were never built or in the case of the 4 storey flat, subsequently demolished. It's not apparent as to why changes were made but there may be something in the news about it?

Great blow up Rob !! When I looked at Neil's picture, I wondered what the white van on the left was. Your picture clearly shows it as an Hillman Imp van, year 1965. I don't ever remember seeing them on the road?

I was thinking it looked like a carpark.

I was more interested in the Scooter Mick ! In reply to Helen's post and great attachment, (thanks Helen), the bottom nos. 5, (Multi-Storey Car Parks), never came to fruition, the first would have been adjacent to the Summerland Tavern and Windsor Street, and the second on what ended up as a grassy knoll. The only Public, (non resident), being Parking space directly under the flyover access from Croft Road, IIRC.

Correct. 1965. My first car was one of those, a white (or more accurately off-white/faded into yellow/rust) Vauxhall Viva. Reg FXE 610C (London/Luton). It had had 9 previous owners. In those days, Vauxhalls were rust buckets, and this one was no exception. After 70,000 miles, as I soon learned to my cost, the engine was clapped (bores and piston rings worn, thick white oil smoke pouring out the exhaust, and the big ends suddenly failed on the A45 half way to Brum. Car scrap.

This one © Coventry Digital - is a goodie for showing how Spon Street was split by the RR - It's great as you can still see The Woolpack standing defiant centre-left! It's also interesting to see that line of industrial buildings on the very right edge of the RR - they were leftovers from Crow Lane which is rarely captured by the camera. I would imagine they would have gone shortly after this pic -