At our January meeting the Society was presented with a Civic Day Award for its imaginative project held at the Charterhouse. We focussed on the importance of the city’s main watercourse—the Sherbourne and it’s potential for improving the environment. As well as practical work clearing an area, we put on a slide show to capacity audiences and displayed a new set of wallboards that traces the course of the Sherbourne and its tributaries.
February 2015
A blasé attitude to our city With the General Election just a few weeks away one of the burning issues will be whether current proposals for High Speed Rail are acceptable to Coventry. Last year the Secretary of State for Transport invoked emergency powers to ban publication of a damning Whitehall report into HS2 that labelled the scheme red /amber. So what are the true economic benefits? Who are the likely winners The Lord Monks or losers? Lord Monks in front of a recent House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee spelt it out. He said: “...we are fairly clear who the likely winners [will be] out of this, including London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. What about the losers? What about the ones who do not have easy access to HS2? What about their position and their rail services? We note that the strategic case said that all towns and cities that currently have a direct service will retain broadly comparable or better services once it is completed…....” Government estimates include £8.3 billion in savings that would mean Coventry losing many of its fast services. In his reply Transport Secretary the Rt. Hon.Patrick McLoughlin said: “Coventry is 11 miles from Birmingham International, so it is very close. There will be connectivity into Birmingham International as far as Coventry is concerned and, indeed, the whole West Midlands conurbation.” These are weasel words from someone who should know better. They need to be challenged. Would anyone in their right mind and travelling to London consider taking a train 11 miles in the opposite direction first, then Patrick McCloughlin MP make a transfer to a remote Midlands
Interchange where a connection is finally available to HS2? In his words to the committee McLoughlin claims to have knowledge of the area having grown up just north of Birmingham. But he clearly wants to evade the exact question. McLoughlin cites the proximity of Birmingham Interchange to Coventry as some sort of compensation. Neither does he say anything about the predicted service reductions on the West Coast Main Line route (Virgin Trains have said that 40% of its current revenue from this line would go to HS2, and question whether the rest would be profitable). It’s obvious that, as some cities, towns and regions reap the benefits of being better connected, other places away from HS2 will pay a price. That’s precisely Coventry’s situation. McLoughlin’s blasé attitude to Coventry is reprehensible. High Speed is clearly an election issue and we need to ask local candidates how they stand on this hugely important matter. With the economic future of Coventry at stake many electors, whichever their political leanings, will surely choose to vote with their feet. We don’t know what McLoughlin knows about an alternative High Speed Rail but he’s clearly in the grip of his officials, so there seems little chance of budging his opinion. ►The project has reached a crucial stage and Society members can help by asking their respective Member of Parliament for their stance on HS2. Fortunately, there is a solution that will please everyone. It's an alternative new railway northwards from London using the existing West Coast Mainline through Coventry (widened to four tracks as proposed by Centro regardless of HS2). It would run alongside the M1 where the noise is already accepted, and east of the Pennines to serve no less than 10 times as many places as HS2 for less cost. The alternative plan is known as HighSpeedUK and is the work of two experienced railway engineers. You can see details at HighSpeedUK.com
Next monthly meeting: An illustrated talk by interior and architectural designer Adrian Baynes who was responsible for Browns Café & Bar Monday, February 9 at 7.30pm The Shop Front Theatre, City Arcade Visitors welcome at £2 Refreshments
More news and views on our website: www.coventrysociety.org.uk
A new building with some 300 student bedrooms, retail space and restaurants looks set to be built at the entrance to Far Gosford Street, by Complex Development Projects working in partnership with Coventry City Council. Ian Harrabin, managing director of CDP said: “The development will fill in the huge gap left by the construction of Sky Blue Way and reconnects the street with the university and city centre. We had originally hoped to secure a hotel, but hadn’t managed to attract any interest.” The new scheme comprises four joined buildings making the transition between the large buildings of the university and the small scale of the historic street.
Last year our parent organisation “Civic Voice” started a project to record all of the First World War Memorials in the country. In Coventry we decided to collaborate with the Herbert Gallery to create a webpage about them. What appeared to be a small project, with only about four memorials, quickly turned into a bigger project and to date we have identified over sixty memorials in the city. If you have internet access you can see the results of our work on our website at: www.coventrysociety.org.uk/heritage-andhistory/coventry-war-memorials.html We are sure there are more memorials out there that have not yet been recorded, so if you know of a memorial that we have missed please let us know. We would also welcome your ideas about some of Coventry’s ” lost” memorials, e.g. the Coventry Post Office memorial, Iliffe and Sons Ltd memorial, All Saints Church Gosford Street memorial, Boys Brigade and Cadets memorial, Coventry Working Men’s Club memorial and the Coventry Tramway memorial. If you know the current
At January’s meeting a great deal of interest was shown in a draft plan to install a surface crossing on the Ring Road allowing an easier access to the Canal Basin. This would replace the existing pedestrian bridge. The plan is controversial not only for road safety reasons, but because of the extensive changes at Junction One (see the map above). If you have specific views, then send them in brief form to dandelion@ntlworld.com
location of any of these memorials please let us know. Civic Voice has secured funding to train volunteers in surveying and recording war memorials. One of our volunteers attended the first training workshop in Birmingham in January and came back very enthusiastic. A national website has been created to record all memorials (not just WWI) and the idea is to record all memorials on that site. We have already started to upload our own research and expect to complete it over the coming three months. You can visit the website here: www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/ The next stage of our project is to record the condition of all of the remaining First World War memorials in the city and we are looking for volunteers to help with this. We are planning a special event for Civic Day on Saturday, June 20. This will include a short training session followed by a practical surveying session. More information will be provided nearer to the date, but if you are keen to get involved you can e-mail us at info@coventrysociety.org.uk
The City Centre Local Plan will be published very soon and we have arranged a special briefing with a city planner. There will be an opportunity to ask questions. The meeting will take place at the Council House on Tuesday, March 10 starting at 6pm. The meeting is open to all members.
Membership subscriptions are now due. Single is £12. Joint is £18. To Renew you can make a direct transfer to Coventry Society on 30-92-33 account 02693076 and use your initial and surname as the reference. Please email to confirm a transfer: colin@collywobbles.f2s.com Or PayPal is very convenient for you and us. Please go to the website www.coventysociety and you will find a PayPal button Or you can send a cheque to Colin Walker, 77 Craven Street, Chapelfields, Coventry, CV5 8DT with your address on the reverse. You can also pay cash directly to John, Terry or Colin at a monthly meeting. Contacts Postal address: 77 Craven Street, Coventry CV5 8DT Chairman’s tel: 024 7640 2030 Email: info@coventrysociety.org.uk You can follow us at https://twitter.com/#!/CovSoc or http://www.facebook.com/CoventrySociety