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