Coventry, and Solihull Borough

After the Bombs in Coventry: From Farmland to the City

Born and raised in a farm in Winterborne, far away from the built-up areas in Warwickshire, we acquired the assistance of land-girls to help run our farm, which was needed ...
Berkswell: Some Historical Features of Interest

The ‘well’ from which the village takes its name still stands near the centre of the village (more of a spring really). It’s currently surrounded by Severn Trent Water notices ...
Binley Colliery

The sinking of the Binley shafts began in 1904 by a company known as Merry and Cuninghame on land leased from the Earl of Craven. Sinking was completed in 1908 ...
Coventry City Footballer Walter Kimberley, and World War One

Walter Kimberley’s wartime experience is one of hardship, effort, determination… and ultimately death, though not by any bullet wound. His is a story that shows war can claim casualties away ...
Coventry City Walls and Being 'Sent to Coventry'

Walls surrounded the medieval city of Coventry with 12 gateways and 32 towers made from handsome local red sandstone. The city walls slighted Just before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642, Charles ...
Coventry Colliery

The first Warwickshire Coal Company was registered in 1901 by the proprietors of the Wyken Collieries, who commenced trial excavations at Keresley during 1902 and soon discovered a viable seam. ...
Knowle and HMS Black Prince

The First World War created some extraordinary friendships – we have all heard of the Christmas Truce, when soldiers put down their weapons to play football together. Here is one that ...
Philip Larkin

The writer Philip Larkin was born in Coventry on 9th August 1922. He began writing at an early age, and after studying English at Oxford, he became a librarian at ...
St John Baptist Church, Berkswell

St John the Baptist, Berkswell, is a Norman parish church containing one of the finest crypts in the country. The church is a Grade 1 Listed Building and is featured ...
The Tipperary Inn Balsall Common

This unusual pub name refers to the famous song from the First World War ‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’. The author – Harry Williams – was born in Aston ...
The Weaver's House, Spon End

The Weaver’s House has been restored to show how it would have looked in 1540. This shows how John Croke, a Coventry narrow-loom weaver and his family would have lived and ...
Walter Kimberley Gets Taken Prisoner in World War One

Walter’s wartime fighting experience was brief. It was merely months into the war, when he was taken prisoner on 9th September 1914 at Maubeuge, after the French surrendered. He had ...
Walter Kimberley's World War One Prisoner Experience, and Beyond

We have seen in the previous article that Walter’s war experiences had seen him endure great hardship. Alas, that was not to improve. With the conditions in the camp, it ...