The book begins in August 1915, and at first the guests are mainly theatrical folk. As World War I progresses servicemen gradually dominate. There are many appreciative comments about the ...
Just two months into my first year at Coton House I was just getting used to motorbiking to work when the Suez crisis erupted and petrol rationing was introduced. Funds ...
After realising that I needed help from the apprentice welfare office, I was worried. I had in my mind that by failing to be self-supporting my whole future again threatened ...
Joseph Brookhouse (1759-1831) was in partnership with William Parkes and Samuel Crompton and together they owned a worsted manufacturing business in The Saltisford Warwick. The factory was established c. 1792 ...
The Austin-Healey Sprite was announced to the press in Monte Carlo by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) on 20 May 1958, just before that year’s Monaco Grand Prix. It was ...
The late 1950s saw a change in the way petrol was retailed, whereas in the late 1920s and early ‘30s it was not unusual for filling stations to have a ...
The Regent Mews were originally built as stabling for the guests of John William’s Bedford Hotel – purposefully built opposite, rather than next to, the hotel. The mews provided stabling ...
The 1950s brought about some changes for the burgeoning Regent Garage business in Leamington. More space was needed to accommodate both cars for sale and for repair and maintenance. The ...
In October 1965, the garage opened a showroom on the Parade, the first model on show being the newly launched Wolseley 1100. The showroom had space for six to eight ...
Labour shortages caused by men joining the Armed Forces during the First World War led to many companies seeking help from overseas. One such organisation was Rugby-based engineering firm Willans ...
In 1870, Thomas Potterton (born 1847) took over the general contractor business his father (also Thomas Potterton) had established in Balham, South West London in the 1850s.
By 1894, Thomas Potterton ...
Grays Garage was formed in 1948 by Ken and Dorothy Gray. Ken had just left the Army where he served as a Sergeant Vehicle Technician. The foundation of Grays Garage ...
Bibliophiles would be proud to proclaim that the book has always been a carrier of change, insight and innovation. Books are a powerful medium for the transmission of ideas. Books change ...
The Warwickshire County Record Office holds quite a lot of photographs and records of the coal mining industry which went on in and around Polesworth. This industry was spurred by ...
Pub signs are well-known and well documented; pub murals may have been painted by the same sort of artist but are often less well-known, and sadly more ephemeral. Here are ...
From about 1938 until March 1944 my Mum and Dad, Vera and Bill Gregory, ran the pub part of RM Bird and Co the wine merchants, at 32 Bridge Street; ...
RE: Of course there were two big brickyards in Nuneaton anyway and the other one was Haunchwood Brick and Tile that was owned by the Knox family.
Interviewer 1: Yeah.
Interviewer 2: ...
I have already looked at some shops in part one. In part two, I shall recall some more memories.
On the Kineton Road, near to the King’s Head pub, West’s Bakery, ...
After his time serving in the Royal Engineers during the First World War, Kenneth returned to Stratford.
Back to the family home and business
Kenneth married Eva in 1925 with a daughter ...
I grew up in the Dugdale Arms, Nuneaton. Our family had run “The Dug, or The Duggie”, as it was known, since 1911, but its history extended further back than ...
The Dugdale Arms in Nuneaton, also known as The Dug, had been a pub since the 1860s.
For the first 9 years of my life we lived at 36 Dugdale Street, ...
Former residents remember living in the village
I do still go round Coventry city centre, which has changed a bit from my time as a student. The old fire station is still there, by Pool Meadow bus ...
A 500-mile cycling and walking network is being set up in the West Midlands and named the ‘Starley network’. This prompted me to investigate further: there’s a Starley statue I ...