Pictures of Cov in the past and Coventry Pubs (12 Viewers)

[bringbackrattles]

Those were the days when you could get absolutely smashed outta your head for a quid! My kids won't believe me when I tell them I bought my first pint for 10½p! That was in the Summerland Tavern down the Butts.
:emoji_laughing:

First pint aged 15 in the Jolly Colliers top of Woodway Lane. Still served you in there if you had school uniform on. It was a pint of mild. By the time I reached 18 when you were old enough to drink,I'd been boozing for 3 years !

 

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[Houchens Head]

I used to wonder why pubs would have free bowls of peanuts, crisps etc on the bar. It wasn't until I did an extensive Inn-keeping course at Henley College that I found out it's because they make you thirsty! Stands to reason really! A few pence-worth of "freebies" on the bar against a couple of quid on a pint or two!

 

[martcov]

Love this thread
My parents were in the pub trade in Coventry for almost 20 years
They ran the Hope and anchor, the climax and The admiral codrington
Bless them they worked really hard
My dad was a very old school pub gaffer
The sold the cod in 1994 but I had some great memories
They used to only have a Wednesday night off but when I got to roughly 17 my dad used to take me on a little pub crawl from the cod to the stag into the Smithfield up to Cassidys then to the town wall or the town crier

He knew lot of the gaffers in and around Coventry and there was a certain cameraderie from most of them
My dad is a gentleman and I never heard him say a wrong word about any of them but to this day he can't say a nice word about Ken Brown

A few of my relatives have had pubs and clubs too my brother ran the 3 horse shoes on the stoney Stanton road 91/92ish, other brother has ran numerous pubs and clubs including the coronation club in keresly

Auntie and uncle ran the zodiac and generations when it opened ( cracking club)
Another auntie and uncle ran the peacock late 70s early 80s

I much prefer being the other side of the bar

Town Wall was great. Lunchtime pies or big rolls and a decent pint at a good price - was there lunchtimes in the late 70s. Peacock was very Irish, if I remember- tricolour on the wall ( I think ). Was there more early 70s.

 

[martcov]

10p a pint, absolutely smashed off a pound! How much was a woo woo?

I think pubs have to be more than a pub now don't they? Food / Sports / Upmarket Bars etc.

Yes a pint was 1/11d until decimalisation, they rounded it up to 10p. That was in the pubs in Craven Street.

 

[martcov]

I wonder why, because alcohol drunk per person has hardly changed in my lifetime: http://www.ias.org.uk/uploads/fs4-consumption-1 NEW web extended.pdf

Any publicans got any ideas?

My theory... if we wanted to meet people we went to the pub. Now you can meet anyone on socialmedia. Actually better to meet people with similar views or hobbies to yourself. Bottled and canned beers in supermarkets are dirt cheap in comparison. You used to have BBC ITV and BBC2 some of the time at home. Now you can sit on your sofa and watch virtually anything you want whilst chatting on social media. The pub is good when they offer cheap food and a massive drink selection including exclusive products. Also good for atmosphere when the whole pub is watching sport. It is very hard to keep ahead of technology and to compete with supermarkets and home entertainment. How much money do people now give out for modern iPads mobiles and fancy holidays? A different world to the 70s and 80s.

 

[hotrod]

Hi Houch

Bit of a long shot but do you have a photo of the "Turks Head" in Silver street pre 1900? My Great Grandfather was the landlord there about 1870.

Regards.

 

[wingy]

I used to wonder why pubs would have free bowls of peanuts, crisps etc on the bar. It wasn't until I did an extensive Inn-keeping course at Henley College that I found out it's because they make you thirsty! Stands to reason really! A few pence-worth of "freebies" on the bar against a couple of quid on a pint or two!

And olives on the continent. B-)

 

[dutchman]

I wonder why, because alcohol drunk per person has hardly changed in my lifetime: http://www.ias.org.uk/uploads/fs4-consumption-1 NEW web extended.pdf

Any publicans got any ideas?

At one time a pub or working men's club was the only place a member of the public could drink, and then only between certain hours. Nowadays almost everywhere has a licence to sell alcohol so no need to visit a pub or working men's club any more. The abolition of opening hours and smoking in public had a devastating effect as well. Most of the 'pubs' left now are licensed restaurants in all but name.

This isn't the first time there's been a cull of pubs in Coventry. In the early years of the twentieth century before the first world war there was a recession which put almost half of all the pubs in Coventry out of business. There was another cull during the great depression in the 1930s.

 

[dutchman]

I think a big part of it is that supermarkets don't have to pay duty, or some such tax, on booze so they are able to sell significantly cheaper than pubs.

Believe me they do. There have even been allegations that they lose money on the cheaper lines they sell in order to pull in shoppers. Duty makes up only a small percentage of the cost of beer in pubs. It simply costs a lot more money per customer to run a pub than it does a supermarket.

 

[olderskyblue]

Mate of mine used to be the DJ in the Radford for many years, back in the 70's

 

[skybluedan]

Great pubs , my pal Jimmy is the one in the blue polar neck stripe next to the door at the whitmore , I was probably there hahaha and someone nicked the cobbles outside the radford once

 

[clint van damme]

At one time a pub or working men's club was the only place a member of the public could drink, and then only between certain hours. Nowadays almost everywhere has a licence to sell alcohol so no need to visit a pub or working men's club any more. The abolition of opening hours and smoking in public had a devastating effect as well. Most of the 'pubs' left now are licensed restaurants in all but name.

This isn't the first time there's been a cull of pubs in Coventry. In the early years of the twentieth century before the first world war there was a recession which put almost half of all the pubs in Coventry out of business. There was another cull during the great depression in the 1930s.

I remember when I first started drinking, (early to mid 80s), there wasn't a great deal of difference between what you would pay in the pub and what you would pay in the offy, now it's massive.

 

[ajsccfc]

Anyone who played Theme Park in the 90s is wise to the thirst trick. Double the amount of salt on the chips, soft drink sales skyrocket! You then had to hire cleaners for all the sick, so it was a real balancing act

 

[skybluedan]

Mate of mine used to be the DJ in the Radford for many years, back in the 70's

To early for me that but know lots before my time who used to go in

 

[Liquid Gold]

Anyone who played Theme Park in the 90s is wise to the thirst trick. Double the amount of salt on the chips, soft drink sales skyrocket! You then had to hire cleaners for all the sick, so it was a real balancing act

Every time I hear about workers going on strike I think about negotiating the handshake before the biscuits ran out

 

[olderskyblue]

To early for me that but know lots before my time who used to go in

He was a lad from Irish descent, who used to take his rig, and DJ at lots of places. He called it "Bullitt Roadshow".. go figure :emoji_joy:

 

[bringbackrattles]

Remember Sundays before all day drinking ? Pubs would only open for a couple of hours in the afternoon,then again at seven o'clock till half ten last orders. You'd order a couple of pints and drink them before you got told to leave at eleven o'clock. You always seemed to be in a rush !

 

[wingy]

Remember Sundays before all day drinking ? Pubs would only open for a couple of hours in the afternoon,then again at seven o'clock till half ten last orders. You'd order a couple of pints and drink them before you got told to leave at eleven o'clock. You always seemed to be in a rush !

Sunday mornings in the Canley cub or Standard /Triumph club as the footyclub moved, then my mate driving his Miafiori Van den Valk style round the Cobbles by the Cathedral before battering the door at the Old Stag (6-55pm), followed by the Smithfield, Tally Ho and Jag in that order usually.

 

[duffer]

I used to work in the Phoenix for a while (any photos HH?). In fact, looking back, I pretty much lived in there for a few years. In those days the buggers would be hammering the door ten minutes before opening time and ordering three pints right before closing. Ten minutes to drink up, ten minutes to hand back your glasses as I recall.

I always liked the Irish approach to opening hours - "Ah, we're not open yet, but why not come in and have a pint while you wait."

 

[duffer]

Sunday mornings in the Canley cub or Standard /Triumph club as the footyclub moved, then my mate driving his Miafiori Van den Valk style round the Cobbles by the Cathedral before battering the door at the Old Stag (6-55pm), followed by the Smithfield, Tally Ho and Jag in that order usually.

Did you get much done on Mondays, Wingy?

I used to have a Fiat Miafiori too. Cracking car, if somewhat porous in the finest Italian tradition - I guess the holes made it lighter. Five speed!

 

[Houchens Head]

I used to work in the Phoenix for a while (any photos HH?). In fact, looking back, I pretty much lived in there for a few years. In those days the buggers would be hammering the door ten minutes before opening time and ordering three pints right before closing. Ten minutes to drink up, ten minutes to hand back your glasses as I recall.

I always liked the Irish approach to opening hours - "Ah, we're not open yet, but why not come in and have a pint while you wait."

Is that The Phoenix on Fletchamstead Highway or the Phoenix, formally the Colin Campbell?

 

[Houchens Head]

Imagine asking for one of these in the 80's.

You would've been bounced out of the pub Nick! There wasn't any of those "girly" drinks back then! Certainly not in the 70's! :joyful:

 

[Houchens Head]

Madness how many have vanished!

I just did a quick tour of a few places on Google Earth. Jeez! What happened to the Hope & Anchor?

 

[hill83]

I just did a quick tour of a few places on Google Earth. Jeez! What happened to the Hope & Anchor?

Coventry's Hope and Anchor pub gets demolished

Shame, not the greatest pub when I used to go in there, but it was part of our mini pub crawl into town starting at the London Road Social club.

 

[shmmeee]

See that's mental to me. If you want to talk about social ills, surely getting wasted at home or on the streets is far worse than in a social environment where people can moderate you?

So, is everyone just drinking at home now?

I do wonder how I used to be able to go on all dayers and pub crawls when I was 17 on bumfuck an hour, when now I'd need to remortgage to go on a night out.

I know how old I sound (not as old as some in the thread ), but I honestly remember £20 being enough for a night out including food and taxi.

 

[shmmeee]

First pint aged 15 in the Jolly Colliers top of Woodway Lane. Still served you in there if you had school uniform on. It was a pint of mild. By the time I reached 18 when you were old enough to drink,I'd been boozing for 3 years !

I remember drinking in the Phantom Coach for years, then turning up for one of our 18th birthday parties.

 

[ajsccfc]

I used to like the Bolshie up at the top of Barras Common on a Sunday. We'd stroll up as my friend's old man would be in there, play the bandits for a bit, then the Old Red Horse or Barras Club for a bit of pool and then home. It was only after they'd knocked it down that I found out it wasn't actually called the Bolshie.

 

[Nick]

Even fruit machines aren't the same now

 

[ajsccfc]

Tell you what, when I've got grandkids they're going to hear the tale of the time Grandpa won the £15 jackpot on Sir Win-A-Lot in the Walsgrave and repeated it twice when he should have been in college.

 

[Nick]

Tell you what, when I've got grandkids they're going to hear the tale of the time Grandpa won the £15 jackpot on Sir Win-A-Lot in the Walsgrave and repeated it twice when he should have been in college.

Those repeaters were dodgy, clearly press it on YES but then it takes a second and changes to NO and then says Game Over.

 

[Houchens Head]

I used to like the Bolshie up at the top of Barras Common on a Sunday. We'd stroll up as my friend's old man would be in there, play the bandits for a bit, then the Old Red Horse or Barras Club for a bit of pool and then home. It was only after they'd knocked it down that I found out it wasn't actually called the Bolshie.

Ahhh! The "Bolshie" or the Barras House Hotel as some called it!

 

[duffer]

Is that The Phoenix on Fletchamstead Highway or the Phoenix, formally the Colin Campbell?

The New Phoenix on the A45 mate - run by Roy and Joy at time, a nicer couple you couldn't find.

Forgave me all of the times I couldn't get the till to square and bought me the odd pint too. Loved the place.

 

[Houchens Head]

The New Phoenix on the A45 mate - run by Roy and Joy at time, a nicer couple you couldn't find.

Forgave me all of the times I couldn't get the till to square and bought me the odd pint too. Loved the place.

No pics of when it was the Phoenix (or even New Phoenix). The only pic I have is as it is now - the Wing Wah Restaurant. :emoji_frowning2:

 

[Gazolba]

When I and my brother were kids we used to go out for bicycle rides every Sunday with our Dad. We always ended up at a pub, but hardly ever in Coventry. We'd ride out into the country (as it was then), places like Barnacle, Shilton, Bulkington, Brinklow, Withybrook, Monks Kirby and some others I forget the name of. Our Dad would let us have a sip of his drink. I always hated the taste of beer but I loved cider and lager and lime. A couple of pubs we did used to go to in Coventry were The Jolly Colliers on Woodway Lane and The Boat on Shilton Lane. I never was much of a drinker myself and mainly went to pubs for their folk club nights. Places like the Elastic Inn and the Three Tuns. When I got older my favourite places to take dates were The Alhambra, The Smithfield Hotel and The Cheylesmore. All great places and sadly all now gone.

 

[ajsccfc]

Ahhh! The "Bolshie" or the Barras House Hotel as some called it!

View attachment 6325

I must have walked right past the sign so many times and never registered what its real name is!