IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Canterbury Street, COVENTRY, CV1 5NR

During the 1960s redevelopment of Hillfields, a war-damaged 19th century industrial district, thirteen high rise housing blocks were built by the city of Coventry. Some have since been demolished; these are two of the survivors, with some more recent low-rise housing in the foreground. The block on the right is Hillfields House on Yardley Street, with 52 homes on ten floors. It was built by Wimpey in 1960-61 to designs by the Coventry city architect's department under Arthur Ling https://www.towerblock.eca.ed.ac.uk/development/yardley-street . On the left is Thomas King House on Wellington Street, with 128 dwellings on 17 storeys, built 1967-8 by British Lift Slab, to designs by the same team, by then led by Terence Gregory. https://www.towerblock.eca.ed.ac.uk/development/wellington-street . Both links are to the Edinburgh University Tower Block site. For more on Hillfields, see the Coventry Society https://www.coventrysociety.org.uk/coventry-neighbourhoods/hillfields/ .

In Charles Street Hillfields and dating from 1840. Appears to be undergoing building work at present.

19th Century housing in Vine Street. The plaque on the house in the centre of photo reads Alma Cottage.

19th Century housing in Vine Street.

On the corner of Alma Street, right, is The Foresters public house. Raglan Street takes its name from Lord Raglan, a British commander in the Crimean War who won the battle of Alma, 1854; the street was presumably laid out soon after.

19th Century housing in Charles Street. Nos 1 - 3, in the centre of the photo, are grade II listed - see www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1076638. In the background is Thomas King House, a 17 storey block of flats completed in 1968.

Shops in Victoria Street.

One of a number of similarly-styled tower blocks dotted about the northern fringes of Coventry, standing like sentries as if to provide early warning of incursions by Nuneaton or Hinckley. They are distinguished by projecting white concrete bands and closely resemble designs by City Architect, Arthur Ling. Built by him or his successor, Terence Gregory, in the early-mid 1960s. This one was about to be refurbished, including renewing interiors and the roof.

This part of Victoria Street forms the southern side of a square at the centre of the rather edgy social life of Hillfields. It was created as part of the 'regeneration' of the area at the tun of the century, when most of its thirteen tower blocks were demolished and replaced by low-rise housing. https://www.coventrysociety.org.uk/coventry-neighbourhoods/hillfields.html In this row of buildings can be seen an Iranian delicatessen, the Persian Mini Market. Like many such specialist shops it has expanded its range to cater for other communities that live and shop locally; on its shelves I saw Riga herrings and tinned elk meat among more familiar Iranian foodstuffs. On this hot and humid July evening it was doing a brisk trade in melons. Beyond it can be seen two Kurdish shops, the Yosuf Bakery and the Kurdistan Coffee Shop. The First and Best food store on the far side of Canterbury Street occupies the now very decrepit-looking premises built in the early 1960s by H E Phillips, a specialist ironmonger, whose sign is still visible on the first floor. This family firm traded in Hillfields for ninety years from 1915 (see this IPPR report pp6-7 https://www.ippr.org/files/images/media/files/publication/2011/05/making_sense_of_community_1272.pdf ), and its expertise and its pegboards hung with countless tools and other useful items have been much missed by Coventry people. Behind it stands Thomas King House, one of the surviving 1960s housing blocks.