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North Avenue, COVENTRY, CV2 4DH

Elm Bank was for more than forty years the home of Siegfried Bettmann, founder and managing director of the Triumph motorcycle company. Born into a Jewish family in Nuremberg in 1863, Bettmann settled in Coventry in 1885 and began selling bicycles the following year. He founded Triumph with a fellow-German, Moritz Schulte; the company began making bicycles in Coventry in 1888 and diversified into motorcycles in 1902. Bettmann was elected mayor of Coventry in 1913 but was forced to resign the following year amid anti-German hysteria at the outbreak of the first world war. https://www.jewishlivesproject.com/profiles/siegfried-bettmann https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Bettmann A blue plaque remembering Bettmann was placed on the house in 2015; https://www.coventrysociety.org.uk/news/article/bettmanns-home-gets-blue-plaque.html it can be seen in the centre of the photo. The house and outbuildings have since been divided into fourteen luxury flats and bungalows. https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/former-home-triumph-cycles-founder-19601495 They are situated in Stoke Park, a walled estate of large houses built in the later 19th century.

"The area known as Stoke Park was developed from the 1860s and is completely surrounded by a curving sandstone wall…some sources suggest that this is the site of the old racecourse." David McGrory. The Illustrated History of Coventry's Suburbs. Derby: Breedon Books, 2003. ISBN 1 85983 343 8

The wall on the left, perhaps reduced in height, is referred to thus: "The area known as Stoke Park was developed from the 1860s and is completely surrounded by a curving sandstone wall…some sources suggest that this is the site of the old racecourse." David McGrory. The Illustrated History of Coventry's Suburbs. Derby: Breedon Books, 2003. ISBN 1 85983 343 8

Ball Hill is a busy local shopping centre on Walsgrave Road, on the East Side of Coventry. It is usually choked with traffic

"The area known as Stoke Park was developed from the 1860s and is completely surrounded by a curving sandstone wall…some sources suggest that this is the site of the old racecourse." David McGrory. The Illustrated History of Coventry's Suburbs. Derby: Breedon Books, 2003. ISBN 1 85983 343 8

"In 1911 when ex-councillor Howells was developing the Harefield estate between the Stoke Road and Walsgrave Road an unusual find was made. Stonework was revealed and the men uncovered the huge remains of a set of mediaeval tile kilns…" See David McGrory. The Illustrated History of Coventry's Suburbs. Derby: Breedon Books, 2003. ISBN 1 85983 343 8 John Brightley adds: This may be of interest: http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-703-1/dissemination/pdf/northamp3-29981_1.pdf which notes that the tile kilns were near to the north end of Harefield Road.

"The area known as Stoke Park was developed from the 1860s and is completely surrounded by a curving sandstone wall…some sources suggest that this is the site of the old racecourse." David McGrory. The Illustrated History of Coventry's Suburbs. Derby: Breedon Books, 2003. ISBN 1 85983 343 8

The local name for this is not known; it could be part of Stoke Park.

"The area known as Stoke Park was developed from the 1860s and is completely surrounded by a curving sandstone wall…some sources suggest that this is the site of the old racecourse." David McGrory. The Illustrated History of Coventry's Suburbs. Derby: Breedon Books, 2003. ISBN 1 85983 343 8