Update, 6th February 2016: I would like to say a sincere THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed all the wonderful messages in this Guest Book. However, since the huge success of the discussion forum, which began 2010, it has become the main vehicle for exchanging messages, so I'm closing the Guest Book to further entries, but will leave it on display for all to read.
So, if you have any questions that you think other readers can answer, or fancy reminiscing with like minded people, please try my Discussion Forum - it's totally free!
2004 | |||
| Date | Name | From... | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18th Dec 2004 | Jim Herring | Jackson, MS | Rob, HISTORIC COVENTRY is a marvelous revelation to this ole "gennut" sitting here in my Ridgeland MS USA bedroom, imagining my Herring/Palmer ancestors entering and departing the many wonderful ancient buildings you so beautifully provided my awe struck eyes, for free. I never dreamed of ever seeing the grammar school my 8th gr grandfather Julines Herring attended; the stream running through his mother's ancestral Palmer Lane conclave where I'll bet he and his brothers played, or the facade of Holy Trinity Church just behind which lies his father John Herring, interred "near the font" in 1626, after sitting proudly in his pew with wife Jo Anne Palmer Herring looking up at their son Julines preaching from that magnificent, beautiful pulpit; all of which along with many, many other such Herring/Palmer family Coventry scenes I can now accurately experience vicariously, something I'd never hoped for, knowing I'd never make it there personally. Thank you Rob Orland! Jim Herring, Jackson MS. |
| 14th Dec 2004 | Mike Godwin | Rob Came across your site when searching for inspiration on creating my own site. An excellent website which has brought back memories of Cov where I lived from 1955 to 1967 What on earth have they done to Broadgate, I used to catch the 53 home from outside Owen Owen and the Leofric Hotel to Holbrooks, the square seemed more majestic than now. It looks like an industrial site ! Keep up the good work | |
| 14th Dec 2004 | Mugu Kevin | Lome Togo | Is very good and very cool site |
| 6th Dec 2004 | Thomas Medforth | Atlanta, Georgia (USA) | Great work on your web site... My parents were raised in Coventry and then immigrateed to the US in 1957. I have been there several times over the past 30+ yrs and your pictures are like going home. Most of my family are still in Coventry as well as all over the midlands area... Thanks for the memories!.... |
| 5th Dec 2004 | Pradip | UK | Went to Coventry Cathedral. Seen many fine ones, Wells, Salisbury, Notre Dame, Chartres and Amien Laon, must say Coventry ranks with them, the stain glass is wonderful. |
| 3rd Dec 2004 | Rob | Portland OR. USA | Nice site - I used to Tour Manage a lot of Bands in the 80s and 90s including KING from Coventry, during their Love and Pride UK Tour '85 ending with a Coventry show...forget the Venue now but a great fun tour. Rob from London UK and Portland Oregon |
| 24th Nov 2004 | Martin | Coventry | Quite frankly history bored me senseless at Wiseman, but your site has kept me glued to my computer screen for 2 hours and it seems I've only scratched the surface! I feel fully empowered to now mercilessly rip to shreds and re-educate anyone who dares to slander my home town. This website is a real achievement and I'd like to buy you a pint! Martin, 33, currently working and living in London and still refers to Alders as Owen & Owen : ) |
| 23rd Nov 2004 | Bakula Parekh | Coventry England | Thanks. I am trying to get info on Earlsdon and Newcombe Road, where I used to live. I was born in 1956. |
| 11th Nov 2004 | Katrina | Texas | Thank - You. I am originally from Coventry but moved to Texas 3 years ago. As much as I adore the history of my City unfortunately the crimes and demeaners of the locals didn't sit too well with me and couldn't wait to move to a better place. Now I have a daughter who is 4 months old, I can copy the pictures from your website and make a memory book for her of "Where Mommy's From" and my husband's family can enjoy the memories I have by looking at these pictures come this Thanksgiving. Thank-you for creating such a graphic and detailed web site easy to find and fun to use. |
| 9th Nov 2004 | Philip Solman | Coventry UK / Vancouver Canada | Hi Rob, I have just spent an hour looking over your site. Amazing and very in-depth. Only just scratched the surface. I know it can be easy to criticise Coventry so it is lovely to see something so positive. I will be passing on your website to some of the old crew from GEC, scattered far and wide. Many Thanks, Phil |
| 31st Oct 2004 | Bob Muscutt | Solingen / Germany | Firstly, many congratulations on a really excellent and superbly designed web site. I am actually from Bedworth and am a gt. gt. grandson of Mary Ball, featured in the Coventry Police Museum and hanged in Coventry in 1849. I would just like to point out that although Mary has become something of a Coventry celebrity, she does of course hail from Nuneaton. But as I know that the Museum is doing a great job of telling her story and keeping her memory very much alive, we'll let it go. (; Very best wishes, Bob M. |
| 24th Oct 2004 | Jayne & Graham Thorne | Wokingham, Berkshire, UK | Hi Rob, we came across your wonderful website while doing some family history research (Graham's grandfather was Canon Graham William Clitheroe of Holy Trinity, Coventry). The photographs are beautiful and we'll be recommending your website to other members of the Clitheroe/Clitherow family. Thank you! |
| 22nd Oct 2004 | Clare Allcott | Coventry | Facinating to find out about the place I have always lived. Keep the site going, it's great. With thanks, Miss C. Allcott of Coventry. |
| 15th Oct 2004 | Richard Stonhold | Worthing, West Sussex | Your website is most interesting. I came across it via links from Kenilworth Castle (English Heritage). From 1967 to the mid-80s we lived in Kenilworth, although brought up in NW London. We shopped in Coventry but never walked up the North part of the old city, so have never seen Cook Gate, Swanswell etc close up. We visited the new Cathedral for concerts, and even went up the Tower of the old Cathedral - but I believe it is now closed to the public. "Old Coventrians" we were acquainted with spoke of the beauty of the city before the blitz of World War 2. I have also just found out about the new Whittle Arch and the Phoenix initiative, so must visit the city before long. Keep up the good work! |
| 14th Oct 2004 | Randal J. Loy | Kansas City, Missouri, USA | This website is simply amazing! The historical information and photographs displayed here make this an invaluable source for learning all there is to know about Coventry! Thank you, Mr. Orland, for sharing this with us! |
| 30th Sept 2004 | Peter Kelly | Middlesbrough | What a fantastic website! So much effort has gone into this and it really shows. It's so important that people can see what the city once looked like. Although it is quite sad that after a century of destruction some beautiful pieces of a much more human city now stand in lonely isolation as the march of the planner has removed the context that gave them meaning. Working up in this planning department for a year as a student, knowing from my education and common sense the value of our heritage, it's infuriating to see that "nothing can be done" to protect the general attractive, but unlistable background historic buildings that collectively give a place so much depth and character. Why can't we stand up and just say "no", because it means more to people than another bloody Aldi supermarket!.... Anyway, brilliant page! Pete |
| 23rd Sept 2004 | Patrick John Solman | Kingston upon Thames | Hi Rob, I have been too long completing this message, the reason is I am lost for words. What I have done is since we meet Bev and she told me of this web page on Ball Hill some months ago I have mentioned your great site to Radio Amateurs. I see one of them Ray Rogers has added his comments and memories. ( So you now get Air Time.) This really is an excellent site and I can only agree with the compliments of all the other guests. I myself came to Coventry in 1943 then aged ten, from my home town of Kingston upon Thames. I started work in 1949 and served my apprenticeship in Greyfriars Lane at H. H. Spicers as a Radio Service Engineer, (TV came later.) I joined the R.A.F. in 1951 to 1953 two years Compulsory National Service, then back to work to complete my apprenticeship. Once completed I applied and became a Freeman of the City. Amongst many other activites I wired up a heater at our local Scout group, the Scout Leader then gave me a badge that meant I had to stay and join the parent's committee, this I did, and enjoyed it, it was a few years later that I meet you Rob as a young Scout and helped you, and others with your Wireless badge, if I recall correctly. Well Rob again many thanks, and congratulations for a superb site. Keep up the good work. It's a pleasure to know you. Cheers and Beers from Pat and Jan, to you and yours. |
| 22nd Sept 2004 | Elizabeth Hitchcox | Leamington Spa | Great site, I have spent a long time viewing and still have not seen it all. You have a very talented son who is going to do well. I am also interested in photography and collect old postcards of Leamington and outlying villages (keep me in mind if you come across anything and I will do the same for you.) Keep up the good work!!! |
| 16th Sept 2004 | Mary Louise Bailey | Lanham, Maryland, USA | I was very interested in your website. It is wonderful. The old buildings remind me of the city in Scranton, Pennsylvania back in the l940s where I spent my summers with my grandparents. It's such a shame how things change - sometimes for the best. I'm the genealogy contact person for my husbands and my family. My husbands family, the Bailey's, came to the states in 1652 from England to St. Mary's County, Maryland. The problem I'm having is that their records were burned in two fires, first, the church records then the county building. My question is does the UK have records anywhere telling what ships or where people came from when they relocated that many years ago? I thought I'd pick your brain. Actually, my son, who is your age sent me your website. He knew I would like it. His major in college was European history and like me is interested in genealogy. |
| 14th Sept 2004 | Adrienne | Dundee Scotland | I was born and bred in Coventry, moving to Scotland in 1993. It's great to see sites like these so I can show off our fabulous history to anyone who will listen. http://www.readingsbyadrienne.bravehost.com/index.html |
| 7th Sept 2004 | Ray Rogers | Coventry | I was born in Coventry in 1925. I remember seeing some of the last silent films in the city. In fact my Uncle George (Smith) converted the Alexandra Cinema (later Cinema One) in Ford Street to "talkies". Some of my earliest recollectons are of the Colliseum Buildings being constructed. These were to house a cinema. Before completion, the enterprise was taken over by Gaumont British and thus the Gaumont Cinema was born. These were the days of horse drawn conveyances and the emergence of early motor vehicles. Buses with solid tyres passed by. As a child I remember the trams passing nearby with the whine of D.C. motors. At night bright flashes would light up the sky as a tramcar would pass from one section of the overhead cables to the next. A rainy Saturday night in Broadgate which was the terminus for most city tram routes was a sight I will never forget. I could go on and on Robert. I am enjoying your website. A mutual friend John Solman told me about it. Thanks Robert. Best regards. |
| 2nd Sept 2004 | Les S. | Oreland, PA, USA | Hi Rob, Great job with your Website. Ran across it doing research about the various cities that my wife and I visited during a 16-day tour of Great Britain and Ireland. Of all Websites, yours was the most impressive and informative. Great Job!!! |
| 29th Aug 2004 | Gillian Wolstenholme | Leeds Yorkshire | Hi Rob Your web site is wonderful, (I was engrossed for many hours thank you.) I was born and raised in Coventry in Terry Road, Stoke, I left in 1975 as I married a soldier and moved around with the regiment. I returned back to live in Cov for two years before I moved to Leeds. I now live up here, all my brothers and sisters still live in Coventry and I visit quite a lot. When I was down there last week for a few days, I went down town which I have not done for quite a few years and to my surprise I even got lost a couple of times as it has changed so much over the years. It was nice to see pictures of the old Coventry and history I can share with my own children and my grand children and maybe my great grand children what it was like where I was born and grew up. A long time ago when I first moved up here my in-laws who came down to my wedding used to tell their friends you can find your way in to Coventry but you you can't find your way out again. Now that's all changed with new roads here and there. They were the good old days, I still want to remember them and now I can whith your web site. Thank you. |
| 21st Aug 2004 | Paul Murphy | Tricon Machinery Inc | Just checking-in ... Lived in Coventry 1950-1975. Green Lane / Finham School / Castle High School / Coventry Gauge & Tool (Matrix Machine Tools) left in 1975 .. get back for a walk around once in a while .. your photo's bring back many memories ... always delight in hearing from old pals ... Regards, Paul Murphy, Tricon Machinery Inc. |
| 18th Aug 2004 | Kevin Handford | Southampton, Hampshire | What a fantastic website! I've never been to Coventry but now I've seen your site I think I've been missing out! I stumbled upon your pages whilst following some links about architecture and couldn't believe that this was all put together by one person. I'm fascinated by "then and now" style photos and I only wish I could find a resource like this for my home town of Southampton. You don't fancy moving south do you?! Cheers, Kevin. |
| 7th Aug 2004 | Bob Tunnicliffe | Drysdale Australia | Hi Rob, I was born in Thomas St. in 1929 and on a trip back I found Thomas St. doesn't exist anymore. My current project is a Tunnicliffe/Ludford family tree and visiting your site made me realise how much work I have ahead of me. I would like to hear from anyone who remembers me. Thank you for a great site. Email me: |
| 5th Aug 2004 | Pauline | Bamber Bridge, Lancashire | As a Coventry Kid but now up in Lancashire, for more years than I care to recall, the site was incredible. You tend not to appreciate such history as a child or teenager. I have spent far too long on the site already but "I'll be back" for more. As I'm a technophobe it is all so amazing but I have managed to put it on my favourites. |
| 4th July 2004 | Darren | Coventry | What a wonderful site. The attention to detail and quality is excellent. I really enjoyed looking at this site and I will definitely be returning! |
| 26th June 2004 | Local Studies staff | Coventry Central Library | We have enjoyed looking at your site and are extremely impressed by the quality. We will recommend your site to our customers. Keep up the good work! |
| 16th June 2004 | Clive Bratby | Coventry/West Midlands | Brilliant history of Coventry |
| 31st May 2004 | Deborah Hughes | Wales | Dear Mr Orland, I lived in Coventry for most of my life leaving only to move to Cornwall in 2000. I am now living in Wales. It is a relatively long time since I left and if I am honest I have never spared more than a very few moments thought for the city in which I once spent so many years of my life. I am now 46 years old. I found your site by accident and I am so very glad that such an accident occurred. Scanning the images represented there I was strangely filled with a kind of nostaligia that I really never expected to feel. My late father was born in Cow Lane and christened at the cathedral. My late mother moved from Gloucester in the early 1930s to live with her parents in Much Park Street where they ran her grandfather's guest house. My uncle Tom Coulson moved from Gloucester to play for Coventry RFC at about the same time and my great grandparents lived in St Patricks Road. My late aunt was christened at the old Cathedral and my mother and father were married at Holy Trinity, Christchurch being in disrepair as it states on their marriage certificate. I have so many connections with the city and yet I seem to have had a long love hate relationship with the place. I am sure if I returned today I would find it difficult to recognise some of it as I know a lot of changes have taken place. It was so nice to get back in touch with the place of my birth and I really must congratulate you on producing such an excellent website. Visting was a delight. Many thanks Deborah Hughes |
| 28th May 2004 | Steven | Coventry | Rob, this is an fantastic web site and an amazing look into the history of our city. Thank you. |
| 26th May 2004 | Buster Bloodvessel | Smelbourne | Just spent 2 hrs exploring your site, ... in particular your personal page, band life et.c.. I'm impressed! [Thanks for that Buster - there's always one, isn't there?] |
| 26th May 2004 | John Jamieson | Featherston, New Zealand | I was born, bred and educated in Coventry. I still have family there. I came to New Zealand in 1962 hoping to see something of the world and have stayed ever since. Great website. Just been told of it but will visit often. Keep up the good work. |
| 21st May 2004 | Lynne Tiltman | Redruth, Cornwall | Hello, I have really enjoyed your site which I found whilst trying to find info re: Wyre Farm Camp School, my father (Lionel Aubrey and his cousin Roy Aubrey) went there from Coventry in the 1940s. Although I am researching family history, your site was most informative about Coventry. Well Done. If anyone knows any info on the above please email me, thanks. |
| 20th May 2004 | Glenys Sykes | Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire | A delightful site - I thoroughly enjoyed browsing it - what an amazing amount of work you have put together, and in such a user-friendly and pleasing way. It's very easy to spend a couple of hours browsing without noticing the time! I found your site through Google - looking for old maps of Coventry. I am researching my great-uncle John Thomas Hopkins who died in the First World War. He enlisted in Coventry, worked at the Daimler Company, his obituary (thank you for that to Coventry Library Local Studies Section!) says he lived at 1 The Hollows, Foleshill Road which does not appear in Multimap. Does anyone know where this was, where the Daimler Factory is/was or whether the Daimler Company had any sort of War Memorial for employees who died in the Wars? I would be grateful for any information anyone has. Your site has decided me to visit Coventry to see it for myself. Inspirational! |
| 20th May 2004 | Sue | Coventry | I was born in Wales, but have lived here for a few years. Your site has opened my eyes to a Coventry I have never known, Thank You. |
| 7th May 2004 | June | Coventry | Enjoyable site. I came across it because my parents were both reminiscing today about good old Radford and Hertford Place in the 60s. They lived in Holland Road and Beake Ave. Surnames, Cleverley and Williams. |
| 3rd May 2004 | Steve Woods | Coventry U.K. | Great site. I too have studied our history since retiring 12 years ago. I have about 800 A4 pages of text and 1000 pictures. Steve |
| 18th Apr 2004 | Gill | Coventry (born & bred 1st generation) | This is a brilliant website Rob. Thanks for taking such time and effort over it. I have great trouble in reconciling the old sites of Coventry with the new - this has answered a lot of questions. I will recommend this site to people I know who also have a passion for local history. Well done! |
| 17th Apr 2004 | Kaye Fiorenza | Sydney, Australia | Rob, Congratulations on a wonderful web-site, I've visited several times, love the old photos they have given me an insight into what Coventry was like in my ancestors time... also brought back memories of my many happy stays there... stirred up my genes too! It would be great if you could add some history of Cash's silk weaving... I have generations of weavers in my family... my grandmother helped open Cash's in Melbourne around 1908-1909, also Alfred Herberts... my Dad did his apprenticeship with them. Many thanks, great job, Kaye. |
| 15th Apr 2004 | Karen Musa | Plano, TX - USA | I was born and raised in Coventry. It was great to tour the website, as it brought back many memories of buildings I used to pass, and take for granted, on my way home from Blue Coats. |
| 11th Apr 2004 | Roy & Audrey Salmon & family, | Tauranga NZ | Great site, still perusing it. My family & I are originaly from Coventry, Beake Ave Radford. Left Cov, 1960 for NZ, we loved Cov but thought NZ would give our children a better life. Thanks for your efforts, great site, will treasure it. R Salmon |
| 11th Apr 2004 | Dennis Heath | NZ (born in Coventry) | Hi Rob, Stumbled across your website this morning and stayed there for several hours - what a great source of information about the "old city" - the maps were great too! I was born in Cov (1930) and emigrated to NZ in 1967, it's been a good move for the family - but you never forget your roots. DH |
| 2nd Apr 2004 | Anne Norman | Coventry | Rob, I teach at a local Coventry primary school. Your web site is a gift! I can take my class on marvellous journeys around their own city - just by projecting your work onto the whiteboard. Saves me HOURS of prep time on Powerpoint displays. Many thanks, Anne |
| 24th Mar 2004 | Jaq | Essex | Brill site, very interesting. Came across it whilst searching for info. about Little Park Street - I didn't find that, but it didnt seem to matter as I've had a long time on here learning about my rellies place. Researching the surname SPENCER. |
| 20th Mar 2004 | Sandra Starling | Coventry | Thank you very much for a wonderful look at old Coventry. I too am researching my family tree and the project has grown somewhat. I have asked my husband (a Coventrian) and my parents (both Coventrians) to write their childhood memories. I have done the same and asked my adult children to do so too. I have collected family "treaures" and put them in a keepsake box. I want to leave a family history that is as complete as I can make it so it is a genuine heirloom. Thanks again, Sandra |
| 18th Mar 2004 | Eric and Joe | Careby/Little Bytham, Lincolnshire | We're coming to Coventry this Friday - tomorrow. |
| 9th Mar 2004 | Kirk Kokal | Willowick, Ohio, USA | This is a very nice site. I became interested in England when I meet one of its fine citizens, he is actually from Coventry but came to us on a work visa. Now he is one of us. Hope to visit coventry soon. TA TA |
| 6th Mar 2004 | Donna Hasbrouck | Stratford, New York | Your site is awesome. In 1964 I attended the International Youth Assembly at St. Michael's. It was a very special time in my life that will forever live in my heart. As I toured your site, memories came flooding back to me of the time I spent in your beloved Coventry. Bless you for enabling my wonderful trip down memory lane. Your love and passion for your heritage is evident on every page. |
| 5th Mar 2004 | Gloria (Crawford) Church | Ontario, New York, USA | I have never seen a better website in all the years that I have been using a computer. It is fantastic. I have sent your address to my cousin so that she may enjoy this as well. Thank you for developing this informative history of where our grandparents came from. Sincerely, Gloria (Crawford) Church |
| 4th Mar 2004 | Jim Brown | Coventry | Having looked at various pages within the "Historic Coventry" you have produced an extremely professional and interesting site which I recommend to my friends and family within the U.K. and overseas. Many thanks and well done! |
| 28th Feb 2004 | Bill Norton | Coventry | Hello Rob, I accidently came across this site about 3 hours ago. It has taken me this time to go through it. I think you have done a wonderful job. Being a Coventry kid myself, born in Stoke Heath in 1937, I remember quite a lot of the sights you have portrayed. |
| 23rd Feb 2004 | Steve Virostko | Portland, Oregon | Absolutely enjoyable website. It's very nice to see how your interest in your family's genealogy evolved into this tribute to your home city. Thanks very much! |
| 21st Feb 2004 | Neil Nightingale | Lampeter, Cardiganshire | Just found this site great. It gives us old'uns something to remember our old home by. I was born in Keresley in 1928, lived there forty years. I am homesick - never forget your roots - without roots a tree dies. Looking for workmate 40/50s Les Wood - Help please... Neil |
| 21st Feb 2004 | Susan Plummer | Australia - born Coventry 1959 | Hi Rob - I am doing a 50th birthday scrap book for my sister Helen, also born in Coventry - fantastic site for some history - thanks... |
| 17th Feb 2004 | Tom McDowell | Poole, Dorset (Born in Coventry) | As a 'Coventry born Kid' I just want to say how brilliant this site is. Very informative. |
| 17th Feb 2004 | Cindy Wells | Coventry | I love my home town of Coventry, I would never move from here. All my family come from all over the world to see the clock. Keep up the good work. |
| 19th Jan 2004 | Chandan | Coventry - birthplace India | Hi Rob, I'm from India but have been in Cov for last 29 months as I'm studying here. Your website has provided detailed info. about The Historic Coventry which I was curious to know. Thanks for the effort you have put in. ATB, Chandan |
| 6th Jan 2004 | Jeff Craven | Rob, This site is obviously a labor of love for your home town. One day I hope to visit some of the places my ancesters knew well, especially Coventry, Coombe Abbey and Ashdown House. Thanks for making me feel like I was in England tonight. | |
This is your first visit to my website today, thank you!
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