Medieval Far Gosford Street - Coventry - Proposed Masterplan

[NewTroll]

Originally Posted by Rheimsway

Hi Stig, So thats where it is....I wasn,t sure if it was, i had convinced myself it must have been where the newer building is. The doorway coming down the street is just as i remembered it to be, as i think as you went up the steps, you turned left into the bar.
I can remember the barracks and rex markets before they were replaced with the new retail market. When we were kids, we were real proud of the precincts and broadgate, as it made us the envy of the rest of the country.Alas they have destroyed the layout of broadgate now and it started by closing hertford street. Its just become a dead end and lifeless.And why did they ever remove lady godiva?.
Thats what happens when the new think they know better than the old planners.
I look at the photos of Earl Street, Jordan well, and gosford st, they are horrendous.. I get the feeling now that the cathedral is part of the new uni. The ring road was designed to keep traffic out of the city, but instead it killed the city.

I think the difference is the "old planners" didn't really exist - land would be "laid out" with grids of streets by landowners, and then developers would buy up plots and build on them - usually to meet a local need such as weaver's topshops, watchmaker's villages (This is how Earlsdon was developed, and some of the streets in Stoke (Stratford Street area) were laid out but never built up until much later - on this street only a few weaver's topshops were built in a single block.)

Also existing roads tended to built up with "ribbon" developments, and in Coventry places were built outside the common lands - Hillfields, Chapelfields & Earlsdon. Far Gosford Street was a medieval suburb outside the city wall on the main road out to Leicester, I guess.

In Coventry space constraints meant that gardens were built on (Creating the "courts" behind the main roads).

In the 20th century ideas for town planning came about as cities had grown orgnanically and you had oddly arranged networks of streets and the growth of private transport... So I guess this led to all the new ideas that came about to do with separating pedestrians and traffic, etc. Not all of it bad, but it hasn't really done much good for Cov!

[CovAD]

Originally Posted by Rheimsway

The ring road was designed to keep traffic out of the city, but instead it killed the city.

That's the thing though - if you plan to keep the traffic out you effectively plan to keep the people out. What do you they think is in the vehicles creating the traffic?

[skybluecity]

snatched these images off the planning portal; taken from the recent application submitted by CDP:

[NewTroll]

This is good - it's important IMHO that Skyblueway is sorted out so it doesn't look so dreadful when you come into the city centre.

[skybluecity]

Originally Posted by NewTroll

This is good - it's important IMHO that Skyblueway is sorted out so it doesn't look so dreadful when you come into the city centre.

indeed, but i don't seem to be able to place this on sky blue way. is it roughly opposite the apartment building on the other side of SBW, or is it further down toward the r/about?

[NewTroll]

Originally Posted by skybluecity

indeed, but i don't seem to be able to place this on sky blue way. is it roughly opposite the apartment building on the other side of SBW, or is it further down toward the r/about?

I think it's down at the bottom where Lower Ford Street connected with Far Gosford Street - (There's only a stub left now, it's been cut in two.) It's that road that runs alongside the block where Monsoon is.

[stig1982]

Originally Posted by NewTroll

I think it's down at the bottom where Lower Ford Street connected with Far Gosford Street - (There's only a stub left now, it's been cut in two.) It's that road that runs alongside the block where Monsoon is.

This is part of the site. As NT says, it is on the junction of the severed part of Lower Ford Street and Far Gosford Street. The planning application seeks to demolish the white painted brick building shown in this picture and replace it with an oak timberered frame building, to blend the development in with the existing statutory listed buildings which neighbour it.

I posted a thread here well over a year ago following attendance at a presentation delivered by Ian Harrabin. He said at the time that his plan was to construct a timber framed building on this corner site.



This shows a bit more of the rear of the site which backs on to Sky Blue Way. This is where the more contemporary buildings will be constructed, with different colour rendering and more modern materials.

[Dr Pepper]

Here is another view of those buildings and the space behind that will be built on.






Will the timber framed buildings infront of the new buildings be restored?

[NewTroll]

The planning statement is interesting. The buildings facing Skyblue Way will be slightly taller to create a transition from the small, 2 storey buildings to the buildings on the opposite side of Skyblue Way...

And the corner building will be rebuilt to look similar to the building that was demolished in 1927 when the curved building went in.

Should improve the view down Skyblue Way and get rid off those odd service roads.

[Dr Pepper]

The Hand & Heart is now on the Two Tone trail.




Just internal work now.

[NewTroll]

That timber framed building looks wonderful. I must have walked past that building hundreds of times when I lived in Stoke and never even realised it was that old!

The Specials album from the 1990's - "Today's Specials" - has the Hand & Heart in the CD booklet! It's one of two albums the band made in the 1990s and features cover versions - this lineup was four of the originals (No Terry Hall or Jerry Damners).

[Dr Pepper]

Can't remember if this has been mentioned:

http://fargosfordstreet.com/

[Sebadude]

It's fantastic to see these buildings restored to their former glory again. And to think they'd been more-or-less hidden in plain view for all of these years...

[NewTroll]

Originally Posted by Sebadude

It's fantastic to see these buildings restored to their former glory again. And to think they'd been more-or-less hidden in plain view for all of these years...

It's not really surprising given how badly Coventry has treated its heritage - what hasn't been knocked down (Whole streets of medieva buildings; most of the weaver's cottages; cinemas, theatres, barracks, etc) has been either re-erected on Spon Street - hardly a success, which manages to be characterless despite its origins - or stuck in awkward positions by the ringroad (Whitefriar's abbey; the gate house) or just plain hidden behind the dismal 1950s/1960s office buildings (Ford's hospital, Cheylesmore Manor house). And of course, many other left derelict until they fall down or are beyond repair.

It's almost as if the process that was begin in the 1950s to obliterate the old city completely has succeeded - not just its buildings, but its life blood. Pubs, shops, venues, theatres, cinemas, shopping streets, factories, alleyways, etc, all wiped out by the god-awful ideas of people who weren't from Coventry, had never lived here, and probably never did live here. They've taken with it the life of the city, leaving it populated by fed up looking Eastern Europeans, pensioners who seem in a daze as to how shit it's become, students who wish they'd gone to Manchester or Newcastle, and then in the evenings drunken gangs of bald headed blokes who all look like Phil Mitchell.

[skybluecity]

a tad harsh newtroll - there are plenty of decent people in coventry.

a small image of the proposed hotel at the bottom of FGS:

[NewTroll]

Originally Posted by skybluecity

a tad harsh newtroll - there are plenty of decent people in coventry.

Sorry, where did I say there wasn't?

[skybluecity]

Originally Posted by NewTroll

Sorry, where did I say there wasn't?

You didn't, but at the same time painted a unduly bleak picture of the population of Coventry, in my opinion. I understand your point of course; and I guess the people you describe are largely a product of their environment.

I guess I am just a little sensitive when it comes to describing the people of Coventry; I actually find them a pretty down to earth and friendly bunch on the whole, who despite having the odds stacked against them are not in the slightest bit bitter and do a fine job of rolling up their sleeves and getting on with every time the city takes a hit (an almost daily occurance it seems).

[NewTroll]

Originally Posted by skybluecity

You didn't, but at the same time painted a unduly bleak picture of the population of Coventry, in my opinion. I understand your point of course; and I guess the people you describe are largely a product of their environment.

I guess I am just a little sensitive when it comes to describing the people of Coventry; I actually find them a pretty down to earth and friendly bunch on the whole, who despite having the odds stacked against them are not in the slightest bit bitter and do a fine job of rolling up their sleeves and getting on with every time the city takes a hit (an almost daily occurance it seems).

I was just talking about the city centre (Where I went this weekend.) It seems very quiet these days at night, especially around the High Street. We all know that a lot of folk have deserted the city centre for pastures new...

My point was that over the years (30?) old stuff has been constantly demolished in the city, closed down, demolished, and the place has become increasingly desolate and deserted by the city's population... And surrounding places (Including places within Coventry itself) have just helped to drain it even more... As it's been drained of people, it seems to just cause the rot to spread as old buildings struggle to find a viable use and end up fodder for demolition. As more of the old city is demolished, it makes the spaces between the remaining old bits greater, or just leaves individual buildings adrift - such as the former Greyhound pub, the gatehouse...

IMHO, places that need to be preserved and brought back to life as reminders of the "old city" are places like the Burges, Far Gosford Street, Chapelfields Watchmakers area and the Cathedral Quarter...

It's a miracle FGS street survived at all, given that virtually every street in and around the city centre was demolished in the 1950s and 1960s and even into the 1970s!

So it's about time it was done up!

[skybluecity]

Originally Posted by NewTroll

I was just talking about the city centre (Where I went this weekend.) It seems very quiet these days at night, especially around the High Street. We all know that a lot of folk have deserted the city centre for pastures new...

My point was that over the years (30?) old stuff has been constantly demolished in the city, closed down, demolished, and the place has become increasingly desolate and deserted by the city's population... And surrounding places (Including places within Coventry itself) have just helped to drain it even more... As it's been drained of people, it seems to just cause the rot to spread as old buildings struggle to find a viable use and end up fodder for demolition. As more of the old city is demolished, it makes the spaces between the remaining old bits greater, or just leaves individual buildings adrift - such as the former Greyhound pub, the gatehouse...

IMHO, places that need to be preserved and brought back to life as reminders of the "old city" are places like the Burges, Far Gosford Street, Chapelfields Watchmakers area and the Cathedral Quarter...

It's a miracle FGS street survived at all, given that virtually every street in and around the city centre was demolished in the 1950s and 1960s and even into the 1970s!

So it's about time it was done up!

Have to say, I am very encouraged by what we're seeing in FGS. I recall how when we first learnt of this project we all reacted with a certain amount of cynicism, which was understandable.

From what I've seen though, and judging by the future plans, FGS has every chance of being a success. Hopefully it will be the catalyst for similar projects.

Just put CDP in charge of all redevelopment and be done with it.

[We-Are-Borg-1987]

Its great that CCC have finally recognised the importance of Covs heritage...just a shame they have recognised its importance several decades late!!!

It would have been great if Jerde had been utilsied as an opportunity to re-build the original city centre, but I guess that wouldn't be economically viable as retailers demand larger units to gain economies of scale.