Black Prince pub in tile hill (1 Viewer)

EalingSB

Well-Known Member
For those that grew up around Tile Hill check out an artist called Geroge Shaw, he's done lots of pieces on the area including the Black Prince and the Hawthorne Tree

scenes-from-the-passion-t-003.jpg


Of Innocence | GEORGE SHAW'S TILE HILL

My uncle was and is mates with George's brother. George was in the running for the Turner Prize in 2011 which was a fantastic achievement. I've got a coffee table book of his prints.
 

duffer

Well-Known Member
Im amazed it’s still there. Along with the Dolphin a very dodgy pub. What was the other delightful place on the edge of Jardine Crescent called?

That’s The New Star. It’s long since been knocked down, but if you look closely through all of the weeds you can still see the old tiled floor of what I assume was the bogs.

Every time I go past I think of those ancient Roman mosaic floors they unearth on things like Timewatch... maybe in a couple of thousand years they’ll be digging up Jardine Crescent and wondering what the hell it is!
 

duffer

Well-Known Member
My uncle was and is mates with George's brother. George was in the running for the Turner Prize in 2011 which was a fantastic achievement. I've got a coffee table book of his prints.

I know the square root of bugger all about art, but his stuff looks brilliant to me. A load of those bits of Tile Hill still look exactly like this and haven’t changed since I used go to school round the corner at Templars, a very long time ago... :)
 

Covcraig@bury

Well-Known Member
I know the square root of bugger all about art, but his stuff looks brilliant to me. A load of those bits of Tile Hill still look exactly like this and haven’t changed since I used go to school round the corner at Templars, a very long time ago... :)
Me and all my brothers went to Templar’s , my mum was a cleaner there for 30 years . Proper infant/junior school. Shame they knocked it down for houses .
 

SkyBlueSid

Well-Known Member
All I can recall about The Plough was that someone walked in one evening, took out a sawn-off shotgun from under his coat and shot one of the customers. It was a gangland style thing. Can't remember if the bloke died or not. I think he did. That was years ago - maybe back in the early 80's?
I remember the Plough had a heavy metal & rock music disco every Friday & Sunday night. It was run by Silk Disco which was Jim Twyneham who was the announcer at Highfield Road for years. Place was packed every night for these, it must have been a goldmine given the booze they used to sell.

A few years later, around late 70s, the landlord was prosecuted for watering his beer. The brewery sacked him, which meant he was evicted. But he and his wife barricaded themselves in the living quarters for a few days before getting chucked out.
 

duffer

Well-Known Member
I remember the Plough had a heavy metal & rock music disco every Friday & Sunday night. It was run by Silk Disco which was Jim Twyneham who was the announcer at Highfield Road for years. Place was packed every night for these, it must have been a goldmine given the booze they used to sell.

A few years later, around late 70s, the landlord was prosecuted for watering his beer. The brewery sacked him, which meant he was evicted. But he and his wife barricaded themselves in the living quarters for a few days before getting chucked out.

To go full circle, Jim was a regular in the Chestnut Tree on Craven St. I often bumped into him at the bar, and he always had time for a chat about City.

A true gentleman who passed on a little while ago, and though I don’t go in there often it’s not quite the same without him. What a voice!
 

Kneeza

Well-Known Member
I won't hear a bad word against the Live And Let Live! I worked there behind the bar around the time my eldest daughter was born - 1971. Great crowd of locals, great staff and nowhere did I feel safer behind the bar, and I've worked loads of bars. The locals always had a whip round for the staff at Christmas, and there was usually half a week's wages each - good money back then! Happy days!
We've probably met then. Part of our roundabout crawl back then including the Acorn, The Jolly Colliers, The Crown, the Miners Arms, and the Green Man.
Some variable styles and qualities there!
 

Kneeza

Well-Known Member
I’ve got one for you The Motor, my first pub on the corner of Somerset Road and Dorset Road, you’ll be surprised not many know it.
Originally the Daimler Motor Hotel. Used to use it regularly when I worked at the Climax and at Jag Radford. Keith Fairbrother used to prop the bar when he wasn't propping for Cov, Warks, or England.
 

Magwitch

Well-Known Member
Originally the Daimler Motor Hotel. Used to use it regularly when I worked at the Climax and at Jag Radford. Keith Fairbrother used to prop the bar when he wasn't propping for Cov, Warks, or England.
When and where did you work at Climax, so did I number one m/c shop, foreman Bill Bolton
 

Kneeza

Well-Known Member
I was in the Green Man the last night before closing down. It was turning into a pub for us Cov fans on the way to the Ricoh. Couple in there on to Old Crown on Windmill Road, then the Wheatsheaf. They put Cov shirts up etc in the Green Man then it shut down !
I could see the back of the Green Man from our back garden (Pearson Avenue) before they built the houses between us. Used to scrump apples there as a kid, and drink there regularly from 1970 on.
 

BornSlippySkyBlue

Well-Known Member
Me and all my brothers went to Templar’s , my mum was a cleaner there for 30 years . Proper infant/junior school. Shame they knocked it down for houses .
Depending on when your lot went there I’d guess you know some of my mates from the area. They were all Templar’s boys in the 70s and then woodlands 80-85. Good lads. Shan’t mention names on here, but if you were there around then you’d know them.
 

The Great Eastern

Well-Known Member
I remember the Plough had a heavy metal & rock music disco every Friday & Sunday night. It was run by Silk Disco which was Jim Twyneham who was the announcer at Highfield Road for years. Place was packed every night for these, it must have been a goldmine given the booze they used to sell.

A few years later, around late 70s, the landlord was prosecuted for watering his beer. The brewery sacked him, which meant he was evicted. But he and his wife barricaded themselves in the living quarters for a few days before getting chucked out.
I was a regular attendee at Silk at the Plough. The place heaved most nights they were on and particularly when they hosted the London band Hackensack ! Man...they were loud ! When Silk had to move on, I think the next port of call was the Gosford on Humber Road in the back room then the pub on the High St previously mentioned on this thread. After that, Jim and Graham put on national touring bands at venues like the West End club and the Locarno where they got into some grief because of Hawkwinds topless dancer Stacia ! As you say, Jim was a true gentleman and who can forget those Sky blue suits prior to Wembley in 1987 ! Many, many happy memories of the nights in the Plough.
 

wingy

Well-Known Member
Not sure who he bought it from, but he turned it round as a really successful place. He did the same with Scholars. He was a real true gent. He would stand by the door at Scholars at closing time and make sure people got home okay. He is sadly missed. I knew him since 1964.
I never met him Houch but it was a bit sudden while he was abroad If I remember properly? I've worked with his lad Joe many times .
Sounds like father like son .
Top lad
 

Travs

Well-Known Member
I'm sure you could do an equally fascinating review of all the pubs in Bedworth... Not so many now but in a lot of people here's living memory, had the most pubs per square mile of any English Town.
 

LastGarrison

Well-Known Member
I never met him Houch but it was a bit sudden while he was abroad If I remember properly? I've worked with his lad Joe many times .
Sounds like father like son .
Top lad
Joe's married to my mates sister and just to add to the small world her parents also had pubs and ran Generations!

Gus was always sound when stood on the door at Scholars as were the majority of the doormen, Raf etc.
 

The Great Eastern

Well-Known Member
I'm sure you could do an equally fascinating review of all the pubs in Bedworth... Not so many now but in a lot of people here's living memory, had the most pubs per square mile of any English Town.
I guess with the Coventry car industry to the south and coal mines to the north, Bedworth men had plenty of money to spend in the pubs until it all went tits up decades ago.
 

Sky_Blue_Daz

Well-Known Member
Joe's married to my mates sister and just to add to the small world her parents also had pubs and ran Generations!

Gus was always sound when stood on the door at Scholars as were the majority of the doormen, Raf etc.
 

Sky_Blue_Daz

Well-Known Member
It is a small world LG , the couple that ran ran generations is my uncle and auntie ( auntie is also my godmother ) they are a great family
 

RedSalmon

Well-Known Member
I'm sure you could do an equally fascinating review of all the pubs in Bedworth... Not so many now but in a lot of people here's living memory, had the most pubs per square mile of any English Town.

Can remember most of them from the '80's. Was a great place then.
 

Houchens Head

Fairly well known member from Malvern
Taken from the Telegraph

Gus McGrath Died April 18th 2011 aged 54

FRIENDS and family packed out a Tile Hill church to say their goodbyes to Coventry nightclub owner Gus McGrath.
With so many people wanting to say farewell to the popular city businessman, mourners lined the aisles of Our Lady of the Assumption Church on Tile Hill Lane.
Some were even forced to stand outside in the sunshine as former parish priest Rev David Barry lead an emotional funeral mass packed with laughter and tears.
Mr McGrath, who helped turn a derelict school in Far Gosford Street into Scholars, one of the city’s most popular nightclubs, died on April 18, aged 54.
He was well-known and liked for shaking hands with punters as they left the venue, spending most of his time on the door.
His popularity meant that hundreds of people turned out to pay tribute, with many continuing the celebration of his life at the nearby Standard Triumph Club after the ceremony.

Gus.jpg Gus McGrath

Gus’s family arrived at the service in cars adorned with a variety of different floral tributes
Fr Barry, a friend of the family who returned to the church to lead the service, told mourners that “in Gus McGrath you would always find a friend”.
He added: “Of course his personality was larger than life - he was able to embrace us all.
“It didn’t matter whether you had seen Gus yesterday, five years ago or 25 years ago you would always have an immediate rapport with him.
“He was a pleasure to know – it was a happiness and a privilege. Gus was a true Tile Hill person, no question about it.
“He lived his entire life here.”
Many of Gus’s family members took part in a service packed with personal stories, reading and poignant poems.
His wife of 30 years, Tracy, 48, dedicated a poem to Gus while daughter Anna, 23, chose to read one.
His brother Tom spoke in tribute, while son Joe, 27, who now manages Scholars alongside close family friend Kam Hayer, 39, read a eulogy.


Gus's Funeral.jpg

FRIENDS and family packed out a Tile Hill church to say their goodbyes to Coventry nightclub owner Gus McGrath.
 

Kneeza

Well-Known Member
When and where did you work at Climax, so did I number one m/c shop, foreman Bill Bolton
I was one of the soft lads in the offices by then. Had had enough of the shop floor and had applied for a job as a Technical Author. Initially we were right next to the canteen on Widd Rd. My seat afforded me a view of the canal and Cash's Lane. Later we were moved to some derelict old offices fronting Aldbourne Rd. It was the beginning of the end for the company, and the start of the redundancies, and I was one of the first to go! Started there (from Herberts Edgwick) in '77, and got the boot in '83. Ended up at Jag which was my last job before retirement.
 

Covcraig@bury

Well-Known Member
Depending on when your lot went there I’d guess you know some of my mates from the area. They were all Templar’s boys in the 70s and then woodlands 80-85. Good lads. Shan’t mention names on here, but if you were there around then you’d know them.
I was the youngest of 5 brothers so slightly older . I left woodlands school in 79 . We lived Franklin Grove until the council moved us up Jobs lane next to the Star around 75 .
 

RedSalmon

Well-Known Member
I was one of the soft lads in the offices by then. Had had enough of the shop floor and had applied for a job as a Technical Author. Initially we were right next to the canteen on Widd Rd. My seat afforded me a view of the canal and Cash's Lane. Later we were moved to some derelict old offices fronting Aldbourne Rd. It was the beginning of the end for the company, and the start of the redundancies, and I was one of the first to go! Started there (from Herberts Edgwick) in '77, and got the boot in '83. Ended up at Jag which was my last job before retirement.

Was an apprentice at the Climax. Seemed there was always a redundancy situation going on there!!
 

Magwitch

Well-Known Member
Was an apprentice at the Climax. Seemed there was always a redundancy situation going on there!!
An amazing place full of worlds strangest and eccentric characters, stuck in a timeworp, belt driven machinery, no heating as such so an ice box in winter, no extraction. Had a director, Frank Cotton, a snobby Dickensen character who on a Monday morning would walk round the two machine shops with his trilby, dickie bow and a flower on his blazer wishing all a good morning using your surname, “morning Smith” “morning Brown” he knew all the names fucking arsehole pissed off with the prick I replied one day “morning Cotton” if looks could kill, he never wished me good morning again. Also place was full of unmarried war veterans probably the most racist arses ever, not just black or Asians, anybody not born and bred in Coventry area.
 

BornSlippySkyBlue

Well-Known Member
I was the youngest of 5 brothers so slightly older . I left woodlands school in 79 . We lived Franklin Grove until the council moved us up Jobs lane next to the Star around 75 .
Fair enough, just a touch before then. Maybe it went downhill after you left then! (Woodlands certainly did around then when Thompson left and Hogarth took over).
 

BornSlippySkyBlue

Well-Known Member
An amazing place full of worlds strangest and eccentric characters, stuck in a timeworp, belt driven machinery, no heating as such so an ice box in winter, no extraction. Had a director, Frank Cotton, a snobby Dickensen character who on a Monday morning would walk round the two machine shops with his trilby, dickie bow and a flower on his blazer wishing all a good morning using your surname, “morning Smith” “morning Brown” he knew all the names fucking arsehole pissed off with the prick I replied one day “morning Cotton” if looks could kill, he never wished me good morning again. Also place was full of unmarried war veterans probably the most racist arses ever, not just black or Asians, anybody not born and bred in Coventry area.
Wasn’t that a fair description of a lot of manufacturing in the area in the 70s? Worked with a bloke who did an apprenticeship at Herbets in the 70s and some of the stuff that went on was hilarious, however you could see why they all closed down. Miracle anything ever actually got made, particularly on nights, where some used to take sleeping bags in with them so they got a good sleep.

Bullying managers were also par for the course, as was racism / sexism and I doubt anyone would have gotten away with being openly gay in those places back then. Although let’s face it there must have been plenty of gay people about who just had to keep it quiet to save themselves from all the abuse they’d have got.

People moan about snowflake culture these days, but some things needed changing for sure.
 

Kneeza

Well-Known Member
Wasn’t that a fair description of a lot of manufacturing in the area in the 70s? Worked with a bloke who did an apprenticeship at Herbets in the 70s and some of the stuff that went on was hilarious, however you could see why they all closed down. Miracle anything ever actually got made, particularly on nights, where some used to take sleeping bags in with them so they got a good sleep.

Bullying managers were also par for the course, as was racism / sexism and I doubt anyone would have gotten away with being openly gay in those places back then. Although let’s face it there must have been plenty of gay people about who just had to keep it quiet to save themselves from all the abuse they’d have got.

People moan about snowflake culture these days, but some things needed changing for sure.
I did my apprenticeship at Edgwick, Herberts, finishing it in '73, and going straight onto permanent nights for about three years. Never saw anyone with or in a sleeping bag, but yes, many took the piss somewhat. It was never a big nightshift as such, mostly concentrated around bays 1 to about 10 (of 30) of the shop floor, the hardening shop next to the canal, and the upstairs 'factory' area, and even those were sparsely populated and easy to monitor. Good laugh though, and better money than days.
I was often corralled into going to the Parson's Nose at 'dinner' time due to me having the quickest motorcycle. Woe betide if I got back with cold chips!
 

Magwitch

Well-Known Member
Ah nights: Did eight years at M-F Has to have been the best factory job in England, not a lot to do but all night to do it in.
 

BornSlippySkyBlue

Well-Known Member
I did my apprenticeship at Edgwick, Herberts, finishing it in '73, and going straight onto permanent nights for about three years. Never saw anyone with or in a sleeping bag, but yes, many took the piss somewhat. It was never a big nightshift as such, mostly concentrated around bays 1 to about 10 (of 30) of the shop floor, the hardening shop next to the canal, and the upstairs 'factory' area, and even those were sparsely populated and easy to monitor. Good laugh though, and better money than days.
I was often corralled into going to the Parson's Nose at 'dinner' time due to me having the quickest motorcycle. Woe betide if I got back with cold chips!
Maybe the story got embellished a little in the telling by my ex-colleague, although when I worked with him nothing would have surprised me. I did a brief stint of nights in a factory in the early 90s that was unsupervised for a while. It is fair to say there was a certain amount of ‘larking about’, including (but by no means limited to) rubber bung wars, gameboy Tetris tournaments, water fights (using the cleaning hoses located at various stations around the factory), large amounts of smoking the ’erb (or resin as it tended to be in them days), popping out for last orders, grabbing an hour’s kip in the canteen and ‘frisbee’ competitions using components that were supposed to be being treated in various ways.

I’m not condoning such behaviour, but it was funny as at the time.

There was also a bullying shopfloor manager that used to shout abuse (such as calling people stupid c*nts) at top volume at those he perceived as not pulling their weight or not doing their job properly.

I also never saw an actual sleeping bag, but people did sleep in their cars from time to time. I’ll bet some of them still work there.
 

Kneeza

Well-Known Member
One of our favourites was to get a large-ish ball bearing, hold the inner race, and spin up the outer to a zillion rpm with an airline. Then you let it go up the gangway running the 300 yard length of the shop. By God, they went like fck, and would almost certainly kill someone who got in the way of one that hit a bump and jumped up.
I still shudder at the thought of the potential consequences.
 

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