Not Sheffield, a late change of plans.

20th - 24th June 2022

 

I had planned a train trip to Sheffield but this week’s national rail strikes put the kibosh on that idea. Postponing Sheffield until September I needed to make other plans for the week. Found somewhere that I could drive to instead, a holiday cottage in Wolston near Coventry.

 

 

 

Cottage review:

 Liked  · The cottage is in a great location. Village pub is across the road and chippy only 4 doors down. There is a Co-Op convenience shop a few minutes walk away. Coventry city centre is only a half hour bus ride away and this only costs £4 return. The cottage itself has a lot of character and everything you need for a break away, comfortable bed, and from a personal preference point of view I was glad to see the gas hob.

 

Disliked  · A minor point but some of the fixtures and fittings could do with a bit of maintenance, some of the cupboard doors (including the built-in fridge) have perhaps a bit too much "character" and too few screws in the hinges ;-) That apart I have no complaints and I managed to get a 15' long SUV down the back to the parking spot OK.

 

I did get the impression that the place had been decorated with a bit more enthusiasm than skill but it was comfortable enough and not expensive. Wolston itself has an old village centre surrounded by areas of housing as proximity to Coventry makes it an ideal “dormitory” for the city’s workers. It does have a school and is quite busy throughout the day. The pub was OK although very much a locals’ local. The chippy was very good and attracted quite a bit of visiting trade.

 

Coventry

 

I last went to Coventry while on a Scout summer camp in 1976. Actually a Scout canal cruise. I the drought.This time I arrived on the 86 bus. All I really remember of Coventry in 1976 is being taken to the bombed-out cathedral and its post-war replacement. It was pretty much exactly as I remembered it.

 

 

 

This time I was intent on visiting the Coventry Transport Museum which was four years into the future last time I was here. The bus stops right outside the impressive modern entrance so no problem fining it. Inside in welcome air-conditioned (it was a very hot day) halls is a truly huge collection of vehicles from the earliest cycles to land speed record cars. With a good number of “I had one of those/my Dad had one of those” exhibits and massive of transport related paraphernalia.

 

 

 

 

I seem to have taken a lot of pictures! Flickr Album Coventry Transport Museum

 

Midland Air Museum

 

 

The next day I went for a look at a different type of vehicle at the Midland Air Museum adjacent to the northern boundary of Coventry Airport. Quite a big collection of aircraft indoors and outdoors, mostly post war jets - the museum also houses the Sir Frank Whittle Jet Heritage Centre covering the invention of the jet engine and the man who came up with the idea of using it to power aircraft. There’s a lot of material gathered on a fairly small site and it was very hot, especially inside the main building up under the roof, and it was a relief to emerge into the cooling breeze among the outside exhibits. Some of the aircraft are sometimes open to go on board, including the Avro Vulcan bomber. There’s not a lot of space in there. In contrast the huge Argosy transport has plenty of space but alas was closed for maintenance on the day I visited.

 

 

 

The delta wing of a Vulcan makes a welcome sun shade on a hot day though!

 

 

 

Disappointingly, for the second time in my life I failed to get on board a Vickers Viscount airliner as that was only open for organised groups and not random oiks who just happened to be there on the same day. The first time being when the one that was supposed to bring me back from Jersey in 1979 sprung a hydraulic leak on the tarmac at St. Helier and I had to wait for the incoming BAC Super 111 instead.

 

The camera was busy again Flickr Album Midland Air Museum

 

Baddesley Clinton

 

 

After the air museum it was time to try and get a bit more value out of my National Trust membership for the year. Baddesley Clinton wasn’t too far away, billed as "a secluded, intimate estate set in the heart of the Forest of Arden with 500 years of fascinating and unexpected stories”. Much of the house as seen today was built by Henry Ferrers, a lawyer, diarist and antiquarian, in the late 1500s. It’s got a high “quaint factor” sitting within its moat and as the Ferrers were papists there’s an interesting priest-hole from the 1590s.

 

 

 

Having learnt quite a bit of the house’s history and managed to avoid banging my head on any low Tudor doorways I took tea and cake in the cafe, went for a walk around the gardens, which involved a lot of steps and steep slopes, and eventually crept out through the gift shop (the exit is always through the gift shop) and away back to Wolston.

 

Yes, of course there’s a Flickr Album of Baddesley Clinton too. 

 

Coventry again.

 

On my last day I did consider just chilling with a book at the cottage but got itchy feet and got on the bus to Coventry again instead. Had a wander around the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum for a dose of social history (including as with the transport museum the obligatory Coventry Blitz section) and some fine paintings. Followed that with a walk around the city centre and then when I was waiting for a bus outside the Transport Museum watched Coventry’s finest having a punch-up while a “plastic plod” tried to restore order before lots of real officers turned up to assist him. No alas, no photos of that bit but here’s where all the excitement happened :-)

 

 

 

 

 So it wasn’t the week I had planned but it turned out well in the end.