The Coventry Godcake

The recent Olympics certainly made their mark in Coventry. Support for the Torch Relay was amazing all along the route, Godiva awoke in spectacular style and  Broadgate Square was the perfect venue for the Global Market.

This summer also saw the revival of a local speciality, the Coventry Godcake. I tried one the other day for the very first time: it's a triangle of puff pastry, crisp and light on the outside and filled with spicy currants and raisins.

 Coventry Godcakes date back to the Middle Ages; Godparents traditionally gave them to their Godchildren on New Year's Day, with a blessing for the year ahead. The three corners, and the three cuts in the top of the cake, are said to represent the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

I hope these delicious cakes are here to stay, a taste of tradition and another trademark for our city.

An eccelsiastical week

In preparation for our Heritage Open Day event at St John the Divine Church, Willenhall, I've been roving round on the bus, photographing specific churches.

 Sir Basil Spence, most renowned as the architect of Coventry Cathedral, was also responsible for the design of three suburban churches, built on the 1950s estates of Willenhall, Wood End and Tile Hill. All three churches are celebrating their 55th anniversary this year; they have stood the test of time and their campanile towers are still an important feature of the local landscape.





St John the Divine, Willenhall

 The project to build these churches began in 1954, using money allocated by the War Damage Commission. There were only enough funds for one brick-built church; however, three churches could be built very economically using 'no fines' concrete. This method involved pouring concrete containing no fine aggregates such as sand, into suppporting 'shutters'. The concrete set very quickly and the supports could then be taken away to reveal rough-cast slabs. It was an economical method which allowed each new estate to have its own church, rugged and characterful.

St Chad's, Wood End

There is a real honesty about these churches: they are fit for purpose, and although the bell towers have neede attention over the years, the actual fabric of the buildings is quite low maintenance. Having spacious church halls attached means that community activities can take place, and the central location makes the church a focal point of each estate.

St Oswald's, Tile Hill

We will be celebrating 55 years of Sir Basil Spence's architecture at St John the Divine on Saturday 8th September from 12 noon till 4pm. Come along and see our history displays, join in our children's craft session and enjoy some of our delicious home-made cakes.

Conflagration

Coming home from Earlsdon on Wednesday evening, I was amazed to see a huge plume of smoke billowing up over south-east Coventry. This was what it looked like from Anarchy Bridge, by the station.

Photo courtesy of Clare Weir

I got on the No 16 bus in Pool Meadow, heading for Ernesford Grange. In the Aldermoor, people were coming out of their houses to see what was happening, and there was a real sense of alarm among the bus passengers. As we turned onto Allard Way the smoke rose sky- high in a thick swirling column. I could see that the fire must be beyond the railway line in the direction of Baginton.

When I got home, I could smell acrid burning on our street, and a haze hung in the air which gave the evening a premature autumnal feel. I rushed to tune into Radio Coventry and Warwickshire and discovered that the blaze was at a woodworking firm on Siskin Drive.

White smoke was still rising into the sky the next day, and firefighters were struggling to control the flames which were devouring the underside of the collapsed factory.

As I write this, it's Friday evening and the air still carries the taint of burning. There is something really shocking about a blaze of that magnitude, and we can be very thankful that no lives were lost.

Willenhall mural artists hit the road

Today, the volunteer mural artists from Willenhall met up with other groups who had also worked with Kate Turner on similar projects around Coventry. At around 10 am a coach rolled up at the Hagard, bringing the people from Mossdale and Bell Green, plus community artist Kate Turner and baby Harry.




Kate (and Harry) telling the story of Willenhall's history


 After showing the visitors our murals and a quick morning coffee, we piled into the coach and set off for the Four Closes in Ernesford Grange. The artwork here is mounted on the wall of Gordon's shop in George Robertson Close, tracing the history of the area in a series of exquisitely coloured circular boards.




This section of the Four Closes project represents Binley's mining history

Arrival at Mossdale

We picked up a few more passengers, then it was time to cross the city to the Mossdale estate in Radford, an area which many of us had never visited before. In the past few years the community has worked very hard to improve the environment, creating a most attractive enclave with colourful flowerbeds and cut-and-come-again herbs for all to use. Here, the artwork represents Radford's rural past, although a First World War plane in the sky reminds us of the presence of the aerodrome, now engulfed in the bricks and mortar of nearby Jubilee Crescent.



Country scene with canal at Mossdale

 Our final destination was Riley Square, Bell Green. In the Community Centre, we had a chance to look at  photographs documenting the various projects as they unfolded. At 12.30 we went out into the square itself for the grand opening of the Riley Square murals: Kate gave a brief talk about the history of the Bell Green area, then Councillor Ed Ruane cut the ribbon. We were very impressed with these two large and very detailed murals,particularly the illustrated map and the section on William Riley who gave the square its name. The event concluded with a delicious lunch, and we left Bell Green having made many new friends from the other groups, with whom we will definitely keep in touch.