Jordan Well & Earl Street Camera No. 58

Here's a view that will be quite familiar, not only to the majority of Coventry dwellers, but many students too. Just visible on the left is what used to be the frontage to a cinema, previously the Gaumont from when it was built in 1931, then the Odeon from 1967. Since 1998 it has been owned by Coventry University, and is now known as the Ellen Terry Building. In the background on the other side of the street is The Herbert. Apart from the trail of students going into town, and the few visitors to The Herbert art gallery, this isn't a street where one would expect to see masses of people.

What a difference a few decades make! Click on the image to see how back in the 1920's Jordan Well was a thriving shopping street. The line of the street was clean and uniform looking, and yet each of the premises were individual and inviting. What's even more sad about the loss of this particular scene, is that despite the wartime bombing, most of these shops survived, as this photo in the blitz section testifies. The heaviest damage was at the far end, in Earl Street. Just across the road on the right, next to Tansley's bicycle shop, is Freeth Street, which disappeared altogether after the redevelopment.