Coventry - The Ghost Town that became the Boom Town

Hi Everyone. With Coventry just being awarded the coveted status of UK city of culture for 2021 I wanted to put a travel blog together to show people from outside the Midlands what our fantastic city has to offer both historically and culturally. If your'e looking for a place to visit away from the usual tourist destinations of London and Oxford then please venture up to the Midlands and visit this little gem for the day. You will not be disappointed. Thanks for looking :)
https://thetravellingbluenose.wordpress.com/2018/02/07/coventry-the-ghost-town-that-became-the-boom-town/

I dont like to be negative but most people visiting Coventry expecting a fantastic city of culture and wonderful historical buildings is likely to be disappointed.

As someone who lived In Coventry for the first 21 years of his life, I can only agree. 'City most in need of culture' would be more like it.

Good luck to Coventry. And thank you teamvikingsw for flagging this up.

Kingston upon Hiull is currently UK City of Culture this year. I laughed when I heard BUT it has really put Hull on the map and made people realise there is a lot more to Hull than they thought. It prompted a massive regeneration of the city centre and has brought a lot of much welcome money into what is a much negelected part of the country. I am sure this will be the case for Coventry, especially if people go with an open mind and sense of adventure..

It is about time we encouraged people to move away from the well known tourist destinations of London, Bath, Oxford , Stratford upon Avon and their ilk. There is a lot more of England to explore than these. Why not Coventry? It has a long history with the Roman Fort at Lunt. Then there is the womnderfull story of Lady Godiva (who can resist it). The ruined cathedral is a poignant reminder of WW2. You may not like the modern architecture of the new cathedral but it is definitely worth visiting. I love the sculpture of Archangel Gabriel on the outside and the sunlight pouring throught eh stained glass windows and lighting up the nave. I can'tsay I was as impressed by Graham Sutherland's tapestry (and particularly the way his name was emblazoned across the bottom).

I visit Hull maybe once or twice a year and the City of Culture certainly enlivened the city - I hope it has got the momentum going. Having had to spend a couple of days in Coventry about 3 years ago, I've been in no hurry to rush back, so I hope City of Culture will achieve in Coventry what it has so far done for Hull.

Incidentally I have heard of one or two towns who think they will never qualify for City of Culture status but like the concept of raising the town's profile and being able to say to the large metropolitan cities their events should be staged elsewhere - don't expect everone to come to you, you go out and bring your show / exhibition / event to people where they live. And if the town can get its act together to organise these under some sort of "umbrella" then the whole area raises its profile which is good for jobs and the local economy generally.

Hee hee, you think that is bad but WALTHAMSTOW has recently won the bid to be first London Borough of Culture (Brent also as apparently you can have two). No idea how they managed it but so far they have decided they need to hold a competition to design the logo and 2 "apprentices" to help them "develop and deliver" their "ambitious cultural year". Sounds to me as though they don't actually have any ideas about what to do. I think they got/are getting 1.35 million for it though.

Sorry, should read WALTHAM FOREST of course, not Walthamstow. And I'm not being overly critical, I think - I live in it.

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