Coventry - the industrial city with an historic tradition : leaflet issued by Coventry City Council, 1934 : these industries ...
Another quite modernist take for what was regarded as one of Britain's most 'modern' city, Coventry. Issued to help attract additional industry to the city by the Council in 1934, and possibly issued at the British Industrial Fair of that year, the leaflet makes claim to being at the centre of Industrial England and that it was truly a city of 'progress'. It is true that it was home to a raft of relatively modern industries, based around engineering, and that had sprung from late Victorian origins in trades such as bicycle manufacturing. By 1934 it was home to a substantial number of British car manufacturers, Riley seen here being one, as well as the ancilliary trades that supported the motor industry such as Morris Motors engine plants. There was also a notable presence in the electrical and machine tool trades as inclusion of the GEC's major telephone equipment factory shows. One older trade, that of textiles, is depicted with the works of J & J Cash, the manufacturers of tapes and ribbons shown.
The Council were active in promoting industrial sites within the boundaries, as well as promoting services that supported industry such as energy supplies, transport and a skilled workforce. The cover is a montage of industrial might set against the three spires of the city centre. The main text also tells of 'thriving' industries in the middle of England - Coventry is about as far as you could get to a major port but here this centrality is shown as being a strategic advantage. The local legend of Lady Godiva gets a look in as well, with the claim of Coventry's antiquity. Interestingly the city was one of the more medieval survivors and as well as the almost crippling Second World War blitz bombings the city suffered there is a debate that the city's architect was quite cheerful about large scale destruction and re-planning of the central core both before and after the War.
Coventry - the industrial city with an historic tradition : leaflet issued by Coventry City Council, 1934 : these industries ...
Another quite modernist take for what was regarded as one of Britain's most 'modern' city, Coventry. Issued to help attract additional industry to the city by the Council in 1934, and possibly issued at the British Industrial Fair of that year, the leaflet makes claim to being at the centre of Industrial England and that it was truly a city of 'progress'. It is true that it was home to a raft of relatively modern industries, based around engineering, and that had sprung from late Victorian origins in trades such as bicycle manufacturing. By 1934 it was home to a substantial number of British car manufacturers, Riley seen here being one, as well as the ancilliary trades that supported the motor industry such as Morris Motors engine plants. There was also a notable presence in the electrical and machine tool trades as inclusion of the GEC's major telephone equipment factory shows. One older trade, that of textiles, is depicted with the works of J & J Cash, the manufacturers of tapes and ribbons shown.
The Council were active in promoting industrial sites within the boundaries, as well as promoting services that supported industry such as energy supplies, transport and a skilled workforce. The cover is a montage of industrial might set against the three spires of the city centre. The main text also tells of 'thriving' industries in the middle of England - Coventry is about as far as you could get to a major port but here this centrality is shown as being a strategic advantage. The local legend of Lady Godiva gets a look in as well, with the claim of Coventry's antiquity. Interestingly the city was one of the more medieval survivors and as well as the almost crippling Second World War blitz bombings the city suffered there is a debate that the city's architect was quite cheerful about large scale destruction and re-planning of the central core both before and after the War.