Holbrooks
Encyclopedia
Holbrooks, also written Holbrook's, is a residential area of Coventry
, West Midlands
, England
.
Most of the length of the four brooks which pass through the area are covered or culverted, one culvert
is adjacent to the recently built housing on Watery Lane. Another brook passes through and under the grounds of Parkgate School. The brooks then head off towards the river Sherbourne and the Sowe.
Holbooks is situated some 3 mi (5 km) north-west to the city centre and was largely developed for private and council housing during the 1950s and to replace the many homes destroyed by air raids during the Second World War.
Some areas are pre-war, Farm Close was built in the 1920s as local industry expanded.
A lot of terraced houses were built in Holbrooks around the mid 1930s. One 1930s housing estates is locally known as 'The Dales', a somewhat tired housing estate
close to the Ricoh Arena, and separated from it by a railway line and a main road, the A444 Phoenix Way.
The Dales estate was mostly built in 1936, locally named this because it consists of the following streets: Lauderdale Avenue, Kirkdale Avenue, Farndale Avenue, Glaisdale Avenue, Langdale Avenue and Bransdale Avenue. Though the houses on the left when entering Langdale Avenue were built slightly later in the early 1940s and are early examples of a cavity walled brickwork design. The property known as number 8, Langdale Avenue was a dental surgery for many years. Today this estate is troubled by parking problems, a lack of green spaces and any play areas for children.
The 'Stadium' housing estate stands at the rear of Lythalls Lane, is so called because the terraced houses and flats there, were built on the site of a former dog racing stadium. In 1928 the Stadium speedway track opened. The track was closed in 1936 and the following year a greyhound track opened on the site, this remained in use until 1964 when it was replaced by the housing.
A nearby area which was once a 'green space' used by local children and pet owners, where several flats and social housing were constructed during 2008-2009. Some of these dwellings face towards the A444 Phonenix Way and the Ricoh and Tesco developments.
Children in Holbrooks now have fewer places to play as various pockets of land are being swallowed up to in-fill, although there is a large park on Holbook Lane, the area is of a largely dense population.
Holbrooks is close to the 2005 Ricoh Arena, (which was designed to have limited parking to promote bus travel and walking) a parking permit scheme is in place.
A promised rail link and arena station has not materialised, despite clear advantages. The railway runs alongside the Ricoh car park and under the A444, perfect routing, however any station has been shelved. Many football fans leaving matches continue to walk along the main A444 dual carriageway towards the M6, as there is no footway at all they risk being struck by fast moving vehicles although the speed limit has been lowered from 70 to 50 mph, more suitable car parking would have seemed sensible.
Motorists visiting Holbrooks on 'match days' must display a visitor's parking ticket or face fines; residents must display permits too. The Ricoh Arena
was completed in 2005 and is the home of the city's professional football club
, although they do not own the ground.
The arena also boasts a hotel; some of the rooms have a view of the pitch, and 17 are 'mini suites' for people on a budget. At the beginning of 2011 an additional 9 rooms were added during a £3.7 million revamp which renamed the hotel De-Vere At The Ricoh, a 650-seat auditorium for live entertainment and new grand entrance with lighting visible from the A444 was also created.
One larger room boasts a 'raindance monsoon shower' and another comprises a four-bedroom suite
with a 'waterfall bath feature'. The hotel is modern and of contemporary
design. The arena is also a pop concert venue, a large casino
and conference halls.
Notable acts who have played here include Bon Jovi
2008, Take That
June 2009, and reformed Coventry bands The Specials
and also The Enemy
. Manchester band Oasis
played the Ricoh during July 2009 and American act Pink
, artist Alecia Moore played during 2010.
Ricoh also hosts; weekend markets,trade and religious conferences, motor industry events,and fun-fairs (outside on the car park)these keep the venue well used.
The arena has extensive restaurant and bar facilities and a fitness gym
nasium.
Another notable social housing estate in Holbrooks is the area of Everdon Road. Built after the Second World War, and accessed from either Beake Avenue or Holbrook Lane, this is a more spacious well-designed housing estate with mostly three- and four-bedroom houses with large rooms and tall roofs. Also several one-bedroom bungalows with the same tall roof design.
Due to the spacious layout of the estate, more bungalows were recently built as 'infill' and in the future more development is likely.
There are a number of four storey residential flats on Everdon Road too, some have open views across parkland. The shape of the Everdon estate forms a complete loop and includes a small row of shops with flats
above. Everdon is regularly used by learner drivers to practice, due to there being many corners, curves and reversing opportunity, plus the road is quiet during the school day. Most houses face onto grassed areas, and the estate is bordered by the large Holbrook Park which is maintained by Coventry City Council.
Today Holbrooks has a diverse and large cultural mix which includes a large number of Polish
people. There are two Polish food stores along Holbrook Lane, and several other food outlets and ethnic restaurants. Holbrook Lane is the site of the Former Dunlop Factory.
Holbrooks is near to one of the largest Tesco
Superstores in Europe. Located in the neighbouring ward of Foleshill and built in 2003, the store has an entire aisle
dedicated to foods imported from around the world to satisfy the cultural diversity. Marks and Spencers and Next stores are also located adjacently and Starbucks.
The Coventry Canal runs behind the Tesco site, but the opportunity to incorporate any waterside aspect; waterside cafe or shops facing onto the cut was not considered. Morrisons
food store opened in 2010 in Parkgate Road on the site formerly occupied by Somerfield and is an important part of the Holbrooks shopping scene.
Holbrooks is also a short distance from the former British Coal
Keresley
Colliery site which is now a large industrial estate of warehousing called Prologis Park.
The large wheel from the winding tower was cut into two, and placed on Prologis Park as a reminder of the site's former activity, this stands in monument to the past.
Some occupiers who have used ProLogis Park include GEFCO and Terex Benford, Tesco (warehousing), Co-op, Exel Bridgestone, Mastercare, DHL Exel Supply Chain, Richard Austin Alloys, Inkfish and Domestic & General. Prologis park covers some 300 acres (1.2 km²) of land and includes a 'nature park' and arboreal area with two man-made lakes and some additional marshland where wildlife monitoring takes place. No fishing is allowed, and many species of bird use the habitat.
Under the terrain of Holbrooks (and surrounding areas) are several mine
d coal seams at a depth ranging of 600–1,500 metres, these coal seams are known as the Warwickshire Thick, locally extracted to the pit head at Keresley from 1917 and until its eventual closure in 1991. The site was then used as a homefire plant until its complete closure in the year 2000. In 1939, at its peak, a million ton
s of coal was being extracted per year.
Keresley coal was distributed via the railway line which still runs through Holbrooks and crosses Wheelwright Lane, the line was completed in 1919.
Today, the line carries freight from Prologis Park, along the same route the coal had taken, crossing Wheelright Lane then running parallel with Winding House Lane, leaving Holbrooks over a cast iron
bridge situated at Hen Lane, onwards toward Foleshill and towards Coventry. The bridge at Hen Lane was vandalised several years ago and is still sporting the infamous words "Holbronx Boyz" in spray paint to the elevation facing the A444.
Interestingly 'Holbook's Primary School' is in fact in the adjacent suburb of Foleshill
. Schools for primary age (4-11) children in Holbrooks include, Parkgate (one of the largest primary schools in Coventry) using the motto “Opening the Gate to Success” a school which had been two separate but adjacent schools.
Also for primary ages, Holy Family and John Shelton School. Secondary education is provided at President Kennedy School locally referred to as 'PK' in Rookery Lane. Built during the 1960s the site was due for a complete demolition and re-build, until these plans were abruptly stopped by the incoming Coalition 'Government' in 2010 due to immediate financial cuts.
The coal mining
and town gas industry was a major source of employment
for Holbrooks and Binley
areas of Coventry. Mining in the Midlands is still undertaken on a neighbouring coal seam, and coal is still extracted from Daw Mill
. Coal mining is far from over under the area with plenty of coal yet to be extracted, although the pit head at Keresley is just a memory.
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Most of the length of the four brooks which pass through the area are covered or culverted, one culvert
Culvert
A culvert is a device used to channel water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or embankment. Culverts can be made of many different materials; steel, polyvinyl chloride and concrete are the most common...
is adjacent to the recently built housing on Watery Lane. Another brook passes through and under the grounds of Parkgate School. The brooks then head off towards the river Sherbourne and the Sowe.
Holbooks is situated some 3 mi (5 km) north-west to the city centre and was largely developed for private and council housing during the 1950s and to replace the many homes destroyed by air raids during the Second World War.
Some areas are pre-war, Farm Close was built in the 1920s as local industry expanded.
A lot of terraced houses were built in Holbrooks around the mid 1930s. One 1930s housing estates is locally known as 'The Dales', a somewhat tired housing estate
Housing estate
A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
close to the Ricoh Arena, and separated from it by a railway line and a main road, the A444 Phoenix Way.
The Dales estate was mostly built in 1936, locally named this because it consists of the following streets: Lauderdale Avenue, Kirkdale Avenue, Farndale Avenue, Glaisdale Avenue, Langdale Avenue and Bransdale Avenue. Though the houses on the left when entering Langdale Avenue were built slightly later in the early 1940s and are early examples of a cavity walled brickwork design. The property known as number 8, Langdale Avenue was a dental surgery for many years. Today this estate is troubled by parking problems, a lack of green spaces and any play areas for children.
The 'Stadium' housing estate stands at the rear of Lythalls Lane, is so called because the terraced houses and flats there, were built on the site of a former dog racing stadium. In 1928 the Stadium speedway track opened. The track was closed in 1936 and the following year a greyhound track opened on the site, this remained in use until 1964 when it was replaced by the housing.
A nearby area which was once a 'green space' used by local children and pet owners, where several flats and social housing were constructed during 2008-2009. Some of these dwellings face towards the A444 Phonenix Way and the Ricoh and Tesco developments.
Children in Holbrooks now have fewer places to play as various pockets of land are being swallowed up to in-fill, although there is a large park on Holbook Lane, the area is of a largely dense population.
Holbrooks is close to the 2005 Ricoh Arena, (which was designed to have limited parking to promote bus travel and walking) a parking permit scheme is in place.
A promised rail link and arena station has not materialised, despite clear advantages. The railway runs alongside the Ricoh car park and under the A444, perfect routing, however any station has been shelved. Many football fans leaving matches continue to walk along the main A444 dual carriageway towards the M6, as there is no footway at all they risk being struck by fast moving vehicles although the speed limit has been lowered from 70 to 50 mph, more suitable car parking would have seemed sensible.
Motorists visiting Holbrooks on 'match days' must display a visitor's parking ticket or face fines; residents must display permits too. The Ricoh Arena
Ricoh Arena
The Ricoh Arena , home to Coventry City F.C., is a stadium complex situated in the Rowleys Green district of the city of Coventry, England containing a 32,609 seater football stadium, a 6,000 square-metre exhibition hall, a hotel, a leisure club, and a casino...
was completed in 2005 and is the home of the city's professional football club
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...
, although they do not own the ground.
The arena also boasts a hotel; some of the rooms have a view of the pitch, and 17 are 'mini suites' for people on a budget. At the beginning of 2011 an additional 9 rooms were added during a £3.7 million revamp which renamed the hotel De-Vere At The Ricoh, a 650-seat auditorium for live entertainment and new grand entrance with lighting visible from the A444 was also created.
One larger room boasts a 'raindance monsoon shower' and another comprises a four-bedroom suite
Suite
In music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
with a 'waterfall bath feature'. The hotel is modern and of contemporary
Contemporary architecture
Contemporary architecture is generally speaking the architecture of the present time.The term contemporary architecture is also applied to a range of styles of recently built structures and space which are optimized for current use....
design. The arena is also a pop concert venue, a large casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
and conference halls.
Notable acts who have played here include Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
2008, Take That
Take That
Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group comprising Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Barlow acts as the lead singer and primary songwriter...
June 2009, and reformed Coventry bands The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
and also The Enemy
The Enemy (UK band)
The Enemy are an English rock band formed in Coventry in 2006, signed to Warner Music Group . In June 2007, The Enemy played twice at Glastonbury Festival, first in the 'Guardian Lounge' on Saturday and then the much larger 'Other Stage' on Sunday. They also headlined on the Saturday night of T in...
. Manchester band Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
played the Ricoh during July 2009 and American act Pink
Pink (singer)
Alecia Beth Moore , better known by her stage name Pink , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress....
, artist Alecia Moore played during 2010.
Ricoh also hosts; weekend markets,trade and religious conferences, motor industry events,and fun-fairs (outside on the car park)these keep the venue well used.
The arena has extensive restaurant and bar facilities and a fitness gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
nasium.
Another notable social housing estate in Holbrooks is the area of Everdon Road. Built after the Second World War, and accessed from either Beake Avenue or Holbrook Lane, this is a more spacious well-designed housing estate with mostly three- and four-bedroom houses with large rooms and tall roofs. Also several one-bedroom bungalows with the same tall roof design.
Due to the spacious layout of the estate, more bungalows were recently built as 'infill' and in the future more development is likely.
There are a number of four storey residential flats on Everdon Road too, some have open views across parkland. The shape of the Everdon estate forms a complete loop and includes a small row of shops with flats
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
above. Everdon is regularly used by learner drivers to practice, due to there being many corners, curves and reversing opportunity, plus the road is quiet during the school day. Most houses face onto grassed areas, and the estate is bordered by the large Holbrook Park which is maintained by Coventry City Council.
Today Holbrooks has a diverse and large cultural mix which includes a large number of Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
people. There are two Polish food stores along Holbrook Lane, and several other food outlets and ethnic restaurants. Holbrook Lane is the site of the Former Dunlop Factory.
Holbrooks is near to one of the largest Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
Superstores in Europe. Located in the neighbouring ward of Foleshill and built in 2003, the store has an entire aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
dedicated to foods imported from around the world to satisfy the cultural diversity. Marks and Spencers and Next stores are also located adjacently and Starbucks.
The Coventry Canal runs behind the Tesco site, but the opportunity to incorporate any waterside aspect; waterside cafe or shops facing onto the cut was not considered. Morrisons
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
food store opened in 2010 in Parkgate Road on the site formerly occupied by Somerfield and is an important part of the Holbrooks shopping scene.
Holbrooks is also a short distance from the former British Coal
British Coal
thumb|right|British Coal company logoThe British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation in the United Kingdom responsible for the extraction of coal...
Keresley
Keresley
Keresley is a village and civil parish in the City of Coventry, West Midlands, England, about north of Coventry city centre. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 791...
Colliery site which is now a large industrial estate of warehousing called Prologis Park.
The large wheel from the winding tower was cut into two, and placed on Prologis Park as a reminder of the site's former activity, this stands in monument to the past.
Some occupiers who have used ProLogis Park include GEFCO and Terex Benford, Tesco (warehousing), Co-op, Exel Bridgestone, Mastercare, DHL Exel Supply Chain, Richard Austin Alloys, Inkfish and Domestic & General. Prologis park covers some 300 acres (1.2 km²) of land and includes a 'nature park' and arboreal area with two man-made lakes and some additional marshland where wildlife monitoring takes place. No fishing is allowed, and many species of bird use the habitat.
Under the terrain of Holbrooks (and surrounding areas) are several mine
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
d coal seams at a depth ranging of 600–1,500 metres, these coal seams are known as the Warwickshire Thick, locally extracted to the pit head at Keresley from 1917 and until its eventual closure in 1991. The site was then used as a homefire plant until its complete closure in the year 2000. In 1939, at its peak, a million ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s of coal was being extracted per year.
Keresley coal was distributed via the railway line which still runs through Holbrooks and crosses Wheelwright Lane, the line was completed in 1919.
Today, the line carries freight from Prologis Park, along the same route the coal had taken, crossing Wheelright Lane then running parallel with Winding House Lane, leaving Holbrooks over a cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
bridge situated at Hen Lane, onwards toward Foleshill and towards Coventry. The bridge at Hen Lane was vandalised several years ago and is still sporting the infamous words "Holbronx Boyz" in spray paint to the elevation facing the A444.
Interestingly 'Holbook's Primary School' is in fact in the adjacent suburb of Foleshill
Foleshill
Foleshill is a suburb in the north of Coventry in the West Midlands of England.Longford. Courthouse Green and Rowley Green are to its north and Keresley is to its west.- History :...
. Schools for primary age (4-11) children in Holbrooks include, Parkgate (one of the largest primary schools in Coventry) using the motto “Opening the Gate to Success” a school which had been two separate but adjacent schools.
Also for primary ages, Holy Family and John Shelton School. Secondary education is provided at President Kennedy School locally referred to as 'PK' in Rookery Lane. Built during the 1960s the site was due for a complete demolition and re-build, until these plans were abruptly stopped by the incoming Coalition 'Government' in 2010 due to immediate financial cuts.
The coal mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and town gas industry was a major source of employment
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
for Holbrooks and Binley
Binley, Coventry
Binley is a suburb in the east of Coventry, England. Binley evolved from a small mining village on the outskirts of Coventry to a large residential area composing private residences and council-owned properties....
areas of Coventry. Mining in the Midlands is still undertaken on a neighbouring coal seam, and coal is still extracted from Daw Mill
Daw Mill
Daw Mill is a coal mine located near the village of Arley in the English county of Warwickshire. The mine is Britain's biggest coal producer, mining a five-metre thick section of the Warwickshire Coalfield in the north of the county...
. Coal mining is far from over under the area with plenty of coal yet to be extracted, although the pit head at Keresley is just a memory.