The best family-friendly hikes and walks around Finham

The Self Sacrifice statue is better known in Coventry as the Lady Godiva statue in Broadgate. The subject of a wealthy women who would belittle herself and open herself up ridicule and shame for the poor is fairly unique in history. The story of the statue is one of two Williams – the artist William Reid-Dick and the benefactor or the man who payed for it – William Bassett-Green. Reid-Dick was President of the Royal Institute of Sculptors and Bassett-Green had contacted him in 1936 to see if he know anyone who could make a larger then life stature of Lady Godiva on a horse to go in the centre of Coventry. Reid-Dick said he was the man to do it and gave a quote, but said he was very busy and it would take up to 18 months to design. Bassett-Green said this was okay as he had not got planning permission and tram tracks would have to be removed out of Broadgate so 18 months wait was no problem. (https://www.coventrysociety.org.uk/public-art-in-coventry/self-sacrifice/)

The clock itself originated in Coventry’s old Market Hall Clock Tower. The tower became unsafe after the bombing in the War and its Edward Thomas Loseby clock mechanism and bell were dismantled and incorporated into the new Broadgate clock in 1953. Edward Thomas Loseby was a well-known Victorian clock and watchmaker. He was born in Leicester in 1817 and was apprenticed to Rotherham’s in Coventry from 1831 to 1838. In 1870, he designed Coventry’s Market Hall clock. In the contract for the clock, he had agreed to forfeit £1 for every second it varied each day, but although the clock eventually cost twice the original estimate of £308, Loseby never had to pay a forfeit. Trials in 1888 showed it to be accurate to within 0.2 second, making it far superior to the rival Westminster clock. Its time was set by a Greenwich time signal supplied by Rotherham’s, who provided this service in the 1870s and 1880s. (https://cov-soc.skizzar.site/public-art-in-coventry/godiva-clock/)

This church was one of the few buildings of stature that escaped destruction during the bombing raids of the second world war. It was not simply a lucky escape, however.... the vicar, Canon Graham Clitheroe, and a team of dedicated fire-fighters bravely averted the danger from the falling incendiaries during the heaviest raid on November 14th 1940. (https://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/tour/content.php?pg=trinity-ch)

The timber used for these buildings has been accurately tree-ring dated to around 1414-15. Although oak can only be easily worked while it is still green, these cottages were not, in fact, constructed soon after the trees were felled. David McGrory informs us that they were built around 1648 by Rev. Bryan of Holy Trinity - possibly using reclaimed timbers that were stored near the church. He reminds us of other important facts too.... in 1414, the ground level at that point in front of the priory was many feet lower than the cottages now stand. They also contain 17th century cellars, not the typical vaulted ones of medieval times. The timber used may have been from houses taken down a few years earlier, prior to the Civil War. In streets such as Spon Street and Gosford Street, houses close up to the City Wall would have presented a defensive weakness - a place for attacking armies to take cover - so these buildings were removed in times of conflict. (https://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/tour/content.php?pg=lychgate)

The bar is run by a local brewery as additional outlet in the city centre.

The story of the spire begins in the early 13th Century, when the Earl of Chester, Ranulf de Blondeville, authorised Franciscan monks to erect a monastery on his Cheylesmore Manor estate – the land beneath your very feet. This monastery became known as Greyfriars, named after their grey robes. In 1234, King Henry III gifted timber to build the monastic Greyfriars church and the estate was enlarged again in 1289 when more land was gifted to the monastery by, Roger de Monalt, Earl of Chester. As a landmark building even in its day, the Greyfriars Church, which would have likely stood as a simple wooden structure, became the resting place of the very first Mayor of Coventry, John Ward in 1348. The construction of the tower you see before you didn’t begin until 1359 when the Black Prince allowed the monks to take stone from his quarries. The newly constructed tower and spire formed the centre of the Church of Greyfriars. (https://dhillonsspirebar.com/about/)

quiet path beside/near the Sowe

the Kenpas Highway is great to practice speed- cycling, however must be careful of side winds when the traffic gets busier.