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The community has always been at the heart of Far Gosford St both past and present. Residents combined forces with local businesses and The Coventry Society to press for regeneration of their street resulting in the current partnership. They remain an active part of the delivery of the street’s renaissance.
The street now has a Christmas event and tree for the first time in memory and a series of arts events have engaged local people in the area’s rich history. The Ostara pageant in 2010 involved two hundred school children from local schools in a play that moved up the street charting the history from medieval times through to the Blitz.
The street has seen a lot of changes in the last 70 years and an important film project has recorded the memories of those that remember the Blitz, the Courts, the two cinemas and the economic heyday, while they are still with us.
The story of Vera Roberts story is almost hard to believe in these times of peace. Vera, only 16 was on her first ever date on the night of 14th November 1940. She went with a young soldier to The Scala Cinema, like many young locals. The soldier volunteered to help extinguish the fire at The Pitts Head Pub opposite and was never seen again. Vera left before the bomb came that hit The Scala and killed five people. Her account of a frightened girl standing in the street seeing planes flying at chimney height strafing all in their path is a haunting reminder of the reality of war. She will be forever grateful to the ARP warden that dragged her into one of the courts, saving her life.