Life at Coventry - 3

The time was February 2005 and my assignment at UK was getting over. It was time to return to India and we were getting nostalgic. This post is a random collections of interesting photo stories.

The snap of the right is a view from my apartment window and you can see the dense green vegetation and the canal in the backdrop. It was quite an experience walking down this path while going to my office every morning.

A Rainy Day from our Window

This snap on the left is a view from our window on a typical rainy day. Those not familiar with English weather, it can rain anytime in England and the weather can change all of a sudden without any warning. If you are lucky a sunshine can follow immediately after rain which was what happened in this case. One of the reasons it's practically impossible to find dust in England is the English rain. Every single inch of open earth is covered with bright green grass or plantation. You can feel the smell of the earth and enjoy the bright green vegetation in this virtually pollution free atmosphere.

Frozen Winter

After the rain comes the snow. At the time I was staying at Coventry it used to snow heavily at least 2-3 times in winter. You can see the snap of the left which was taken in Winter 2004. The canal is visible in the backdrop which is also frozen. The trees are devoid of all leaves and it's quite a change in scene from the greenery this place used to be. As we used to walk down to our office so it was quite an adventure to travel to office after a heavy snow like this. Things used to get worse when a second snow fall used to cover the melting snow from past. Since I left UK the snowfall seems to have increased a lot and winters have become longer.

Inserted below is another snap of the frozen Canal taken early morning from my apartment window in which swans and seagulls are playing. They are trying to break the thin layer of ice to find some water.

Cathedral Entrance

And here is the famous Coventry Cathedral I have been talking about in my previous post. This is the main entrance to the cathedral church of St. Michael.

St. Michael and the Devil

As you approach Coventry Cathedral, you are overlooked by the rather imposing bronze statues of St. Michael and the Devil on the southern end of the east wall. It was sculpted by Sir Jacob Epstein, who, sadly, died in 1959, and therefore didn't live to see his masterpiece mounted on the cathedral wall a year later.

Reconciliation

And you can see the Reconciliation statue inside the cathedral ruins in this snap on the right. Designed by Josefina de Vasconcellos, the statue of Reconciliation depicts two former enemies forgiving each other. Something influenced by Coventry's war history I guess.

Coventry Council House

Construction of a new Council House designed to be in keeping with its medieval surroundings, began in 1913 and was completed by 1917, but was not officially opened until 11 June 1920 by H.R.H. the Duke of York – soon to become King George VI. We used to go to this building to pay our council tax and it was quite an experience to enter this historic building only to find a modern council office in operation inside.

Transport Museum

The Coventry Transport Museum (formerly known as the Museum of British Road Transport) is a motor museum, located in Coventry City Centre. It houses a collection of British-made road transport. It is located in Coventry because the city was previously the centre of the British car industry. There are more than 240 cars and commercial vehicles, 100 motorcycles, 200 bicycles.
The blue strip you see on the ground is actually the world time zone clock. There are around 200 lights which indicate the time in the 27 cities twinned with Coventry  as well as all the capitals of the world. The clock marks those portions of the globe currently in daylight with its blue strips and marks the hours by flashing its lights. The clock was devised by the Belgian artist Francoise Schein.

Coventry University

And the picture on the left is Coventry University which is the second largest university in the city, the other being the University of Warwick. Initially it was established as the Coventry College of Design with roots tracing back to 1843. In 1970 it was designated as a polytechnic until 1992, when it gained university status. The university offers one of the world's most prestigious automotive design and engineering courses. Its faculties and schools include the Coventry School of Art and Design, The Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, the Faculty of Engineering and Computing and the Faculty of Business, Environment and Society which includes the expanding Coventry Business School.

That's all for now. Keep coming back for my final farewell blog on Coventry. I truly missed leaving Coventry  as it had almost become like my second home.