Coventry.

Yesterday we walked the mile or so over the railway bridge into Rugby to catch the Coventry bus. On arrival there we made our way to the Transport Museum. The first car we saw on entry was this rather splendid Bentley in racing green. I would have enjoyed a ride around the country lanes in that I think.

Entry to the museum is free but donations can be made at various places en-route. So we did as we found the museum was brilliantly managed and laid out with plenty of information accompanying each exhibit.

This nice little two seater Swift had a winding handle at the front which brought back happy memories of my father struggling to get his car engine to turn when it wouldn’t start! The displays are laid out brilliantly and we mingled with several school groups who were very excited and making drawings and descriptions of the exhibits. I think we managed to see everything in a couple of hours, then we were ready for a coffee. To my surprise the coffee shop had a used books corner for a donation to charity I found My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell, so I was very pleased. The friendly enterprising young lad running the coffee shop also organised cycle rides for charity according to the news cuttings and photos of him on the notice board.

Afterwards we walked across the city in the direction of the cathedrals passing by the statue of Lady Godiva. She was the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia in the 11 century. Coventry people complained of the high taxes he imposed on them and Lady Godiva pleaded with him to reduce them. He replied that she could ride naked through the town before he did so. She accepted his challenge and this statue was erected in 1949 commemorating her famous ride.