The Definitive Guide to the History of
Pubs and Beerhouses in Coventry

Drinking in an Old English Town

Alhambra, 64-66 New Buildings

These premises have been known by different names during their history:	FROM	TO	NAME
	1746	1968	Meriden Tavern
	1968	2000	Alhambra
On the 6th February 1968 the Coventry Licensing Committee was asked for permission to rename the MERIDEN TAVERN to the ALHAMBRA. The chairman was more than happy to accept this name change, especially considering that the owner's original intention was to call the pub "Fanny's"! After a £35,000 refurbishment the Alhambra was opened on the 25th April 1968. People my age will remember good times at the Alhambra from Don Fardon's tenancy in the 1970s on. It featured in the 1986 Good Beer Guide as 'a popular lunchtime venue', but was demolished in 1999 to make way for the Priory Court development. The roof timbers were rescued for ring dating, so that we would know what an aged building the developers had destroyed! The Alhambra is the 'red palace' built by the Moorish rulers of Grenada in the 13th century. It was used as the name of a famous music hall in Leicester Square, built in the Moorish style and then became a popular name for variety theatres, cinemas and pubs, implying a certain opulence. Why it should be used for this pub at such a late date I do not know.
LICENSEES: 1967 - 1969 Carole and Maurice DeSadeleer 1970 - 1973 Wolfgang von Kaenel (moved to a pub in Brussels!) 1973 - c1976 Don Fardon 1976 - 1978 Dave Lequesne 1982 - 1986 David Cockrell (Moved to the Bug and Black Bat, City Arcade)