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

Drinking in an Old English Town

Bowling Green, 75 Spon Street

Alternative Addresses:	Upper Spon Street
These premises have been known by different names during their history:	FROM	TO	NAME
	1862	1871	Wine and Spirit Vaults
	1871	1872	Board
	1874	1875	Spotted Dog
	1875	1924	Melbourne
	1908	1909	Granby Arms
	1911	2002	Bowling Green
	2002	2010	New Bowler
The name is a reference to a very popular pub game, advertising the presence of a bowling green. Previously Melbourne Gardens, it became the Bowling Green in 1911, although strangely the name Melbourne Gardens was still retained as the preferred name for licence transfers until 1924, when it was solely the Bowling Green. The actual bowling green was sold and the old people's accommodation called Wellington Gardens was erected on the site. The pub was demolished and replaced with a new building in 1959. In the 1960s, Albert Swain kept the Bowling Green. Up until 1947 he had been a professional heavyweight boxer and at one time rated fourth in the country. Swain was a Coventry man and in his younger days boxed for Cox Street Working Men's Club and was also Midlands heavyweight champion. In 2002 the Bowling Green was refurbished and renamed the New Bowler. It closed in 2010 and was purchased by a local charity never to reopen.
LICENSEES: 1910 - 1912 Alfred John Jarrard 1911 - 1913 Henry Oswin (died early 1913) 1916 - 1922 William Tranter 1923 - 1924 Herbert (Bert) Woodward 1924 - 1929 Frank Archibald Gregg 1931 - 1932 F. Dingley 1933 - 1936 R. J. Cooke 1937 - 1938 H. Cleaver 1939 - 1940 L. H. Pitchford 1960s Albert Swain
OWNERS: 1960 Mitchells & Butlers
Street plan of 1851