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

Drinking in an Old English Town

Hand and Heart, 119-120 Far Gosford Street

Sheila Carvell has kindly sent in some wonderful early photographs of the Hand and Heart featuring her own family. Above we see Sheila's great-grandmother, Jennet (Jenny) Bailey, standing proudly in the doorway, probably soon after the family first took over the running of the pub in 1903. To the right we see the whole Bailey family, including licensee Charles James Bromfield Bailey and his wife, Mary. The baby on the right is Sheila's mum. Here is the Hand and Heart around 1920, from the collection of June Gibson of Wyken. In this photo look at the windows on the left building - there's only one set of buildings that had windows like that in the entirety of the city's history - the silk weavers. They were specially made to allow as much light as possible into the premises. In April 1937 the Midland Daily Telegraph reported that; Messrs. Lucas and Company's application for the rebuilding of the Hand and Heart, Far Gosford Street, was passed. The rebuilt pub is two-storey with five bays, of brick with stone dressings to the windows and doors. On the first floor a central bay projects slightly and is surmounted by a gable with a moulded coping stone. Set within this gable is a rectangular frame bearing a sculpted 'hand and heart' motif. There are 'A' motifs on the hoppers to the downpipes, standing for 'Ansells'. And here we have the 'new' building in the 1980s, with the pub's name in large lettering and the Ansells branding. Two right hands holding a heart was an ancient sign of friendliness and agreement. Pubs of this name were often meeting places of friendly societies. A public house of this name is said to have existed in 1851, although not in its present form. On the 12th January 1855 the Hand and Heart was advertised to let. Ralph Clarke, a local carrier, used to leave the Hand and Heart two days a week for Walsgrave. The Coventry Evening Telegraph of 23rd July 1965 referred to an incident in the Heart in Hand pub in Gosford Street. They probably erroneously meant the HAND AND HEART, Far Gosford Street. The Hand & Heart pub played host to the emerging Coventry punk scene in the late 1970s. Reggae band 'Hardtop 22' played there; a few months later key members of the band would form the core of the 'Selecter'. On February 23, 1978, a band called the 'Coventry Automatics' played the venue; on Friday December 1, 1978, they returned as the 'Specials'. And finally, in 2009: "The transformation of one of Coventry's most historic areas into a vibrant cultural quarter and centre for creative enterprises is one step closer following the completion of refurbishment work at the former Hand and Heart pub on Far Gosford Street. The pub's sensitive restoration to provide new business space and quality residential accommodation coincides with confirmation of £1.15 million funding from the European Regional Development Fund to continue the restoration of other historic buildings on the street through the Townscape Heritage Initiative. The 15th century grade II listed buildings next to the former Hand and Heart pub are also being carefully restored". It would make a cracking pub though....

LICENSEES: 1868 Samuel Truslove 1871 - 1879 Joseph William Stokes & watchmaker finisher 1881 Mary Stokes 1886 - 1893 F. Kenning 1894 - 1896 H. P. Johnson 1901 - 1903 Sam Brown 1903 Gertrude E. Brown 1903 - 1918 Charles James Bromfield Bailey 1918 - 1922 George Thomas Pitcher 1922 Edgar Venn 1922 - 1930 Charles Frederick Waters 1930 Arthur Waters 1930 - 1940 Albert Victor Caldicott c1955 - c1961 and onwards Frank James Allen (see also Cottage Inn, St John Street and Swanswell Cottage) thanks to Paul Salisbury for photos 1985 J. A. Miller