15 Signs You Grew Up In Coventry

When people hear Coventry, they tend to think of it as that City that was bombed during the war, or that place that’s near Birmingham. Unless you were born there, not many people have a clue about Coventry but they’ll definitely pick up on these 15 Signs that show you grew up in Coventry.

1. You call it ‘Cov’

You can tell when you’re talking to someone who grew up in Coventry, because they’ll rarely ever refer to it by it’s full name. The majority of the time, Coventrians call their hometown ‘Cov’. There’s no particular reason for it, Cov is just, well Cov.

2. A batch is a batch, not a bread roll.

Who knows how many times anyone from Coventry has had to explain what a batch is, so many times in fact that a business in Coventry took to making an “It’s a Batch” badge to prove our point. If you grew up in Cov, it’s not a bap or a bread roll or cob, it’s a batch and nothing will change our minds.

3. Watching people try and pronounce Allesley, Whoberley, Cheylesmore and Styvechale will always be funny.

There are a lot of hard to pronounce places in world, but Coventry boasts a good few. If you grew up in Cov, then you know that Allesley, Whoberley, Styvechale and Cheylesmore are easy peasy to say but watching outsiders try to pronounce them will always be funny.

4. You might call it the Kasbah, we will always call it the Colly

Known by a lot of students as the Kasbah, the nightclub is a popular venue for the majority of people in Coventry. If you grew up in Coventry however, then you’ll know that it is not the Kasbah. Before it’s name changed, The Colosseum or the ‘Colly’ is what is was known as to the locals and as far as we’re concerned, it always will be.

5. Simultaneously, The Phoenix will always be The Campbell.

Once again, you knew you grew up in Coventry if The Campbell will always be The Campbell and will never be The Phoenix. Honestly, none of us really understand why they bothered to change the names in the first place.

6. Everyone always mentions the Three Spires, but no one actually knows which Three Spires are the Three Spires

Coventry is the City of the Three Spires but which Three Spires, well none of us actually know. Some of us think we have a clue about which trio are the actual three but if you grew up in Cov, then you actually have no idea which spires are the true Three Spires.

7. Coventry is in Warwickshire, not the West Midlands

We may have been part of the West Midlands for decades, but anyone who grew up in Coventry will always write their address as Warwickshire. In fact, every road that takes you out of Coventry takes you into Warwickshire. And we’re all completely apposed to being apart of ‘Greater Birmingham’. Hell no.

8. No matter how many times you’ve seen the Lady Godiva clock, when it chimes on the hour, you have to stand and watch it

There’s a clock in the centre of Town that pays homage to the famous Lady Godiva and every time that clocks chimes I have to stand and watch Peeping Tom and Lady Godiva do their revolving part, bearing in mind that I’ve lived her for twenty two years. If you grew up in Coventry then you’ll no exactly what I mean.

9. Highfield Road will always be the home of the Sky Blue Army

Somehow it always comes back to football, but you’ll know if you grew up in Coventry that the football team’s home will always be Highfield Road and not their current venue the Ricoh Arena. It doesn’t matter how many years they’ll be there, Highfield Road is home.

10. SISU OUT!

And while we’re on the topic of football, every one who ever grew up in Coventry, even if you haven’t even got a clue what’s going on in terms of Coventry’s football team, will forever be routing for getting SISU out of the club as soon as humanly possible!

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11. The best part about going to the Transport Museum was seeing Brum

And yes, I’m talking about the little car from the TV series. Once upon a time, that funny vehicle was housed in the Coventry Transport Museum and the best part about going there was to see Brum. Sadly, he’s moved on now, but if you grew up in Coventry he was always the first stop on the Transport Museum tour.

12. You’d never buy a train ticket if you were going from Coventry to Tile Hill

Before the ticket barriers were put in 2015, anyone who grew up in Cov and wanted to get to Canley or Tile Hill would never buy a ticket and just risk getting caught on the train without one. It was an eight minute journey, and as long as you stayed at the back of the train you could usually get away with it, so really what was the point?

13. We all know that the famous tunnel scene from the Italian Job was filmed in Coventry

Yep, that bit where the three little minis attempt to evade the Italian Police through the sewage tunnels was filmed in Coventry and anyone who grew up in Cov will always look for that famous scene when watching the film.

14. Godiva Festival is the place to be come summertime

Each year, Coventry holds a free music festival in the Memorial Park called Godiva Festival that boasts an impressive line up. From Echo and the Bunnymen, to Scouting for Girls, Kasabian to The Wombats, the festival gets bigger and busier every year. This year the headliners includes, Jake Bugg, Ronan Keating and The Editors and it is looking to be an absolute corker.

15. Everyone knows Coventry is the birthplace of 2 Tone

2 Tone, which was invented in Coventry, gave birth to musical acts like The Specials and Selector. The genre of music was extremely popular in the late 70s, early 80s. And anyone who grew up in Coventry, will know the Ghost Town, written by The Specials, is actually about London NOT Coventry.

Do you have any other signs you grew up in Coventry? Comment them below!

Featured Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry