Diary Wednesday 1st April 2026 Pre-Eastercon –Day Trip To Coventry

Street Art tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, Digbeth, Birmingham

I’ve been to and stayed in both Birmingham and Coventry before but many photos I took in both were lost when my external hard drive crashed, losing me hundreds of photos. Now I had a chance to get fresh shots of many of the lost photos and photos of fresh sites too.

I spent the first half of the morning covering more of Birmingham before catching a bus to Coventry, about 90 minutes ride away. I was delighted when the bus not only stopped close to the Old Crown where I was staying but also went by the NEC where I could easily disembark the next day to go to the convention hotel.

Coventry Cathedral ruins

Coventry is a very nice city, with its haunting Cathedral ruins preserved as a monument to the fallen of the Luftwaffe air raids, right by the new Cathedral right by its side. A statue of Lady Godiva, she who apocryphally rode naked through the city, has a central place in the shopping zone too.

I saw lots of great pubs, including one in honour of local poet, Philip Larkin, and a Wetherspoon’s dedicated to the Earl Of Mercia.

Pub sign for The Flying Standard, Coventry

I returned to Birmingham by the same bus route, got a burger for my tea and took in another film at the local Odeon. Project Hail Mary disappointed me though many think much more highly of it. https://letterboxd.com/arthurchappell/film/project-hail-mary/ The film finished at gone 11.30pm, so the Old Crown was closed when I got there, and though I had keys to the back entrance, finding my way through it in the dark, past a clutter of barrels was tricky.

I packed away everything not needed the next day as I would be checking out and moving on to the convention site itself.

Photos used taken by myself.

Statue of Lady Godiva, Coventry

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Photos taken by me.

Arthur Chappell