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[Gaffers]

Might be starting a new contract, for once in the UK!  It will be good as it will mean no more flying back and fourth to frogland which is slowly killing me.

That said it is in Coventry.  I have never been so looking for feedback as to how nice it is, potential long-term accom or hotels, etc  I may have to give a very quick answer this week after the interview thus better to be prepared.

[aaronjb]

Nobody wants to go to Coventry...

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Ahh, dear old Cov.


I went to Uni there, left at 19, came back at 24. (ok of course came back in summer/hols) I always say I grew up in Cov, because I 'left a boy and came back a man'

If you're used to cities, it's a pretty small, if you're used to towns, it's reasonably big.

Go out on a fri/sat night and there's no trouble. Seriously, they have the place wrapped up so well you never know if round the next corner is a police car - there frequently is. Walked home many a night/morning without feeling unsafe.

All the 'amenities' decent shopping centre; lovely architecture to be seen. After some explosions occurred between the years 1939-45,  they moved the remaining tudor buildings into somewhere called 'Old Spon St', everything you need is within the ring road, the city centre.

A very great many 18-24yr old girls walking around in very few clothes.

One of the best, smallest pubs in Britain, Whitefriars (13th century iirc)

If you get tired of it for a day you've got Birmingham about 12 mins away by very fast train, Stratford upon Avon, Warwick nearby, Leamington for a swanky night out chatting up stone-faced female estate agents, Rugby (with the Dun Cow, Guy Gibson's old fave pub)

Admittedly a lot of the above consists of drinking and talking to women, but as I say, I was at uni, in my early 20s!

Remember, it's a Uni city, so consequentially there's massive demand for cheap cheap cheap. Cheap food, drink, accomodation, clothes, you name it can be had if you look.


Cov is a reasonably grey, hectic city, which is placed in a very beautiful part of England. You may be living in a pretty dull, dingy area, but wherever you are, you'll be no more than 15 mins walk from some nice shops, park, attractive buildings, decent Deli, etc.

[STEMO]

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country=United+Kingdom&city=Coventry

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Looked at it's best after the Luftwaffe gave it a good hiding.

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Very interesting site, that, I never knew the existence of such a thing. very good 


Also to Monsieur Guffer, the buses use a rather nice system (if they still do!) of short hop, medium and long travel. It used to be 80p, £1.20, and £1.60 or whatever. So just ask for 'short hop' (3 stops or under iirc), and stay on the thing for as long as you need! hehe. Not that any poor students ever did such a thing, of course. 

There's a plethora of Indian, Polish, Spanish, every culture and country - owned shops and Delis where you can get food for as cheap as you like. Remember one night we all headed out to the Indian/Bangladeshi 'district', and my mates talked the talk with the guy, and we arrived back with christ knows how much samosas, pakoras, various delicious dishes, we stuffed our faces I could barely move afterward and when we split the bill came to about £3 per head. Happy days!

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Looked at it's best after the Luftwaffe gave it a good hiding.

haha, you're not far wrong. The bombing allowed the next generation of architects to literally rebuild the city in the new image of space, neatness, crisp lines. Of course now the pebbledashed flat surfaces and huge slabs of steel-reinforced concrete is looking pretty tired and shabby, but it was literally futuristic at one time. Thing is, Cov regenerates, you leave for just a couple of years, and suddenly on your return find the streets have changed shape there's whole new developments, fresh sandstone paving and fountains, new bars, bistros, clubs, restaurants.


oh, and the Cathedral is one of the finest in Britain 

[Gaffers]

Sounds good, thanks for the info.  Looks like I will be on the outskirts to the East side of the city.  Found a nice Hotel nearby with a spa that is within the boss' (mine ) budget

Will certainly be nice sampling the different cuisines, that's something I love doing.  It's one of the few things I like about London and just about makes the travel in to the cesspit worth it.

Thanks again

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Very interesting site, that, I never knew the existence of such a thing. very good 


Also to Monsieur Guffer, the buses use a rather nice system (if they still do!) of short hop, medium and long travel. It used to be 80p, £1.20, and £1.60 or whatever. So just ask for 'short hop' (3 stops or under iirc), and stay on the thing for as long as you need! hehe. Not that any poor students ever did such a thing, of course. 

There's a plethora of Indian, Polish, Spanish, every culture and country - owned shops and Delis where you can get food for as cheap as you like. Remember one night we all headed out to the Indian/Bangladeshi 'district', and my mates talked the talk with the guy, and we arrived back with christ knows how much samosas, pakoras, various delicious dishes, we stuffed our faces I could barely move afterward and when we split the bill came to about £3 per head. Happy days!

It seems that most students have lost the use of their legs.

Too much white cider and 'wacky baccy' perhaps.

[Diamond Black Geezer]

  Ooh, noo, sorry, White Cider and the 'creative tobacco' is more the tramps' scene.  Us lot were either on the the Real Ale (I converted them), various Bourbons or ludicrously expensive Cocktails at Dogma (sadly no longer there) swanky bar with lots of black leather... that was just the punters 

Maybe I'm remembering it rose-tinted. Actually Blue WKDs / VK, Vodka Redbulls, and pound-a-pint night, where the pints tasted like cleaning fluid was more the norm! 

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Sounds good, thanks for the info.  Looks like I will be on the outskirts to the East side of the city.  Found a nice Hotel nearby with a spa that is within the boss' (mine ) budget

Will certainly be nice sampling the different cuisines, that's something I love doing.  It's one of the few things I like about London and just about makes the travel in to the cesspit worth it.

Thanks again

That'll be the red light district, then!  Haha. It's not that bad, really. Where abouts is the place you've got your eye on? I think if it's outskirts you're well out of it, the main (Antsy-Hinkley) road takes you direct in to the city centre, so bypasses it all, it's only if you start wandering down poorly-lit backstreets of terraces that you're going to meet undesirables, and to be fair you'd not do that in the pleasantest of cities. 

[Varche]

I used to live at Hinckley 12 years ago. I liked Leicester but never got on with Nuneaton and Coventry. I especially didn't like the new road system in Coventry. Probably changed a lot since I was last there. Most UK cities seem to have, Leicester is no exception.

One plus is it is very well situated for access to the rest of the country. Plenty of airports to hand. plenty of motorways.

[aaronjb]

Plenty of airports to hand. plenty of motorways.

So you can get away!

(This message is of no real value - I've only been there once in recent memory and that was to go to Ikea with the ex.. might have been as a kid as my grand parents lived in Rugby and my mother was born in Coventry, but that's also no help here!)

[Sir Tigger KC]

Worth checking out www.airbnb.com for accomodation, as you might find something much nicer, cheaper and interesting than a bog standard hotel room. 

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Biggest Tesco in the UK (was when it was built anyway, about 5 years back)   

Also, I will say there's plenty of independent guest houses, there's also one in the middle of the city centre, about 35 yards from the Transport Museum (well worth a visit, to anyone on here!) which is the most basic, bog standard place I've ever been, but also the cheapest  . ABC or something like that.