Old Ball, 62 Walsgrave Road
| Alternative Addresses: | Sowe Road, Stoke Knob | ||
| These premises have been known by different names during their history: | FROM | TO | NAME |
| Ball | |||
| Old Ball | |||
 The rising ground on which the Old Ball stands was originally known as Stoke Knob. It is said that the name Ball Hill was derived from the Ball Inn, which became the Old Ball Hotel in the early years of the twentieth century. On 23rd. February 1802 the pub was advertised To Let.
the earliest newspaper reference located so far is an advertisement in the Coventry Herald for a Pigeon Shooting event, to take place on Wednesday 5th March 1834 - the day after Stoke Races.
In January 1835 the Coventry Herald reported that landlord Francis Howes was fined 5s plus costs for "permitting card-playing in his house".
In 1907 the license of the Turks Head in Warwick Lane was given up in consideration of the Justice's permission for alterations to the Old Ball.
Left: The Old Ball at the top of Stoke Knob c1900. How beautifully rural it looks before Walsgrave Road became built up!This sign was used by many tradesmen in the past, probably because it was a simple visual symbol. It appears to have no heraldic or religious significance. The royal orb is linked with Constantine the Great, who adopted a golden globe as a symbol and added a cross to it later when he was converted to Christianity. | |||
LICENSEES:1835 - 1837 Francis Howes (Ball) 1841 Joseph Duggins 1845 W. Johnson 1850 - 1859 David Sidwell 1863 - 1866 Joseph Hall 1868 - 1892 William Chattaway, coal retailer 1903 R. W. Hammerton 1905 - 1909 Robert Herbert 1911 - 1913 Arthur Charles 'Nat' Robinson, footballer (28/2/1878 to 15/5/1929, see Wikipedia entry) 1919 Walter Gawthorp 1921 - 1924 P. Carew 1926 - 1927 A. Cave 1933 - 1936 A. S. Remington 1937 - 1940 H. S. Remington 1955 - 1957 Frank W. Bird 1960 Wilfred Finn (previously also at the Five Ways Inn, Harnall Lane, and the Binley Hotel) 1960 - 1962 Walter Bromley (also at the Biggin Hall, Binley Road from 1963 - 66) 1982 Greg Rogan | |||
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