Warwick University

Photograph Quiz:

Photo no. 53:- Which World Championships were held in Coventry? When? Where? And who are the two athletes on the right of the photograph?

Dear Blog,

                Last night was the official opening of the Coventry Godiva Harriers new clubhouse next to the track at the Warwick University Westwood site. I expected to see you there Blog. Didn’t you finish training in time? I went out as usual at 6.30 from the changing rooms to do a few trudgie efforts in spikes. It is interesting at this time of year at the club. We get an influx of students from Warwick University and students from the Coventry University in town; the latter have to travel out of town for a couple of miles to get to the track while the former are on site, most freshers being accommodated on site in halls of residence. In subsequent years the Warwick students move into flats etc, in Kenilworth or Leamington, the new cycle way will prove a boon for them as it will be a direct short route into lectures without the hassle of traffic. Many of the students join us first claim. If you read my ‘History of Athletics in Coventry with Particular Reference to Coventry Godiva Harriers’, you will find that one of the themes I explore is the educational influences on club development; the continual injection of fresh blood from the ever changing student population provides a yearly stimulus for growth of the Godivas. Coventry is unique in this sense as both apprenticeships (pre war) and comprehensive schools (post war) had a profound effect on the success of the running club which did not happen elsewhere in England.

Needless to say, the second noticeable yearly event is the darkening nights. At least the kids are now all wearing reflective material to be seen safely in the dark. October - so all the coaches take to the roads ... and the injuries start to manifest themselves. I do despair. A summer spent on grass providing protection naturally to the skeletal structure of the body, then WHAM BANG, Hit the road Jack. Thump thump thump. Joint action and reaction from the unnaturally hard surfaces doing untold damage now and in the future on the young bodies. Why cannot the coaches see that with a little ingenuity softer surfaces can be found despite the lack of light. Routines need not be changed radically. I do despair. And I feel so sorry when the athletes get injured and the cause cannot be found. Its bleeding obvious, Mr Coach.

So to the opening

Coventry Godiva Harriers open their new headquarters.

At 8:00pm on 13^th October, many life members, Olympians

 and athletes and officials of Coventry Godiva Harriers past and present, gathered in the new Headquarters of the athletic club, for the official opening of the brand new building.Also present was Counsellor John Mutton (leader of Coventry City Council), Mr Terry Monnington, (Director of Sport Warwick University), Mr Roger Medwell (Director NP Aerospace), Alan Parsons (Architect RCI Associates) and Mr Joseph Molloy (whose company built the building)Following twenty six years in the previous temporary pre fabricated building, the club had managed to save sufficient funds to enable it to commission the building of the new facility at  the Kirby Corner Road Campus in the Autumn of 2010.The Club was grateful to see the formal unveiling of the plaque performed by Mr Michael Linton MBE, the new Chief Executive Officer of NP Aerospace who are long term sponsors and supporters of Coventry Godiva Harriers.Chairman Keith Richards said “ I would like to thank NP Aerospace, Coventry City Council, and the University of Warwick for all their past and continuing support in a whole variety of ways.  We are thrilled that this exciting new facility is now open, and it will be a huge asset to the development of the club.”

The official press release. What it doesn’t say, is that the retiring M.D. of N.P., Roger Medwell, is a long time member of Godiva ... probably longer than me? As a boss of a large manufacturing company, he was often on the shop floor, never minding to get his hands mucky. He probably knew the name of every employee and their families, I kid you not. He still runs. He takes the youngsters on a Sunday morning, the Godiva Kidz. The club had a nomad HQ until the 1980s when we moved onto the Warwick University site, various pubs around the city performing the function of a committee room. The result of this from a personal view point was that, when I started to take an interest in the club history in the 1990s, I found that very little documentation existed as minutes, results, photographs were kept by the different officials at their homes as there was nowhere else to deposit them. And when the official died, the relatives not appreciating the importance of all the documentation, simply threw them away. I have found some information about the club’s roots, but it is a painfully slow process. When we moved to Warwick, the club HQ became a temporary, flat roofed ex office port-a-cabin. It was never designed to last for any length of time and needed continual attention to keep it weather tight. It was beginning to show its age and it certainly didn’t fit in with the University ethos. Before the local government boundary changes in the 70s, the Uuniversity’s Westwood site was the Coventry Teacher Training Collage. The first buildings for the new university were built across the road, but that land was in the County of Warwick. Despite its proximity to Coventry (100m), the County officials made their point of ownership and called the new university the University of Warwick, the County town of Warwick being fifteen miles down the road to the south. The name continues to cause confusion. Boundary changes in local government bought about the amalgamation of the two institutions. BUT. Warwick was an academic establishment and didn’t want to know about sweaty jog strap types. Teacher training dwindled, Physical Education was definitely a ‘no, no’. The training collage had had a very good reputation as a successful teacher training collage prior to the amalgamation. But Warwick appeared to be not interested. Academia had no interest in sport despite the University having triple A rated sports facilities, which were under used by the students. It was perhaps in the mid 90s that Senate realised that there was a few bob to be made out of sport, so much so that next year, 2012, the University is the centre of activities for the Olympic Football completion, accommodation, training etc.; all the ruby pitches have been turned over to soccer! Godiva erected a brick built weight training room a few years ago. Very impressive. The new club house is in a similar style and super impressive, etched glass entrance doors etc., I kid you not. When the all weather track was built in the 1980s to replace the existing college cinder track, Godiva, Coventry Council, Warwick University and the Sports Council all chipped in similar amounts of cash, but, since then, Warwick University have taken the burden of maintenance; and a superb job they do. They are also very helpful to the athletics club. Godiva are so very lucky in having the University’s cooperation. So the new clubhouse complements our weights facility which in turn merges in with the University’s overall ambiance.

The clubhouse main room only has a photographic display of individual Olympians at the moment, hung above the windows overlooking the track; the walls having yet to have notice boards put up. I find that the photos are a little higher up on the walls than they used to be in the old club house. I find I have to stretch up to polish the glass on my photograph now whereas I could reach quite easily in the past. The chairs I have to stand on do not seem as firm as the old ones; I felt quite safe on them. I started to use soap and water to polish my picture but then changed to ‘windowlene’, subsequently to car screen cleaner but I noticed that my glass always seemed smeared. I then started using an outside window spray, but that was no better. I have ended up by using an impregnated polishing cloth which I must say gives a much better result. The extra expense is worth it, I feel. As I sat there last night, sipping my glass of wine looking up admiringly at my photograph, my chest swelled with pride as the picture was so clean and sparkly compared to all the other ones. I wonder if the club committee will allow me to fix a spotlight to shine directly onto the frame. What do you reckon Blog? I shall bring it up at the next committee meeting in November.

                                             Colin