Travelling with Nick: Herbert Art Gallery and Museum Coventry

Wherever in the world we live it is highly likely that very nearby there is a 'treasure' of some kind, whether it be natural or man made, that is not appreciated as much as it should be by the locals.
As a boy I lived in Aston which since 1912 has been a district of Birmingham. Since WWII it has been classified as a 'poor' district i.e. a district where most wage earners are low skilled and therefore are not paid very much relative to residents of 'richer' districts.

As I think about that statement I have to say that it didn't apply to either parts of my family or to the families of most of my friends. But I guess they were in the early stages of 'upward mobility' and none live in Aston now. Today Aston is mainly populated by immigrants from Asia and the Caribbean and the unemployment rate is over 25%.

When I first started writing about Aston it wasn't my intention to talk about demographics;
I strayed into that arena in order to emphasise my point about people living cheek by jowl with 'treasures' and not appreciating them.
In my childhood, referred to above, I and all my friends used to play in the grounds of a magnificent Jacobean period house called 'Aston Hall'. The house and grounds had been purchased by Birmingham City Council in 1864 and opened to the public. Aston Hall's grounds were eventually called 'Aston Park' and that is where we played.
However, sad to say, the Hall and its history meant very little to us children or our parents. It was there and it was just accepted even though many of the street names in the local area were named after the original owner, Thomas Holte and members of his family.
I was in my late teens before I actually went inside the Hall, then there was a gap of several decades before I went again.
Fortunately the scales have fallen from my eyes and I realise just what a treasure Aston Hall is. In fact it is one of a number of illustrious jewels in the City of Birmingham's crown.

Those of you who have been kind enough to stay with me thus far maybe wondering what all this talk of Aston Hall has to do with Coventry's Herbert Art Gallery and Museum?
Well, for the last thirty plus years I have lived nearer to Coventry than Birmingham and most of my working life was spent in Coventry.

Coventry is a more historic city than Birmingham, it had thriving trades in the middle ages when Birmigham was little more than an impoverished hamlet. It had been made famous, even before that, by the legend of Earl Leofric and Lady Godiva.
In the nineteenth century it became famous for it cycle manufactures, many of whom, towards the end of that century, started to make motor cars.
Coventry, not Birmingham, was Britain's 'home of the motor car'. There were more motor car manufacturer's in Coventry than there ever was in Birmingham. However, Birmingham's one major manufacturer, Austin, in terms of volume production, dwarfed the Coventry manufacturers. It also outlived or absorbed many of them too.

I do apologise for keep digressing, to me it is all relevant.

Now I can get to the point. In my view the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum is one of those overlooked treasures, certainly by me in recent years.
My wife saw an advertisement for an exhibition, relating to Children's Television programmes since WWI I, to be held at the Museum.
To-day, 19 May 2015, we were out and about and I surprised her by suggesting we go to see the exhibition. Unfortunately she hadn't noticed that the exhibition did not start until next Friday.
Nevertheless we decided to walk around the permanent displays. We certainly were not disappointed, in fact we were entranced, especially by the exhibits in the Coventry History Hall.

So, if you live near Coventry or you are coming to the area to visit, make sure you take in 'The Herbert'. Wherever you live make the effort to rediscover "the treaures on your doorstep".

Here are just a few of the exhibits on display at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry: -