Coventry : Britain

Coventry Travel Guide : Britain
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. Coventry is the ninth largest city in England with a population of 304,746 (2002 estimate).
The precinct, in Coventry city centre.
Coventry has long been a centre of motor and cycle manufacturing, dating back from 1896, the car and cycle industry has been a strong centre point for this town. Starting out with some less familiar names such as Coventry Motette, Great Horseless Carriage Co, Swift and more familiar names like Humber, Riley and Daimler and the Triumph motorcycle having its origins in 1902 in a Coventry factory. Although the motor industry has declined, the Jaguar company has its headquarters and a factory in the city, and a large Peugeot car factory is located in Ryton just outside the city. The famous London black cab taxis are also produced in Coventry by LTI
Coventry’s main industries include: cars, electronic equipment, machine tools, agricultural machinery, man-made fibres, aerospace components and telecommunications equipment..
Coventry is becoming increasingly important as a university city, being the home of the University of Warwick and Coventry University. It is also home to the Coventry Transport Museum, where the world speed record breaking cars, Thrust2 and ThrustSSC are displayed.
On the 14th November 1940 during World War II, large areas of the city, including its cathedral, were destroyed in a massive German bombing raid (see History: 20th Century below) and in later raids. The rebuilt Coventry Cathedral was opened in 1962 next to the ruins of the old. It was designed by Basil Spence and contains the tapestry, “Christ in Majesty� by Graham Sutherland and the bronze statue of St Michael and the Devil by Jacob Epstein. Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, regarded by some as his masterpiece, was written for the opening of the new Cathedral.
Statue of Lady Godiva
Coventry’s most famous resident was Lady Godiva, who according to legend, rode through the city naked on horseback (actually, she likely rode the horse bareback, not barenaked), in protest at high taxes being waged on the cityfolk by her husband Leofric. According to the legend, the residents of the city were asked to look away as she rode, but one man didn’t and was allegedly struck blind, he became known as Peeping Tom thus originating the term. There is a statue of her in the city centre.
Arts and culture
During the early 19th century Coventry was well known to the famous author George Eliot who was born near Nuneaton. The city was the model for her famous novel Middlemarch (1871).
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Coventry was the centre of the Two Tone musical phenomenon, with bands such as The Specials coming from the city.
Venues
Theatre, art and music venues in Coventry include:
The Warwick Arts Centre: situated at the University of Warwick, Warwick Arts Centre comprises an art gallery, a theatre, a concert hall and a cinema. It is the second largest arts centre in the UK, after London’s Barbican.
The Belgrade Theatre: one of the largest producing theatres in Britain, the 866 seat Belgrade was the first civic theatre to be opened in the UK following World War II.
The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum is a major art gallery in the city