People and Places’ Booklet

Tile Hill People and Places Project 2020

The project, funded and inspired by Coventry City of Culture Trust and known as Tile Hill People and Places (THPP), was Phase One of a two phase Street Art project for 2020-2021 which was administered by Tile Hill North Residents’ Association (THNRA). It involved identifying content and sites for a community street art project for the Tile Hill area. 

Due to Covid-19, the original plan to hold a Community Day in May 2020, during which many residents were to be asked about their memories of Tile Hill, had to be changed to a far less comprehensive event in September 2020 which would, via Survey Monkey and interviews of 20 selected residents, record their memories of living in the Tile Hill area.

The information gleaned from these surveys and interviews was analysed so that Tile Hill’s most important people, places, events and features could be identified with the aim of capturing this rich material pictorially as artwork which would be   Phase 2.

Thirty-seven people returned the online survey in August 2020.

A graphic recording artist, a portrait artist and a graphic artist were engaged for the face-to-face interviews which were held over two days at two local venues on 16th and 18th September 2020.  The interviewees were moving and informative, and highlighted Tile Hill’s strong boxing heritage and the unique nature of Tile Hill’s green spaces.

A graphic mural was completed and an illustrated booklet that told residents‘ life stories was produced towards the end of 2020.  This was distributed by hand to the interviewees who also received framed original portraits drawn by a Coventry Art School student, These can be found on our THPP Portraits’ Page.

The online survey told us what was important to Tile Hill people, what they would like to celebrate and where street art should be located. Nearly half of respondents from the survey said they would like to take part or volunteer for Phase 2 – a very encouraging response. 

PHASE 2

Phase 2 – the painting of the Ponderosa Wall – began on 22nd July 2023, funding having been obtained to complete the project. 

Volunteers are requested to phone 07741482823 in the first instance to avoid enthusiastic numbers of volunteers all turning up at once!

The dynamic Project Booklet is below:

 

Results of the Survey

POSITIVE OUTCOMES

This project has reminded residents about notable Tile Hill people and places, and helped them to celebrate:

The importance of Tile Hill’s boxing heritage.  Tile Hill produced 5-6 international boxers between the late 1960s and the early 1980s.

The unique nature of Tile Hill’s woodlands.

Notable personalities who have been important to Tile Hill’s history.

The places where Tile Hill residents would like to see street art as a reminder of these important features.

The Interviews

The 20 RESIDENT INTERVIEWS were audio recorded and over 40 QUOTES AND ANECDOTES about Tile Hill people, places and events noted. The stories of these 20 residents, their portraits and some of their quotes and anecdotes are captured in the Project Booklet

The Online Survey found that:

  • OVER 40% OF RESIDENTS HAD LIVED IN TILE HILL FOR 30 YEARS OR MORE;

  • 60% LIVE IN TILE HILL NORTH;

  • Places provoking the strongest and most repeated memories were: the woodlands; Jardine Crescent shops; Limbrick Wood Primary School; Tile Hill Wood Secondary School;

  • Local people invoking the fondest and most repeated memories were Community Activist Terry Harvey and Tile Hill’s national and international boxers.

IMAGE OF PLAQUE IN THE SQUARE DEDICATED TO TERRY HARVEY

  • What makes Tile Hill especially unique: the people and the community; the woods and green space; the churches;
  • People seen as most influential in Tile Hill people that residents would most like to see captured in street art: Terry Harvey (Community Activist); Dave Moorcoft (Olympian); Sir Basil Spence (St Oswald’s Church architect); George Shaw (artist); the Boxers.
  • The places that residents believe are most suitable for street art: Jardine Crescent shops; St Oswald’s church bell tower; the green space opposite the ‘Banana Flats’; the former Youth Centre building; the Ponderosa sports ground.