9 things you may not know about Coventry

Coventry, the 12^th largest city in the UK, has joined the growing rank of cities where O2 4G is now available. So we thought this might be a great time to brush up on our Coventry knowledge – here’s some facts about our latest 4G debutant.

1.  So why is this city called Coventry? It is believed that the name derives from the “Cofa’s Tree”, a tree which grew at a crossroads which later became the site of Coventry Castle and is now Broadgate. So where local coventrians now shop, the name sake used to sit.

2.  Coventry is further from the coast than any other city in Britain.

3.  Legend has it that the city was the birthplace of patron saint of England, St George, famously know for his dragon slaying.

4.  You have Coventry to thanks for your favourite two wheeled mode of transport.  The first ever English bicycle was built in 1870, in the second largest city in the west midlands, and was called the Ariel.

5.  You all know that Coventry City had their glory in 1987 by winning the FA Cup, right? What you may not know is that they won on May 16 at exactly 5.26pm.

6.  Coventry has a thing about twins…. Or should we say twin cities.  It was the world’s first twin city when it formed a twinning relationship with the Russian city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) during World War II. The city now boasts several more twin cities, amongst those, it has three twin towns in the United States, all named after it.

7.  Coventry is both brainy and holy with 2 universities (Warwick and Coventry) and throughout its time a whopping 3 cathedrals. St Mary’s, the first, was destroyed in the 16th century and is now just ruins. The second was St Michael’s, which was bombed during the Second World War. Last but not least, Sir Basil Spence’s modern replacement, finished in 1962 and recently voted Britain’s most popular 20th century building

8.  The London black taxi cab, a global symbol of Britain, has always been made in Coventry.

9. There are 120 languages spoken by children in schools across Coventry… International.

Got a fact about Coventry? Know something you want to share with the world about any of our 4G cities? Or can you make a claim to the creation of the UK’s first bicycle? Let us know in the comments. Cheers Coventry.