So it’s been a month since I was (voluntarily) sent to Coventry but I’ve been a busy boy so, a month later, this is just about the first chance I’ve had (the desire) to review the day.

I was in Coventry as I had run an errand for my wife and found myself with an afternoon spare. We had spent the best part of 14 years living in Coventry and it was nearly 13 years since we had left for Grantham. To the best of my knowledge, apart from the occasional drive through and around the city, this was the first time I had spent anytime actually exploring the streets and parks, revisiting some of the places that were very familiar, but now somewhat strange. I knew that the city centre itself had seen and is seeing extensive redevelopment and was keen to see how it had changed.

For a classic street photography shoot I brought with me what is considered by many to be one of the best combinations for a lightweight, but high quality carry: the diminutive Panasonic Lumix GX9 with the PanaLeica 15mm f/1.7 lens, albeit a rebadged DJI version which is all but identical (Different coatings the only difference) save for a considerably lower price (Around £130 from AliExpress). This was the first time I had taken this combo out on a shoot and was keen to see if it lived up to the hype.

I parked up at the War Memorial Park park and ride car park which allowed my three hours free stay, so it was going to be a swift tour of the city centre determined as I was to not have to pay for the privilege of parking the best part of a mile from the city centre.

I was keen to have the GPS location tagged for the shots, which annoyingly means that the camera needs to be kept on unless you want to keep waking up your phone for the app to come alive each time you turn the camera on and off. This does mean the camera eats up its batteries even quicker than it already does – which meant I all but exhausted two of them in the hours I spent shooting.

The War Memorial park was much as I remembered it – possibly slightly better kept than it was when I used to run around it pretty much every week, but that may be because it was looking fine in the mid-Spring conditions. What has changed beyond recognition is the area around the train station and the ring road, which is now an inviting welcome to the city for pedestrians leaving the station and walking into the city centre. Kudos to the architects for turning an eye sore into something quite attractive!

A quick stop for an espresso and it was time to explore the city centre and the shops. It was soon apparent that Coventry had been recently promoted to the Premiership (I’ve really fallen out of love with football recently, so had no idea) and there was much pride to be found in the city, which may have helped with the general feel good vibe I found. A far-cry from when I was was in the city, living close to the old stadium then making the most of the gym at the Ricoh Arena as it was then as the football club slowly disintegrated to the point of near extinction.

The area is semi-similar to how it used to be when I would be walking from my house to the shops at least once a week. The centre where Primark and Lady Godiva stand side by side is now a pedestrianised area where once it allowed buses and taxis to drop passengers off. This makes the area look a whole lot nicer, as is the shopping area itself, which was, I believe, the country’s first pedestrianised city centre and a love story to concrete. It still has a lot of concrete, which retains the character of the city, but it undoubtedly looks smarter with the fountains in particular a welcome sight.

There is a lot of redevelopment still taking place, much of it around the indoor market, which, thankfully, maintains much of the character (And the amazing fruit and veg stalls) which I used weekly when living in Cov. I really do miss these, having no such equivalent in Grantham.

The University of Coventry seems to be a driving force behind much of the changing face of the city centre, some of it is as it was when I left, but plenty has changed and is changing. Gosford Street too is very different to what it was when I lived close to it. The City of Culture status bestowed to the city has meant that this area has been given some money to tidy up many of the buildings and add an extension which makes the street far more inviting than it was when I was a frequenter of the gym (still there) and the bike shop (now gone).

The expiring time limit on the car park meant I didn’t get to explore much further other than a loop back to the park via a street I thought I ran along, but it turned out I didn’t. One such street I did definitely run through was Cheylesmore high street, which I visited once leaving the park and found it to be pleasantly far more vibrant and active than it was 15 years ago. The cafe culture very much in effect and all the better for it.

After a quick stop at our eldest child’s nursery school and a shop at Aldi, I headed to Coombe Abbey – the jewel in the crown for the city council as a country park on the outskirts of the city. I used to run up to here on occasion and enjoyed the trail loop – although it was often very muddy. In the last few years of our Coventry lives, the park was starting to see some investment made by the council and this has clearly continued, with a Go Ape facility and the immaculate gravel trails around the lake.

Five hours after I arrived in Coventry, I was heading back home. I was impressed with how much of the city had improved for the better and am keen to head back to see the rest of the city that was once so familiar. I was also impressed with my little GX9 and 15mm f/1.7. It was very reliable – except for one photo of a grocer which was back-focused possibly due to operator error – and produced some pleasing images. Most of them were not intended to be artistic, more reference pictures of scenes that let me analyse in my mind (and with a few old photos) how the city has changed. The 30mm full frame equivalent focal length worked perfectly for this purpose and I will be sure to use this combination again when out shooting on the streets!