The Definitive Guide to the History of
Pubs and Beerhouses in Coventry

Drinking in an Old English Town

Painted Lady, 181 Longfellow Road

The sign to this pub has always portrayed the painted lady butterfly. Why was this name chosen? This pub opened on the 17th December 1964 in a large housing estate, but on the first day of the following month the Coventry Evening Telegraph reported the "shock and surprise" of some local residents at the new pub's name. However, the brewery, after receiving several letters of complaint, erected an illuminated sign of the Painted Lady butterfly, which quelled the protests. Inside the pub two bars were named after the butterfly's favourite foods - the Jasmine Lounge and the Clover Bar. In 1979 it was described as a "large but cosy working man's pub with an angling club and football team".

LICENSEES: 2015 Trevor Pegg