Our book containing the little-known stories of Coventry folk and their nights out in the 1970s is set to play a key role in a re-think of tourism across Europe!
The European Stories project – which pulls together tourism experts and academics from different countries across Europe – is looking to provide a voice to ordinary people and make their lives and experiences as culturally significant as established tourist hotspots.
Our ’Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1970s Coventry’, written by Ruth Cherrington, has won plaudits from the project for its ability to give a voice to the blue collar workers of the city and ensure their stories are enjoyed by the wider world – rather than just their own families.
Petya Koleva who is Founder/Director of Intercultura Consult which is part of this European Stories project said:
"This book speaks with the voice of the people and unravels wonderful hidden treasures of their cultural life in 1970s Coventry. It is exemplary in the way it presents personal stories that become the narrative of a local community as well as wider British and European history. The visuals really bring to life the 1970s!"
The ’Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1970s Coventry’, which became a local best-seller in 2017, involved months of research with Ruth Cherrington interviewing scores of people both via Facebook and face to face.
It celebrated nightclubs like Mr George’s, Locarno and the ‘Lanch’ and the rise of 2 Tone.
Ruth Cherrington said: “I’m absolutely thrilled at the interest in the ‘Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1970s Coventry’. I wrote the book with the express purpose of documenting the lives and stories of the wonderful people of my home city and it is giving me great satisfaction that their stories are now going to reach a far larger audience.”
The author followed up the 1970s with her ‘Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1980s Coventry’.
Ruth has just completed work on her ‘Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to Coventry’s Working Men’s Clubs’ which is set to be out in the autumn 2020.
