Through the Corrie Keyhole of No 1 – who would live in a house like this?

1 Coronation Street – a desirable residence next to the pub and opposite the Health Centre

Guest blog post by Derek Bray 
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A humble terraced house on an iconic street. I wonder what secrets hide behind that old brown door? Join me and let’s find out!

Let me take you back almost a century to 1919 when Albert Tatlock moved into the house next door to the Rovers Return on Coronation Street with his wife, Bessie.

Happy Albert, always one to raise a smile

The terraced house comprised a front parlour, hallway/stairs, kitchen and scullery on the ground floor, a landing and three bedrooms on the upper floor. There was an outside lavatory and coal-hole in the back yard. It was grim ‘up North’

Albert was still living there when Coronation Street opened its doors to the public in 1960, but his wife had died a year before. Probably of boredom.

At about this time, Albert’s niece, Valerie moved in with him, and soon after started dating Ken Barlow. In due course they married and were blessed with twins, Peter and Susan. Susan was destined to produce Adam, Ken’s grandson from a marriage to Mike Baldwin and Peter is currently in the street, having sired young Simon.

Ken and Valerie Barlow

Valerie died tragically when she was electrocuted in a hair raising incident whilst drying her…yes, you’ve guessed it, hair. Ken soon found he couldn’t cope with his twins and shipped them off to Val’s parents in Scotland.

Ken was very close to Albert, who regarded him as a son and he moved in to No. 1 to look after ‘Uncle’ Albert in his twilight years. A cynic would perhaps question why he was adept at looking after an old man, yet less so at looking after his own twins.

In 1973 Ken met and married a girl called Janet Reid in the hope she would take on his twins. She refused and they divorced a year later.

Next up for Ken in the marital stakes was divorcee, Deirdre and her daughter, Tracy. He married her in 1981 and they all lived together at No.1 with Uncle Albert. Ken bought No.1 from Albert and allowed Albert to continue living there so they could look after him.

That marriage certainly had its moments culminating in Deirdre committing adultery with Mike Baldwin in 1983.

In 1988 Ken remortgaged the house to buy the Weatherfield Recorder, probably harbouring a dream to become the next Rupert Murdoch. Well, you have to start somewhere. Ken and Deirdre separated soon afterwards. Deirdre had begun to suffer from, yes, you guessed it…acute boredom.  She was legally advised that she owned half of the Recorder. That did wonders for her boredom and triggered off more dramatic action. She forced Ken to sell it to pay off No. 1’s mortgage, after which the house became legally hers.

All’s fair in love and war they say, but I suppose that depends on whose viewpoint you are looking through.

In 1994 Ken had a new girlfriend, Denise Osbourne, and another son was born, Daniel. As with the other children, Ken was not destined to be part of his upbringing.

In 1994 Deirdre married Samir Rachid and moved to Morocco with him, but not before selling the house to Mike Baldwin, Ken’s nemesis. After seven months, for reasons best known to himself, Mike sold the house back to Ken Barlow, who has owned it ever since.

Deirdre returned to No.1 and Ken in 1999 and died, whilst away, in 2015

The Barlows outside No.1 today. From left: Adam, Peter, Ken, Tracy and Daniel

And that completes the chequered history of just one of the houses on a rather remarkable cobbled street. Am I going to leave it there? Not likely. I’m all set to look through the keyhole of all the others.

By Derek Bray 
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