Season’s greetings to all Coronation Street
Blog readers and contributors – I hope you had a much happier Christmas than most
Weatherfield residents!
As Christmas is a time for reflection, I
would like to say that it has been a pleasure and a privilege to contribute to
this Blog since the beginning of the year. I have realised, though, that I
never introduced myself. I just turned up back in February and started
wittering on. With a few days left in this season of goodwill, I hope you’ll
forgive me and allow me this opportunity to say ‘hello’ properly and explain
why I’m here.
My name is Martin and I’m 32 years old.
Coronation Street has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I was
born in the North-West of England (Wirral – 40 miles from Manchester) but spent
most of my childhood just outside of London. Corrie was never missed in our
house, wherever we lived.
I have vague memories of Brian Tilsley’s
death in ’89 but a more vivid recollection of the McDonalds arriving on The
Street later that year. I have a particular fondness for 90s Corrie – even when
it got a bit crap. I’m looking at you, Derek Wilton. I’m only slightly ashamed
to admit that I have a replica garden gnome in my flat.
Arthur is one of many pieces of Coronation
Street memorabilia bought for me over the years. Perhaps I’m looking back through
the rose-tinted Deirdre glasses of my youth but I have a Free The Weatherfield
One T-shirt which takes pride of place in my collection.
I was moved by Stevie’s recent blog about
the bond he shares with his Grandma, which is strengthened by their mutual love
of Coronation Street. It was exactly the same for me growing up. Whenever we visited
my grandparents up north, we would watch Corrie together. Coronation Street is
therefore ingrained in my DNA and wrapped up in the memories I have of relatives who are no longer here.
If I ever felt homesick at University, I’d
turn Corrie on and be comforted instantly by that warm feeling of familiarity. Whatever
is happening in my own life, Corrie is always present – a faithful friend that has
been there for me through thick and thin. Whatever mood I’m in, I’ll feel
better after escaping to Weatherfield for half an hour.
So, that’s why I love Coronation Street.
But how did I end up here? Well, a few years ago I started writing about Corrie
on Facebook, much to the bewilderment of 95% of my friends. I would do silly
statuses on the trials and tribulations of Corrie characters simply because I
enjoyed doing so. An example from February 2013 (and a blast from the past):
“Lewis Archer (the man, the legend, the
hair) left Weatherfield in a blaze of glory on Friday night, with Gail
McIntyre's life savings sitting pretty in his offshore bank account. It wasn't
his most elaborate ruse because, let's face it, seducing and fleecing Gail is
like stealing candy from a particularly placid baby. But as revenge missions
go, it was exquisite, executed with the elegance one would expect from the
debonair conman, cad, fraudster, thief, lothario and gigolo (whose CV also
includes some recent front-of-house experience at a HIGH-END BISTRO). The sad
thing is that he genuinely loved Audrey, actualleh. But then Gail had to go and
ruin it all. Gail may have been left heartbroken and penniless, as a result of
her meddling, but at least she won't go hungry. Not with those 500 jars of
olives stacked up in the kitchen, which Audrey no doubt hopes she chokes on. To
quote Lewis Archer (if that IS his real name), "chi cento ne fa, una ne
aspetti" - WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND.”
Is Gail still making her way through those
olives?!! I don’t know but these ridiculous ramblings proved quite popular despite
the fact most people I know don't watch Corrie (or at least, claim not to).
Less popular was my version of Vernon
Tomlin’s seminal 2008 pop hit “(Don’t Fall Into) The Mason’s Arms” which goes
to show that you can’t win ’em all. But if you fancy a laugh, get your lugholes
round this:
I still think Ian Reddington should have released it as a Christmas single and told him as much when I bumped into him at Glastonbury one year.
I have long admired the great work that
Glenda, Diane and all the other bloggers do here but didn’t think there would
be room for little old me. However, my fiancée persuaded me to give it a go so
that people who actually know what I’m going on about might read my stuff.
I was delighted when my first blog, “HayleyCropper - more than just a character in a soap”, went live on 9 February. I am
still the New Kid on the Blog but absolutely love being part of the team.
I’ve been sporadic in my posts so far (14
blogs in 11 months) but have been fortunate enough to interview some members of
cast and crew, visit the new set and have enjoyed writing pieces whenever I’ve
been inspired to put fingers to keyboard.
I am excited about getting stuck in during the
New Year. My main Corrie Blogging resolutions are to up my blog rate and get
more involved in commenting on the site. And I’m looking forward to meeting my
fellow bloggers for the first time.
Sadly, not many of my friends are into
Coronation Street despite my attempts to extol its virtues (“gritty drama
juxtaposed by the very best of northern wit” is my standard line). It is
therefore fantastic to have this site where all of us who share a love of
Corrie can come together to discuss our favourite soap.
I would like to thank Glenda for giving me
the opportunity to join the team and to wish everyone who posts and comments on
the Coronation Street Blog all the best for the New Year. I am confident it
will be another vintage year for the Blog and hope it will be a good year on
screen too.
By Martin Leay
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