The poetry of Coronation Street

It’s National Poetry Day in the UK today, so I am celebrating the art of Street Poetry. Get it?

I find it pretty cool that Craig Charles began his career as a contemporary performance poet, regularly sharing a stage with Merseyside greats such as Roger McGough and Adrian Henri. Apparently, Craig has taken up poetry again since leaving Coronation Street.

The character of Ken Barlow also wrote some poetry after departing Weatherfield for Canada a few years ago. Another resident to have enjoyed the written word was John Stape, who - after being struck off as a teacher - went on to teach romantic verse at an adult education centre. 

Poetry has been used to devastating effect recently by Daniel Barlow. Not in his seduction of Sinead or in his exams, but in the attempted murder of his old man with the Howatch Book of Classic Poetry and Poets. It was the first time ever that Ken did not enjoy getting his head around a book of poems!

I have long thought of Corrie as a work of art and at its best, the dialogue is poetic. It is no wonder, then, that several poets have been fans of the Street. Sir John Betjeman may have hated Slough but he loved Weatherfield. He said: “Manchester produces what to me is the Pickwick Papers. That is to say, Coronation Street, I live for it. Thank God. Half past seven tonight and I shall be in paradise.”

Sir John Betjeman, Tony Warren and Lady Elizabeth Cavendish

The current Poet Laureate, Dame Carol Ann Duffy, is also a Corrie enthusiast with strong links to the show. In this 1999 interview, Duffy talked about watching Coronation Street and revealed that her close friend Tony Warren was her daughter’s Godfather. 

When Tony passed away last year, Carol spoke for us all when she said: “Manchester has lost its dearest son and so many of us a beloved friend. And the millions who have loved Coronation Street for over half a century have lost their Dickens.” Lovely words.

I studied Carol Ann Duffy in my English A-Level and I have enjoyed her work ever since. I was delighted when she wrote a special poem to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Coronation Street in 2010. She said: “I was so proud to be asked and so proud to know my poem would be on the show.”

Ken Barlow (who else?) read the poem in an episode broadcast on Christmas Eve 2010. It was during a memorial carol service on Coronation Street to commemorate the victims of the tram crash: 

The poem in full reads:

If someone could direct me to a street where I could stand

Cobbles beneath my feet tearful with rain; 

The shadows of my hopes behind the stained-glass windows of a pub, ghosts – 

I would turn up the collar of my coat, and walk, and number each small, terraced house by heart: 

Birthplace; neighbours – hard man, hussy, harridan, hustler, hero, heroine – 

Threshold, bride and groom, as clueless of next year as Christmas Eve; 

Or exit-place, a hearse, a raw and local grief... 

Then I'd retrace my steps, perhaps a baby's cry, sharp as a sudden star nailed to the sky, 

To stand now in this backstreet bar, nursing a beer
All my griefs, my gifts, and glad I live here.

Carol Ann Duffy was on set during filming, an experience she described as “magical”. She told how they “were stood in the fake snow and it felt like a real street”.

That's made me feel all Christmassy! Talking of Christmas on the cobbles, the sad news of Liz Dawn's death has reminded me of Christmas 2004 when Vera chastised Jack for giving her the same Christmas card as the year before... “But the poem made you cry”, protested Jack. “Yes”, said Vera... “but I didn't expect to get it again this year, you bone-idled, tight-fisted pig!”

Now, that is poetic. Rest In Peace, Liz - your poetry endures.

Blog by Martin Leay, on Twitter @mpleay

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More Corrie fans pen their odes to the Street

When it was announced that the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy is to pen an ode to Corrie for the soap's 50th anniversary this year, we asked Corrie fans to pen their own odes too.

And so, here's the second below. It comes in from Corrie fan Susan Gorst.





Coronation Street, my favourite soap
I never miss an episode
from cobble streets and terraced homes
to cars that line the road
A soap of fiction, but so like real life
From two timing husbands
To a murderous wife
A pint in the Rovers where many stories are told
Betty’s hotpot, a delicacy to behold
Norris in his wig had me in stitches
While Jesse with his parrot
Spends his new found riches
Liz behind the bar flirting with the fellas
Skirts too short for changing pumps
And smooching in the cellar
Becky serving the regulars and eyeing up the spice
Arguing with Steve, and not being very nice
Deirdre in her glasses gets stick from her mother
While Ken ignores her and seeks reward in another
Kevin cheats on Sally and pledges his love for Molly
While poor Tyrone is in the dark and Gail is off her trolley
David is the weird one with eyes so dark and deep
He defends his mother fiercely whilst making Tina weep
Jack and his pigeons have finally flown the nest
While Connie provides solace and a place to rest
Rita sells the Kabin to Norris
And goes cruising around the Med
Along comes Mary to provide some fun
And tries to get Norris in bed
The young ones provide the eye candy
With Sophie, Tina and Rosie
John Snape is the teacher
Who married Fiz, rather dozy
The ladies from the factory
Have all the style of a stable
With Janice’s gob, and Kelly’s walk
They resemble ‘Mack and Mabel’
Coronation Street with its 50 year history
will continue for many years ahead
Out living many of its viewers
And killing all other soaps dead!

Corrie fans pen their odes to the Street

When it was announced that the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy is to pen an ode to Corrie for the soap's 50th anniversary this year, we asked Corrie fans to pen their own odes too.

And so, here's the first, below. It comes in from Llifon Jones who blogs wonderfully at the Coronation Street Corner.




Back in 1960,
A little soap began.
That would in time give us,
The likes of Hilda and Stan.

In the sixties, you had the Walkers,
Ena, Elsie and Len.
And not forgetting Albert,
Minnie, Martha and Ken.

With the seventies came colour,
Plus Bet, Rita and Deirdre.
And the violent death of Ernest,
In Mike Baldwin’s factory.

Only Ken was there by ‘84,
All the originals had gone through the door.
And the eighties saw the deaths of Brian Tilsley,
Stan Ogden and Alan Bradley.

The nineties saw great changes
Bidding farewell to Mavis, Alf and Bet.
As well as new characters,
We saw an expansion in the set.

And now reaching fifty,
Corrie’s still great.
We still go to Weatherfield,
At half seven and half eight!