Rovers Return from #CorrieTour up for sale

Bit of an odd find on eBay but here's the Rovers Return bar up for sale. It's a replica, of course. And the seller says it's the original one taken from the old Coronation Street Tours.

It's yours if you want it, and it's here.

The seller is Cheshire Demolition Ltd and they say this:

We are currently carrying out work in the Granada Studios in Manchester and as part of the works we are removing and have for sale the bar replica and seating which has been used for the Coronation Street Tours!!

Glenda Young
Author: Belle of the Back Streets

Fancy writing a guest blog post for us? All details here!  

Read more Corrie news, interviews, gossip and spoilers  

Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook

---

---

All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Living in Weatherfield: ...and working there too

Just a quick blog from me today - really just a way to check in and let you all know what I'm up to and as to why I'm a little quiet around this neck of the woods recently.

To cut a long story short I'm now working as a tour guide on the brand new Coronation Street Tour in MediaCity! It's an absolute joy to be able to share my love (and random knowledge) of this fantastic show with fellow fans. Plus I'm spending each weekend with friends of our blog, Jonny Grimshaw and Tommy Cowell.

Please do book up, come along and say hello. You can buy tickets at coronationstreetthetour.co.uk.

So from now - until the tours take a brief hiatus in July, I expect that I'll not have opportunity to blog. But that in no way means that I'm leaving! I still have lots to say about Corrie and I still bloody love it.  I'll speak to you all soon! In the meantime, read about my adventures in Weatherfield so far:

• Read about when I first moved to "Weatherfield"
• Read about when I visited the 'real Coronation Street'

Cheers! You can find me on my brand new Twitter @GormanAdamsEde.

---

Please read our advice for leaving comments on the Coronation Street Blog
All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Our visit to the Coronation Street Tour #CorrieTour

We've just arrived back home from an amazing visit to the Coronation Street Tour.  Our friend Paul from @CorrieArt went on the Corrie Tour last weekend and you can read his review here.  And now it's our turn to tell it like it is - an honest review is necessary because there's been a lot of comments (both good and bad) about the new Corrie Tour online.

And so, here we go.

Me outside Preston's Petals

The new Corrie Tour is a visit to the external set only at the Trafford Wharf site near to Salford Quays.  If you've been on the old Corrie set tour at Quay Street then it's very different to that, and you need to arrange your expectations accordingly.  The set you'll visit on the new Corrie Tour is that of a working television set. It's not a Corrie theme-park style experience, it's not a museum. Therefore, we didn't get to see any internal sets, no costume, make-up or wardrobe. It's the external set only. Fortunately for us, it was a warm and sunny day as we walked around the cobbles.

Our Tour Guide Graham

We met our Tour Guide in Media City and away we went on a walk over the bridge to ITV's Coronation Street building.  Our guide was Graham and he was great, full of knowledge and he gave us a potted history of each building on the set. He was entertaining and educational and a credit to Continuum who run the tours on behalf of ITV.

My husband @SunnyJimBaz outside of the new tram station

The set tour lasted for approx. 70 minutes.  We took in Coronation Street and then the new Victoria Street set too.  I've already been to the Coronation Street set a few times since ITV moved there and deliberately turned down the chance of seeing the new Victoria Street set extension on press day as I wanted to visit as a fan, pure and simple.  The joy of going into the set with a coach-full of Corrie fans was a joy beyond words. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Here's the best and the worst of the Corrie tour in a nutshell.

I'm going to address the two main concerns of most fans first:

The cost.  It's not cheap. It's £35 per person with under 3s going free.  If you want a framed photo taken by a professional photographer outside of the Rovers Return (we did) then it's £7.50 extra, see picture above. Fortunately, we were given our framed photograph free today, and our friend Paul was given the same free deal last weekend too, so that's an added bonus.

It's a much more organised tour than the old one at Quay Street, but as I mentioned above, that's because this is a working set. There's no time for wandering off or ambling on the cobbles. It's very much a tour where you walk with your guide, you listen to what they tell you, ask questions if you want to and then you move on and off the set to let the next tour group through.

It felt a little rushed, to be honest, and I would have liked more time to take photographs.  Continuum gave us a questionnaire at the end of the tour and I have left the above comments in my feedback for them. Let's hope things improve. But even though it did feel a little rushed, it was still magical. I got that tingle down my spine when I walked onto the set again.

View up the ginnel, but you can't walk up it 

As I've said, it's a working set so you know that the cobbles you stand on will be stood on by the cast the following day, or the day after. It's where they film right now, it's the future of the show. However, this means that areas such as the ginnel are out of bounds for the tour group, as was the new community garden.  No tour groups are allowed into these areas but you could stand at the end of the ginnel to take photos and of course you can see the community garden through the fenced off area.

As it's a live, working set there's a positive energy to the place that the old set didn't have. If you can afford it, I'd say go otherwise you might regret not doing so.

The shop / merchandise area could have been better and again, I've fed this back to Continuum. The very limited amount and variety of items for sale were branded as Coronation Street Tour. There weren't any ITV Coronation Street items, apart from jigsaws. There was a £5 tour guide booklet.

However, we were given a good map of the street, which was great. We were also given lanyards with our set tour passes on them and I'll keep all of these as souvenirs.

We also had a sighting of Jimmi Harkishin (Dev Alahan) as he made his way across the bridge when our tour group headed to the set. He was very gracious and smiled and waved and said hello to everyone. What a treat!

Back to the cost.  If you're also thinking about hotel accommodation and travel on top of your tour ticket cost, then do what we did and travel there with National Holidays.  Our weekend came courtesy of National Holidays and here's what was included for just £99 each...

Our hotel

• Two day break over a Saturday and Sunday
• Your ticket to the Coronation Street tour
• Overnight stay on Saturday night - our hotel was a very pleasant Holiday Inn with a swimming pool and beer garden
• Dinner at the hotel
• Breakfast at the hotel the next morning
• Visit to Liverpool on Day 1 with plenty of time for sightseeing in this amazing city which I have fallen in love with
• Visit to Coronation Street set on Day 2 with plenty of time for lunch and a walk around Salford Quays afterwards
• Free wifi on the coach

It's been a fantastic weekend, I've enjoyed it loads. There's a ton more photos of the Corrie Tour visit on our twitter feed at @CoroStreetBlog

Find out more about the Corrie Tour visit with National Holidays.

Fancy writing a guest blog post for us? All details here!   

Read more Corrie news, interviews, gossip and spoilers  

Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook

---

Please read our advice for leaving comments on the Coronation Street Blog
All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Coronation Street Tour - Top Tips and Fun Facts #CorrieTour

Our friend Paul at @CorrieArt was one of the first visitors at the new Coronation Street tour.  You can read his blog post which gives his opinion of the Corrie tour and he compares and contrasts it against the old Corrie Tour at Quay Street too.

• Read Paul's blog post about being the last visitor at the old Corrie Tour.
  
• Read Paul's blog post about being one of the first visitors to the new Corrie Tour.

Paul now gives us his hints and tips if you're going on the Corrie Tour, and some fun facts too.

Here's Paul from @CorrieArt at the new set in May 2018

CORRIE TOUR TOP TIPS

• Arrive at least 15 minutes before your scheduled tour start time.
• Dress for the weather and wear sensible walking shoes in case those pesky cobbles get the better of you.
• Charge your batteries and bring a camera phone for the many photo opportunities.
• Backpacks are not permitted on the Tour and be prepared to have your handbags searched by security.
• Don’t forget to return to the start of the tour and pick up your Rovers Return photograph (£7.50 each or two for £10). 
• Food and drink (except bottled water) is not permitted on the Tour.
• If you stay over in the nearby Premier Inn, make good use of their car park and ask to be in a room that overlooks the canal and Corrie studios!
• Coach tours (such as National Holidays) with travel, hotel and Tour admission packages are a good value option compared to booking ticket, travel and accommodation separately. Find out more here.

CORRIE TOUR FACTS

• Coronation Street The Tour opened on Saturday May 26th 2018 and is expected to run for limited weekends throughout the summer
• 1,480 visitors a day are expected
• Up to 37 trips a day can take place
• Up to 50 guests can be on each tour
• Tours are estimated to bring £4 million to the local economy annually
• The previous tour, at the old set, brought in an estimated £60 million to the local economy

National Holidays are offering a package which includes a ticket to the Coronation Street set, an overnight stay in a hotel - with dinner and breakfast included - and an excursion to Liverpool, all from £99.  If you're interested in learning more, here's the link.

Fancy writing a guest blog post for us? All details here!   

Read more Corrie news, interviews, gossip and spoilers  

Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook

---

Please read our advice for leaving comments on the Coronation Street Blog
All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License

Fan review: The new Coronation Street Tour #CorrieTour (Part 1 of 2)

Our friend Paul Lanagan at @CorrieArt writes a two-part blog post for us here at the Coronation Street Blog about his recent visit to the new Coronation Street Tour. Paul was one of the first fans to visit the new Corrie Tour, and he was also one the last fan to visit the old Corrie Tour at Quay Street.

Here we go with Part One of Paul's blog post:

"Good morning and welcome to the new Coronation Street Tour. Did any of you go on the old tour at Quay Street?"  

Did I go on the old tour? Once or twice... or maybe half a dozen times. What kind of Corrie fan wouldn't go and visit those hallowed cobbles? 

Following Coronation Street's 50th anniversary in 2010, plans were soon unveiled to relocate the Corrie Studios from Quay Street to MediaCityUK in nearby Trafford with an all-singing, all-dancing, full scale replica of the famous street. Exciting times. The new facility and outdoor filming lot was finished in late 2013 and first appeared on screen in March 2014 but the old one wasn't simply left to rot - Corrie viewers around the world were given the chance to visit the original cobbled street when Continuum Attractions teamed up with ITV and launched the Coronation Street Tour. 

Between 2014 and 2015, thousands of fans descended on old Weatherfield and 32,759 tours took place around the vacant Corrie houses. Fans were led through the studios by a team of fantastic Tour Guides and were allowed to view the old Green Room, dressing rooms, rare props and interior sets inside Stage 1 (hidden behind the viaduct) before emerging from Nick's Bistro for a free-rein look around the cobbled streets.  Rosamund Street Medical Centre housed a bustling gift shop selling a huge range of Corrie merchandise, including a sumptuously illustrated guide book, chocolates, knick-knicks and printed photographs of the guests who posed inside the Rovers interior set.  This set was put to good use by Continuum who also offered VIP Tours where guests could have a glass of bubbly and be allowed to take photographs while on the studio tour (something not normally offered).  Late night pub quizzes also took place and a lot of fun was had by all. 

All good things must come to an end, however, and with the prospect of intercity redevelopment looming over the chimney pots of Coronation Street and Granada Studios, the Corrie Tour was scheduled to run its last tour on December 31st 2015 much to the disappointment of the fans.

With this in mind, I booked my ticket and was determined to be the last ever visitor on the Corrie Tour before seeing in the new year in Manchester city centre.  New Year's Eve 2015 was a miserable day: it was cold and bleak and aptly dreary for a goodbye visit and many of my photographs taken on the old lot show that: it was looking sad and tired, a bit like a stale hot pot, but to me, and fans alike, it was a special place no matter how it looked. 

The Coronation Street Tour attraction was due to close at 6:30 pm and I morosely hung around the houses reflecting on the iconic characters who had treaded the paths around me.  I also stood remembering my many visits over the past two years including my first visit when I refused to go into the studio and went straight on to the Street for fear of "spoiling the magic" plus a subsequent poignant visit when I called in after having paid my respects at Anne Kirkbride's memorial service in Manchester Cathedral in May 2015.

I also remembered the many friendly faces I had met including one of Corrie's most passionate fans, Glaswegian Brian Altman, who has become a good friend on Twitter. I also got to know Jonny Grimshaw, a Corrie background artist and Tour guide, who kindly took my specially created piece of artwork, "Goodbye Corrie Tour", for all the other guides to sign. Jonny, to my knowledge, was the only member of staff to work on both Corrie lots at the same time – but in two different capacities.  I often wondered what would happen if he got confused and went to the wrong Coronation Street!

I was soon brought out of my teary day dreaming when I became aware that it was closing time and the Tour Guides were keen to clock-off for their own goodbye party.  It was clear that some other Corrie fans were vying to be the last ever visitors as, like myself, they were lingering on the cobbles. A plan of action worthy of Pat Phelan was required! I strutted up the Street with a confident air and made a sharp turn at Dev’s Corner Shop, onto Viaduct Street and the tour exit gate.  My rivals had assumed I'd left and were following suit - the plan was working!  I galloped down the ginnel and emerged at the side of the Rovers Return where I peeked up the Street: said gullible rivals had gone!  After a few goodbyes to the patient tour guides and a couple of last minute photographs, I walked up Coronation Street for the last time and as the last ever visitor to the Coronation Street Tour. 

It was a sad victory.

Time moves forward, six episodes a week are now broadcast and the Quay Street lot was left to deteriorate with photographs shared by pesky urban explorers (see #GoodbyeQuayStreet on Twitter).  The bulldozers moved in and the fall of the Rovers was captured for all to see in the pages of the Manchester Evening News.  The rubble soon piled up as the site was cleared.... but one thing was strangely missing from the ruinous piles: those hallowed cobbles.

BY PAUL LANAGAN @CORRIEART

Read Part Two of Paul's blog post about his visit as one of the first fans to the new Corrie Tour

National Holidays are offering a package which includes a ticket to the Coronation Street set, an overnight stay in a hotel - with dinner and breakfast included - and an excursion to Liverpool, all from £99.  If you're interested in learning more, here's the link.

Fancy writing a guest blog post for us? All details here!   

Read more Corrie news, interviews, gossip and spoilers  

Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook

---

Please read our advice for leaving comments on the Coronation Street Blog

All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License