Spec-ulation

No, this isn't about storylines, it's about specs, that is, eyeglasses. Funny, the things that occur to you sometimes when you're watching Corrie. I realized the other day that almost none of the characters in the show are full time wearers of glasses. Norris and Deirdre are the only two that come to mind.

There are a very small number of other characters that we've seen wearing them on  occasion for reading including Ken, Rita, Emily, (all of them senior citizens) and even rarely on occasion, Kal, Gail, Owen and, I think, Dev, and Audrey maybe. I'm probably missing a couple but for the most part, those are the only ones I can recall with frames on their face even now and then.

That strikes me as very odd. In a neighbourhood with this many characters, half of whom are over 40 or close enough to it, there should be far more that use them at least for reading and a good handful more that have progressed to wearing glasses full time. I've certainly seen my friends' and family's eyes covered more over the advancing years.

It's particularly odd that I haven't seen any of the factory workers wearing them for their job. You would think that after years of having to do precise and close stitching, some of the stitchers might need a bit of magnification as their eyes age. (or have I just not really noticed?)

Back in the 90s, there was a storyline where Bet thought someone was stealing from the till in the pub. It turned out that Jack wasn't seeing correctly and was giving out the wrong change. He got specs and all was clear again. Betty and Blanche used to wear them full time, and in the old days, so did Albert Tatlock. I recall Elsie Tanner using them for reading once or twice. Overall, though, most characters seem to be spec-less.

It just seems odd. I'll get me coat.


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Corrie A-Z: G is for Glasses

We’ve already discussed the various accessories Corrie characters have had over the years, but this post looks at the characters who have been wearing glasses.

Deirdre Barlow is the best known character to have worn glasses, having done for over forty years. Her glasses became her trademark and during the 1980s she was nicknamed ‘Sexy Specs’ due to men fighting over her. She did take off her glasses on her wedding day to Ken. Since 2001 she’s wore more slender, modern glasses after her old ones were crushed by a box.

Between 2006 and 2007, Claire Peacock once donned the same kind of glasses Deirdre wore in the 1970s and 1980s and the resemblance was uncanny. Renee Roberts also had glasses to rival those of Deirdre’s in the mid to late 70s. In recent years, Deirdre’s mum Blanche occupied large glasses that were reminiscent of her daughter’s. Betty Williams also wore glasses.
 

As for the males who wore glasses, well, there was Jack Duckworth with his plaster that held them together.

Then you had Reg Holdsworth’s colourful ones and Curly Watts had John Lennon type glasses. Albert Tatlock, Jack Walker, Leonard Swindley, Ernest Bishop, Percy Sugden and Norris Cole are known for wearing glasses as well.

Do you remember any other characters that wore or wear glasses? Maybe just reading glasses?

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Helen Flanagan's first role since she left Corrie

Since she left Coronation Street as Rosie Webster, actress Helen Flanagan has been in the tabloids pretty much all the time.

Pictures of her with various bits of her body on show have been flashed across the papers, with journalists pretty much running stories about her taken from her postings she's made to her twitter account. 

Anyway, it looks like Helen's now got a proper job. She's the face of SpecSavers 2012 challenge to find the spectacle wearer of the year.

But as any Coronation Street fan knows, there can only ever be one winner in that competition.


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