Coronation Street Episode Review; Weds 26th Feb 7.30 & 8.30 pm

Ray Crosby's 'indecent proposal' proposition to Abi has put Webster's Autos in serious jeopardy. Forgetting that he recently inherited wads of cash (he must have spent it all on purple jackets),  Kevin squirms as Ray continues to turn up the heat and tells him he wants to buy the whole building and the arch behind it. I like Abi a lot but you'd think she'd have learnt from her last prison stint. Does Kev deserve better, or is this the storyline that makes/breaks this growing relationship? I'd have thought Kev would have punched him one by now (Corrie history tells us as much) so I'm perturbed to see him going begging to the posh pervert and trashing Tyrone, once again.

Unlucky with securing any future restaurant work, things are looking bleak for Bethany as the prospect of a life at Underworld offers little excitement (always a sure sign of somebody about to leave the street) and the thought of working with Beth (this Beth / Bethany malarkey is twisting my melon) is enough to discourage anyone. Her only real hope is the college course, and although Daniel offers his support, either way, she doesn't get in. However, the offer of an internship in London could be too good to turn down. Sarah dishes out some meaningful advice (for once) but will it be enough to encourage her daughter to take this unbelievable (it is) offer?

We know where this is heading, so I wonder if you will miss Bethany? I think she's been a fantastic asset and a cracking actress - what are your thoughts?

Meanwhile, Alya also regrets Ray's enthusiastic employment style and asks Yasmeen if she can return to Speed Daal. Will Ray's nefarious and controlling behaviour make her realise that Geoff is just as bad? Later, Geoff’s coercive control becomes a little clearer to Alya when he banishes Yasmeen back to the house.

The battle for No. 1 begins! Ken needs the cash to enjoy his retirement but who is he going to sell to? I can't see Carla residing there, she's more of a Victoria Court kinda gal, so surely Tracy & Steve have the deal sewn up? Peter's push for funds is fruitless and his offer seems to be more of a sentimental land grab than anything else. Arguing like siblings do (I love Peter and Tracy's relationship), I wonder if Adam's sealed bid idea can help?

At the Rovers, Emma's getting confused with trolls, hobbits, and bilbo’s (she reminds me of Raquel behind that bar) whilst Peter warns Daniel from parading Bethany in public.  Back at the flat Bethany struggles to tell Daniel about her London job offer.

Gemma’s motherly self-esteem is at its lowest ebb and news of Aled's deafness seems to quantify her feelings. Chesney did his best to help and the baby sensory yoga session at the community centre is just the tonic, it seems. Mixing with other mums, Gemma realises that her self-perceived foibles are shared by every new parent. Is this the start of a new journey for the quads' mum?

Abi fails at putting the dampeners on Ray's offer and Kevin arranges a meeting with the pervy boss, but both to no avail. I'd have had Kev putting up more of a fight, is this love for her displaced or worth it? With enough on his plate, I think Tyrone could do without this stress and I think he’s right about what Kevin is laying on the line here. Eileen telling Abi about Anna's similar situation reminding the viewers that we've been here before... we have, which reminds me - didn't Anna end up paying the garage off that time when Kev was up to his eyeballs in debt? He has sacrificed FAR TOO MUCH to just give it up for Abi whom he hardly knows? Is this the end of Webster's Autos?

If you enjoyed this review give us a follow @rybazoxo over on twitter, your self-styled 'Cobbles Connoisseur'.

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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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Corrie A-Z: O is for the Odd side of the street (Part 1)

With thanks to Daran Little’s Coronation Street: Around the Houses for all the info on the history of the odd side of the street prior to 1960 and thanks to Corriepedia for the info after 1960.

 

The original street was built between 1900 and 1902, and was named after King Edward VII’s coronation that occurred when the street was finished in 1902. Daran Little has a detailed history of Weatherfield harking back to Roman times. Don’t worry, I won’t go that far! The street was opened in August 1902 and residents immediately moved in. The terraced street consisted of seven houses with a public house at one end and a corner shop at the other. Since then, hundreds of people have lived in these houses and they’ve seen dramas, births, marriages and death but has always been an ordinary street inhabited by ordinary people.

There will be a separate post at a later date on the Rovers Return Inn and you can read about the history of the Corner Shop here and here.

The first owner of the houses on the street was Mabel Grimshaw, who’d inherited them from Humphrey Swinton who had died before their completion. Mabel married Charles Hardcastle (who had asked for the street to be built for his factory’s workforce) in 1904 and added the properties on the street to his empire. Hardcastle died in 1926 and it’s unknown if Mabel inherited the houses back or his son Matthew. Anyway, Edward Wormold bought the houses sometime and would remain an authoritative figure until he sold his last house, which was Nº5, in 1976.

 

Nº1’s occupants between 1902 and 1919 included the Grimshaws (Percy, Aggie and Daniel), the Osbournes (Thomas and Mary), the Marshes (Alfie and Moe) and the Lows (Dinky and Madge). In 1919, war veteran Albert Tatlock moved in with new wife Bessie. They were later joined by daughter Beattie. For me, Beattie’s DOB is a point of debate. While some sources state she was born in 1933, in a 1976 episode Albert claimed that she was “nearly sixty”. Also, Gabrielle Daye (who played her) was born in 1911. So I say she was born in 1920. During WWII, Beattie was sent to Blackpool and returned a snob and she had a strained relationship with her parents. She married Norman Pearson in 1953 and moved someplace else in Weatherfield. Bessie died in 1959 leaving Albert to soldier on (pardon the pun!) at Nº1 alone. Between 1960 and 1971 many stayed with Albert like Valerie Tatlock, David Barlow, Minnie Caldwell and Ena Sharples. Albert briefly lived in Bury in 1969 and the house was kept by Effie Spicer and Alice Pickens. In 1971, Ken Barlow moved in and lived with Albert until 1974 when he moved with second wife Janet to Nº11. The marriage soon failed but Ken stayed on at Nº11 until 1976 before returning to Nº1.

Albert and Ken lived together until they were joined by Ken’s third wife Deirdre and her daughter Tracy in 1981. Albert died in 1984 after 65 years at Nº1. A tenant until 1974/5, he owned the house until 1983 when he sold it to the Barlows. Ken remained at Nº1 until 1990 after he had an affair with Wendy Crozier that ended his marriage to Deirdre and she got the house. Deirdre remained at Nº1 until 1994 when she moved to Morocco with third husband Samir Rachid while Tracy had left a year earlier. Mike Baldwin bought the house from Deirdre and rent it out to Tricia Armstrong and her son Jamie. But Mike soon sold the house back to Ken and he moved back in with partner Denise Osbourne and their son Daniel. By 1996, both Denise and Daniel had left the street and Ken lived alone until he was joined in 1999 by Deirdre (they’d reconciled) and her mother Blanche Hunt. Tracy returned in 2002 and her daughter Amy was born in 2004. Ken and Deirdre remarried in 2005. Blanche died in 2010 leaving the current set-up of Ken, Deirdre, Tracy (despite a hiatus between 2007 and 2010) and Amy. Various Barlow family members have stayed at Nº1 as well.

To be continued… (The histories of Nºs 3 and 5).

 

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