1986: "Our Hilda" - An English Rose!

Hilda Ogden - an English rose?! Yep, she became one in 1986, when Bee's, the Chester firm of seedsmen, launched a new rose named in honour of our Coronation Street heroine!

The raspberry pink rose appeared at the Chelsea Flower Show that year, and actress Jean Alexander was invited down for the preview.

In her 1989 autobiography The Other Side Of The Street, Jean wrote:

I had never been to the show before and I was entranced by the variety and beauty of the exhibits, but for me 'Our Hilda' shone the brightest.

And, of course, Jean posed for a photograph of the rose in Hilda's living room, complete with flying ducks and a photograph of the late Bernard Youens, in character as Stan Ogden.

Evil '80s: Part 1 - Sally Seddon/Webster

 
"Go into business on your own account, Kev, let's get our own house, Kev, brush that scambled egg out of your 'tache, Kev..."

Many moons ago, I began a series on this blog entitled Sadistic '60s, Savage '70s, Evil '80s. Those posts were designed to highlight the darker side of each decade as it was lived in Weatherfield. But, as regular Back On the Street readers know, blog posts here tend to be few and far between. However, having already launched the Sadistic '60s and Savage '70s strands ages ago, I'm now ready to give you the first glimpse of the evil side of '80s life as experienced in that little back street sandwiched between Viaduct Street and Rosamund Street.

And what is my first topic of conversation here? Betty Turpin being mugged? Suzie attempting to bed Gail's Brian? Hilda being knocked on the head by a burglar? Rita nearly being smothered by Alan Bradley? Nope. It's Sally Seddon/Webster. I have the greatest respect and even liking (if her interviews are anything to go by) for actress Sally Dynevor, who made her screen debut as the other Sally in early 1986, but Ms Seddon/Mrs Webster drove me up the wall from the start. And I wondered at the calculated cruelty of the Corrie production team for foisting her on us. It was pure wickedness, I reckoned.

And here's why...

Sally made her debut when she was splashed by Kevin Webster as he motored through a puddle whilst she was stood on the pavement. From then on, Kev's life changed drastically. And so did the lives of the viewers as squawking Sally, with her horrifying nasal twang, became a Weatherfield regular.

What was up with the girl? For a start, her family were considered to be dog rough, but that was nothing to judge her by. No, give everybody a fair chance, that's what I say. But Sally quickly developed from a squawky, possible vixen type into a squawky, smugly married type, and, whilst her gloriously wayward sister, Gina, sometimes dreamt of being a yuppie, Sally went all out to push her hubby up the upward mobility ladder. Surely he should have his own business, instead of working for Brian Tilsley? Surely they should have their own house, instead of living in the Corner Shop flat? And so on. She wanted it all. And she wanted it now.

On top of that, Sally invaded the aforementioned Corner Shop in 1987, getting a job behind the counter, and squawking "Mr Roberts" this and "Mr Roberts!" that all day. Despite her crawling way of calling him "Mr Roberts", she could sometimes be incredibly patronising, even downright rude, to her employer, who was old enough to be her father and, as the Corner Shop cornerstone of the Street, deserved respect, and her dreadful smugness increased to such an extent we wanted to fetch up our nouvelle cuisine.

And as for being a modern Miss/Mrs... what the hell was Sally doing squawking away to Shakin' Stevens's Lipstick, Powder and Paint at a party in late 1987? I mean, good grief! No House Nation? Nope. Was she simple? And whilst both Kev and Sal were supposed to be contemporaries of mine, it never seemed at all obvious to me when it came to their attitudes. What a pair of young fogies! When Sally squawked in the Corner Shop in the early 1990s that children were much cheekier than when she was at school, I was amazed. Sally was born in 1967. Me in 1965. When I was at school, the kids' language would make a docker blush, some terrorised local people, we striked and rioted at the comprehensive school I attended, and Sid Vicious and glue sniffing were trendy. Where on earth had Sally gone to school? One did wonder if some of the scriptwriters were getting a bit past it, putting rubbish like that in young characters' dialogue.

So, whenever Sally appeared, I wanted to squawk myself - "OH MY GAWD! NO!" - and run from the room.

Having said all that, what a fabulous actress Sally Dynevor is! I approached on-line interviews with her in more recent years with great trepidation, expecting that Sally D just had to be Sally W in reality, so convincing was that dreadful screen entity. But far from it, she seems self-effacing, witty and downright nice.

If only Sally W could have been!

But then again, characters who make us want to lob a brick through the TV screen are a highly necessary part of soap opera. And I haven't watched Corrie or any other soap since the late 1990s, so Sally W might be absolutely lovely by now. She might have mellowed into a real luv.

Although I somehow doubt it!

She's definitely a fitting topic for the first in our Evil '80s strand.

More on the Sadistic '60s and Savage '70s soon.
 

Betty, The Rovers, Annie Walker's Will and The Barlow Twins...

  Annie, 1978: What she could have been saying...


"Of course, dear, the Barlow twins were born in April 1965, and next year they'll be turning fifteen. It really doesn't seem possible..."

Fiona has written:

I'm shocked that Coronation Street has tweaked the past with this terrible story about Annie leaving Betty the Rovers tenancy in her will. She left the pub and retired in 1983! This sort of tweaking would never have happened in the show's golden era - the 1970's.

Oh dear... I don't know how to tell you this, but this sort of tweaking first happened in the 1970s! The age of the Barlow twins was altered in 1978. Peter Barlow wanted to join the Navy and so his age was advanced by a year or two to make him almost old enough. Don't worry, the 1980s rectified the situation with Peter and Susan celebrating their joint twenty-first birthdays in 1986. The trend was picked up again in the 1990s when the age of Mike Baldwin's son was tweaked.

As for Annie and Bet, if Annie's will was an old one, written before she left the Rovers, I think she would have tried to pass the tenancy to her son, Billy. Also, if you watch the episodes concerned, you'll discover that Annie retired in 1984, not 1983.

Uttered In The '80s - Part 6...

Audrey Potter (Sue Nicholls) had never had it so good! Having secured her desired status in life by marrying Mr Alfred Roberts (Bryan Mosley) in 1985, she soon found herself mistress of her own castle at No 11 Coronation Street.

And mistress of her own hair salon, too, as the front room became Weatherfield's answer to Teasy-Weasy.

The idea of moving into No 11 hadn't appealed at first, but Audrey had finally found some security and status in life and was blissfully happy.

The front room at No 11 became a centre for fun and gossip, as well as 1980s shaggy perms, and one day Audrey managed to get prickly Percy Sugden (Bill Waddington) to try on a wig she was selling.

Of course, he was not impressed. Even less so when Hilda Ogden (Jean Alexander) and Mavis Riley (Thelma Barlow) arrived.

Mavis was there for an appointment, but told Mr Sugden that she didn't want to interrupt his wig fitting.

Percy was outraged! "You want your bumps feeling - all of you!"

Audrey, to whom most things had a naughty connotation, intervened: "Now, keep the party clean!"

Percy exited, in high dudgeon.

Mavis, slightly embarrassed, moved to put Audrey right:

"I think he means the bumps on your head. It's called phrenology!"

"Well, either that or he needs arresting!" said Hilda, highly amused.

Audrey got back to business.

"Well come on, Mavis my petal, follow me!"

"Where to?"

"Upstairs to wash your silken locks. I'm not equipped for it down 'ere, yer see!"

Mavis was slightly taken aback - she hadn't expected to have her hair washed in Audrey's private bathroom. "Oh, right!"

And Audrey continued: "If you 'appen to see Alf's spare dentures, just shut yer eyes - even Vidal Sassoon 'ad to start somewhere!"

Back On The Street Disasters Poll - Andy Makes A Boo-Boo...

1965 and 1967 - Consternation Street.

I'm very sorry, luvs, but I've made a cock-up with this blog's first poll! I meant it to run for a month, but somehow managed to set it to end on 30 July! I've only just noticed it was closed. I thought it was odd that there had been no votes at all since the 30th!

Anyway, the Poll has been re-opened, and will run until 30 August, so please vote - I've re-posted the original explanatory blog article below.

Ta very much and ta-ra for now!

Each of Corrie's first three decades seemed to have it in for our cherished Weatherfield back Street. The apparently hippy-trippy, peace loving '60s demolished a house and then attempted to demolish the entire Street - with a train; the pissed off Punky '70s sent a raging fire and an out-of-control lorry to the Street; and the turbulent, technological and hugely shoulder-padded 1980s tried to destroy the Street's central meeting place by fire.

In detail: 1965 saw No 7 come crashing down, and in 1967 the whole Street almost followed suit when a train hurtled off the viaduct.

1975 and 1979 - EEK Street!

The 1970s were just as unkind - the Street was threatened by a huge fire at the warehouse in 1975, and then, in 1979, a lorry crashed into the Rovers Return.

1986 - Conflagration Street.

The 1980s gave absolutely nothing to report on the major structural catastrophes front until 1986, when the Rovers went up in smoke.

Which Street-shattering catastrophe gripped you the most? Was it the shuddersome moment when No 7, former home of Harry, Concepta, Lucille and Christopher Hewitt, came roaring down?

The awesome drama of the train crash, no mean feat to create on an exterior set which was built in the studios?

Or what about the warehouse blaze - with the whole Street evacuated and Edna Gee meeting a terrible end?

Memories of the horrifying Rovers lorry crash still linger - "TRACY! TRACY!"

And as for the Rovers fire - courtesy of Jack "Duck Egg" Duckworth and the wonky old electrical wiring in the pub, well, what can we say? The Street's legendary meeting place temporarily bit the dust in highly dramatic style and would never be the same again...

So, eyes right to our Poll and click on the Street-threatening drama which most sent you screeching to the edge of your seat...

From Coronation Street To Beckindale...

Here's a few mid-1980s soap crossovers - from Corrie to Emmerdale Farm.

First, we see Sandra Gough, formerly Irma Ogden/Barlow of The Street, with Mr Wilks (Arthur Pentelow), Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill) and Malt Shovel landlord Ernie Shuttleworth (Peter Schofield). Sandra was playing Doreen, a saucy new barmaid at The Shovel, who soon had Mr Wilks drinking from her glass slipper. I kid you not. And who's that bloke on't far right of't picture? Surely, it's Joe Dawson, a brief-stint Corrie character of 1978, owner of Dawson's cafe in Rosamund Street? Peter Schofield stepped into the role of Beckindale's Ernie Shuttleworth in 1984.

Drinking from the barmaid's slipper... Amos was horrified!

Daily Mirror, January 14, 1984.

Joe Dawson, apparently about to get a biff on't beezer from that respected local businessman and councillor, Mr Leonard Frankland Fairclough.

Here's the very excellent Ruth Holden with the equally excellent Stan Richards. Ms Holden was once Vera Lomax, tragic daughter of Ena Sharples, who popped her clogs in the late 1960s. In Emmerdale Farm, Ruth took over the role of Meg Armstrong for a brief stint in 1986. The character was transformed from being Seth's downtrodden, long-faced Mrs, to a comic barmpot with a cleaning fixation who called Seth "poppet". Much to his dismay!