Corrie A-Z: O is for the Odd side of the street (No. 3 and No. 5)

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.

Continued from ‘The odd side of the street’ (Part 1)

 

(This post was originally posted by Llifon on the Coronation Street Blog in August 2013.)

 

Nº3’s occupants between 1902 and 1938 were the Hewitts (Samuel, Dolly, George, Thomas, Flo, Betsy, Gertie and Molly) and the Chads (Billy, Flo and Granny). In 1938, newlyweds Frank and Ida Barlow bought Nº3 – I believe the first ones to actually own the house they lived on the street. The Barlows were soon joined by sons Ken (b.1939) and David (b. 1942). They lived a happy life until Ida was killed by a bus in 1961. David had left home a few months prior while Ken married Valerie Tatlock in 1962, leaving Frank alone. He stayed until 1964 when he put the house on the market and moved to Wilmslow, Cheshire. The house remained empty until it was bought by newlyweds Dickie and Audrey Fleming in 1968. Ken handled the sale on behalf of his father. But after two years the Fleming marriage was over and both left, leaving Nº3 again empty.

 

Following Valerie’s death in 1971, Ken and twins Peter and Susan rented Nº3 from Audrey but he soon sent the twins to Scotland and he moved next-door with Albert Tatlock. Audrey then sold Nº3 to newlyweds Ernest and Emily Bishop in 1972. The Bishops had a happy marriage despite Ernest becoming bankrupt. They lived in bliss until Ernest was shot dead in a wages snatch at the factory in 1978 leaving Emily a devastated widow. Emily did marry Arnold Swain in 1980 and he lived at Nº3 until he was revealed as a bigamist the same year She has of course stayed on at Nº3 and has taken in many lodgers over the years: Deirdre and Tracy Langton (1978-81), Curly Watts (1983-88), Kevin Webster (1985), Percy Sugden (1988-97) and Spider Nugent (1997-2000). Since 2000, Norris Cole lodged with her and in 2013 Emily decided to sell No. 3 to Norris.

 

Nº5’s occupants between 1902 and 1952 were the Leemings (Jack and Maggie), the O’Connors (Tom, Cissy, Mollie and Reg), Jake Matthews and the Hayes (Sidney, Alice, Ada, Fred, Esther and Tom). Esther Hayes stayed on at Nº5 until 1962 when she moved to Moor Lane and then Glasgow. Minnie Caldwell and her cat Bobby then moved in and had several lodgers like Jed Stone, Charlie Moffatt, Tickler Murphy, Ena Sharples and Eddie Yeats. Minnie moved to Whaley Bridge in 1976 and Edward Wormold, the landlord, sold the house, his last, to Mike Baldwin. Mike modernised the house, making it the first house to be open plan. He installed Bet Lynch as his live-in lover. That set-up lasted until 1977 when Mike sold the house to Ray, Deirdre and Tracy Langton. The Langtons stayed until 1978 when they split up. Ray left for Holland while Deirdre moved next-door to Nº3.

 

They sold the house to the Tilsleys (Bert, Ivy and Brian) in 1979. Brian married Gail Potter in 1979 and moved out. Bert died in 1984 and the young Tilsleys and their son Nicky moved back in. They left again in 1985 leaving Ivy alone. She married Don Brennan in 1988 but the marriage turned sour and she left for a religious retreat in 1994 and died the following year. Ivy had left Nº5 to Nicky and a court battle sees Don buying it from Nicky. He stayed on, with Ashley Peacock as a lodger, until 1997. Then the council bought the house and the Battersbys (Les, Janice, Leanne and Toyah) moved in and caused havoc. Leanne left home in 1998, Les and Janice split up in 2001 and Toyah left home in 2003. Les remained at Nº5 until 2007 with lodger Kirk (2002-2005), third wife Cilla (2003-2007) and step-son Chesney (2003-2007). Les left and Cilla and Chesney remained but when Cilla left for South Africa, Chesney was left alone and so his sister Fiz Brown moved into Nº5 as his guardian. In 2009, Kirk moved back in but then left again the same year to live next-door at Nº7. Fiz’s husband John Stape also lived at Nº5 between 2009 and 2011. Fiz, Chesney and Hope (Fiz’s daughter) still live at Nº5 with Chesney’s girlfriend Katy Armstrong having just left after an affair with Ryan Connor.

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