Living in Weatherfield

(This post was originally posted by Michael Adams on the Coronation Street Blog January 2018, reposted to this blog with permission.)

My new home - MediaCityUK in Salford

In September I headed off to university in Manchester; a brand new life on the other side of the country. The thought of living away from home was daunting for me - hailing from quiet little County Durham in the North East where really nothing much happens, everyone talks to one another and life is just generally canny, I just didn't know if I'd fit in. I was wrong.

Luckily for me, half of my friends from sixth form college also moved down with me to the exact same uni. What are the chances? Secondly, a good proportion of people I've met at uni are also from the North East, meaning that Manchester really is home from home. Although there is a general lack of Greggs stores and a whole lot of Southerners who think they're "in the North" (anywhere below Middlesbrough is the South), it's pretty much fantastic.

I can't believe I've reached the third paragraph without mentioning the most important thing about moving to the North West. I am now on Coronation Street's doorstep! I live in Salford, the city where "Weatherfield" is, and my uni campus is at MediaCity, meaning I see those famous chimney tops and the façade of Victoria Court across the quays on a daily basis.

I've met Pat Phel...Connor McIntyre, not once, but twice. And he's a legend.

Out and about in town, I can see why articles like this one are very true, because despite the tram crashes, yearly arson attacks, murders, rapes, car crashes and robberies, Weatherfield has nothing on Salford's crime rate. The shopping centre is rife on a nighttime, and sometimes quite frightening, and you see some eye-opening sights.

There's the dodgy types like Callum and his gang hanging around in the dark alleyways behind the derelict working mens clubs, the brassy Carla Connor types stocking up on wine then driving off in their posh cars back to the swanky quayside, and even a woman who is a double of Beth Tinker working in Savers. She is an icon.

Across my morning commute I pass the ACTUAL Coronation Street, home of Salford Lads Club and
the location of this legendary LP cover (though sadly the terraced street in the background behind wor Rita is no longer). Everything is just far too exciting for this Corrie fan, and I'm loving it.

You can follow me on Twitter if you want, I'm @MichaelAdamsUk
Living in Weatherfield

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