Corrie - 50th Anniversary

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The Royal Mint releases medals to immortalise Coronation Street stars
17 December 2010

The Royal Mint has immortalised five 'Queens' of the small screen in metal to mark the 50th anniversary of the nation's longest-running soap, Coronation Street. Coronation Street legends Vera Duckworth, Hilda Ogden, Bet Gilroy, Deirdre Barlow and current Rovers firebrand Becky McDonald have been joined by their on screen husbands on a series of beautifully rendered medals, designed to mark five decades of the Weatherfield saga.

This is the first time the Royal Mint has ever commemorated a soap opera with TV memorabilia. The medal designs faithfully capture intimate details of the lives of the characters that will be instantly recognisable to millions of Street fans, including Stan and Hilda's famous flying ducks and Deirdre Barlow's specs.

Recently departed Jack Duckworth has been reunited with his other half in a design that features the warring couple in their younger days, complete with the infamous stone cladding from the Old Rectory at number nine. Steve and Becky McDonald pose in front of the flock wallpaper of the Rovers, while Bet Gilroy's beehive is captured curl by curl. A sixth medal completes the Coronation Street series featuring an engraving of the Street's famous watering hole, The Rovers Return finished in silver and fine gold plating.

Commenting on the designs, Dave Knight, the Royal Mint's Director of Commemorative Coin said: "Every year the Royal Mint captures the likeness of statesmen and royalty around the world, but faithfully capturing the essence of ten, hugely loved television icons who, for the last 50 years have been regular visitors to millions of sitting rooms across the country, was a particular challenge. Coronation Street is a great, British institution and it's only fitting that the Royal Mint should commemorate its cultural significance with the first ever soap inspired medals."

To mark the Street's 50 year milestone, a unique, 22 carat gold version of the Rovers Return medal was struck by the Royal Mint. The gold medal was auctioned at Coronation Street 50th Anniversary Appeal gala auction in Manchester. The appeal is made up of three charities chosen by cast members; The Christie Hospital in Manchester, the NSPCC and Cancer Research UK.

Coronation Street executive producer, Kieran Roberts said: "It's a genuine honour to have this series created for our 50th Anniversary. The characters featured on the medals have been immortalised in a way normally reserved for kings, queens and historical icons. Vera and Hilda would be over the moon."

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Coronation Street crash tram to take starring role at museum

Deborah Linton
December 22, 2010
M.E.N

Coronation Street’s killer tram is being preserved for history in a city centre museum. The Museum Of Science And Industry will be the new home for a section of the specially-built tram early next year. The Liverpool Road museum has almost completed a £7m revamp and hopes to have the piece of soap history in place in time for its full reopening.

Director Tony Hill said: “We were approached a couple of weeks back as to whether we would like to have the tram from the crash. As the icon of the 50th anniversary programming we felt it appropriate to have it. At this stage we understand that it will be the section that smashed into Rita’s shop. As yet we have not finalised a delivery date but I would hope that we can link in with the full re-opening of MOSI towards the end of January 2011.”

Soap fans were gripped as the tram plummeted from the Coronation Street viaduct, claiming the lives of soap favourites Ashley Peacock and Molly Dobbs. The spectacular stunt, which cost more than £1m to film, was the highlight of an anniversary week which included an hour-long live episode watched by 15m viewers.

The M.E.N. revealed last week that the museum is also in talks with Granada about the possibility of getting hold of the soap’s original cobbled street for its new-look communications gallery.

ITV is quitting its current Granada Studios base, next to the museum, for MediaCity, at Salford Quays, in 2012. A new set and production centre will be built on the Trafford side of the development, next to Imperial War Museum North while the rest of Granada’s staff will be based on the Salford side.

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Area of Salford that inspired Coronation Street to get Swedish-style makeover
Neal Keeling
April 12, 2011
Manchester Evening News

Swedish design is coming to an area of Salford which inspired Coronation Street. Scandinavian-style family homes are to be built on four acres of land in Greengate, at the heart of old the city.

The area was once dominated by terrace houses, mills and railway arches which were the inspiration for the TV soap. Now a warren of streets has vanished to be replaced by industrial units, garages and new apartment blocks. Courtyard gardens and greenhouses will encourage a ‘community’ feel – which should help a tiny surviving backstreet boozer, The Eagle Inn, tucked away in Collier Street.

The homes will be built by Manchester-based Northerngroup, which has been transforming Ancoats for 15 years. Swedish architects, White Arkitekter, say the project will combine ‘a robust Salford-inspired architecture with light spacious Scandinavian family home types’. The project was chosen after a ‘House 4 Life’ international design competition. The site, next to Trinity Way, is close to Manchester city centre.

Council leader, John Merry, said: “This housing will be different to anything we have seen in Salford before. It will bring innovative and sustainable housing into our city.” The development follows concern not enough family homes were being built in the city. Nathan Ezair, director at Northerngroup, said: “We will use modern methods of construction to build homes which are close to carbon neutral, making them affordable to run for eventual occupiers. We’re delighted to be part of the winning team to develop this landmark project which will provide the first genuine family housing in Salford-Manchester city centre.”

A competition to design a development was staged by the Salford Urban Regeneration Company, the Centre for Construction Innovation, NHS Salford and the council. The organisers said they were looking for a ‘visionary development’ that would ‘respond to existing health and educational needs’ of the community.

Catherine Burd, of the Royal Institute of British Architects, said: “The clarity of White’s landscape-led approach emerged as a clear winner. The scheme builds on a Scandinavian model of family apartments and flexible tenancies and provides all households with views to a range of imaginatively landscaped private and shared gardens.”

[SpursFan1902]

Well now that's not very Corrie, is it?