In April we booked our trip to England. My cousin's daughter Hannah was celebrating her 21st birthday in July and we were going over to surprise her. Hannah is 'a bit' nosey, so to fool her we told everyone we were coming over for Christmas. It was hard to not share my excitement or post my countdowns.
The week after we booked our flight they announced they would be doing limited tours of the new Coronation Street studios. We were in luck as there were two dates we could go. The day the tours went on sale, my friend Denise (from Canada) booked for July 7th at 12:30pm. She invited some of our mutual friends. We booked the same date to surprise her - she always said she wanted to walk the cobbles with us. Denise finally booked her flight two weeks before we left. I couldn't believe it when Denise told me she was booked to fly out on July 5th - only the same flight as us! What a surprise she had when we said hello to her and her mum at the airport and told her we'd be walking the cobbles with her in 2 days.
When I arrived at my cousin's in Stafford I had a package waiting for me. It was from Paul of CorrieArt (give him a follow on twitter or fb @corrieart). It was the Coronation Street bag from the Co-Op. I loved it and used it a lot on my holiday.
When I arrived at my cousin's in Stafford I had a package waiting for me. It was from Paul of CorrieArt (give him a follow on twitter or fb @corrieart). It was the Coronation Street bag from the Co-Op. I loved it and used it a lot on my holiday.
JULY 7th, 2018
Our Corrie day was here, very exciting! We got on the train in Stafford and next stop our friend Steph got on. About 9am we arrived in Manchester and headed to Weatherspoons for a full English. We had some time till we met the others so decided to walk past the old studios where I'd met a number of my good friends at 'the gates' meeting cast. Lots of wonderful memories came flooding back, but at the same time it felt sad. With Al being tall he could put the camera over the fence so we could see where the old street used to be. Only the builder's yard remains.
We got on the tram at Deansgate to take us to Media City and spotted our friend James sitting at the front of the tram. At Media City we met up with our other friends Emma, Denise, Iris, Julie and Hazel. We went to check in for our tour. I had a look around the gift shop and there were 2 puzzles left. I asked if there were more and they said there weren't so I bought it then. Good job as the other one went right after.
I then saw our friends Jonny and Michael who are tour guides. Jonny was our tour guide at the Emmerdale village. You may recognize him as he is a background artist at Coronation Street. He would be the one leading our tour that afternoon. Yay! (We would have loved Michael as well!)
At 12:30pm our tour began. We made our way across the bridge (which I'd walked across a number of times to meet the cast.) This time we got to go through the entrance the actors and crew go through.
This tour is different than the old one as it's a working set - you see the outdoor set only. Thank goodness it was a lovely day and the sun was shining! Right away you notice things are to scale. The houses are full size, you can drive two cars down the street, the Rovers has two windows, there is an actual street behind the viaduct not a mural like at the old set, the cafe has an extra door and so much more. Jonny would tell us a few facts or ask us questions and we would be taking everything in and snapping photos. Then we'd move further down the street. How exciting it was to see the new addition of Victoria Street. It was emotional to see the memorial bench dedicated to Corrie superfan Martyn Hett (who I had spoke to a few times on twitter) and the other 21 victims of the Manchester bombing).
You had plenty of time to take photos, but when the tour was over I felt like it had gone by too fast. As we walked out my friend Michael had a group of fans ready to take around, how I would have loved to have joined his tour and done it all over again. We then returned to where we had started and picked up our free photo taken in front the Rovers.
I've heard fans moaning about the 35 pound price, to us it was well worth it! It's not everyday you get to walk on the cobbles where all your favourite Coronation Street favourites walk!
It really is something to walk those magical cobbles!
You had plenty of time to take photos, but when the tour was over I felt like it had gone by too fast. As we walked out my friend Michael had a group of fans ready to take around, how I would have loved to have joined his tour and done it all over again. We then returned to where we had started and picked up our free photo taken in front the Rovers.
I've heard fans moaning about the 35 pound price, to us it was well worth it! It's not everyday you get to walk on the cobbles where all your favourite Coronation Street favourites walk!
It really is something to walk those magical cobbles!
You can look at a lot more photos from the street here. (still being added)
It's wonderful our group met through Coronation Street, became friends and got to walk the cobbles together. Some of us had done the old tour at Quay Street in 2015.
Special thanks to Jonny for once again being a fabulous guide!
It's wonderful our group met through Coronation Street, became friends and got to walk the cobbles together. Some of us had done the old tour at Quay Street in 2015.
Special thanks to Jonny for once again being a fabulous guide!
Afterwards we went to the Holiday Inn and cheered on England in the world cup. They beat Sweden in the quarter finals 2-0. When it was over we walked to the Lowry Centre to have dinner at the Harvester. Just before getting there, I said 'wouldn't it be great if we saw Richard Fleeshman (Craig Harris). It would just finish off the day.' Well, lo and behold didn't I spot him sitting on the curb outside the theatre. The others didn't think it was him, but I was sure it was....James then confirmed it was. It was the last day of Sting's play The Last Shipyard and it was between shows. If it wasn't the last show I would have gone to see the play as I'd love to hear Richard sing.
What a fabulous day we had.
What a fabulous day we had.
Meeting coronation street cast - July 18th
We had plans to meet friends at the Coronation Street studios on July 18th - Amy, Karen, Daz, Sahra and baby Caleb. We spend time with friends, go for a meal and if we meet any actors......it's a bonus. Well, we met a few actors and they were all wonderful! The first was Richard Hawley (Jonny). He was sooooo nice, my day had already been made. We then met 9 other actors. We also met a new pet, but were told it was an exclusive so couldn't tell anyone! There was a photo a few days later of the dog with Tyrone. Thanks to everyone who did stop for us. As Rob Mallard (Daniel) said 'same time, same place next year. :)
a day in manchester - July 23rd
We had plans to meet a special friend in Manchester for lunch. Friend Steph and her mom were joining us. We arrived in Manchester early so decided to look for bees. It was day one of #BeeInTheCity For two months there are over 100 large bee sculptures and 130 medium bees around the city. Each is designed by a different artist and celebrates the unique buzz of Manchester.
Here is Coronation Street's Hilda Bugden . |
We were staying in Salford that night. We checked into our hotel and arranged to meet Steph and her mum downstairs at 5pm. We would walk over to the studios for an hour to see if we could meet any cast. While waiting outside for Steph, Al says to me 'Isn't that Sally's sister?' Yes, it was Connie Hyde who plays Gina. A lovely lady whose little secret is safe with us.
At the studios we met Richard Hawley (Jonny) again. He was riding out on his bicycle. He still chatted to us for ages. Then we met Kate Ford. (Tracy)
The next morning we saw Kate Ford (Tracy) having breakfast and then in the lobby at our hotel. We never approached her. First off she had kindly stopped outside the studios the day before and secondly it wasn't the place.
We left Manchester that morning and headed to Leeds. With our Coronation Street tour we had got a coupon for 50% off the price of the Emmerdale studio experience.
July 26th -Rhyl
We had a beautiful trip to Llandudno, Wales and on the way back we stopped in Rhyl. At the front of the arcade we found a Coronation Street 2p machine.
Coronation Street was just a small part of our holiday and we loved every Corrie moment!
Our holiday was : Stafford - Manchester - Sheffield - York - Lincoln - Weston Super Mare - Leeds - Llandudno - Rhyl - Surprises - Birthdays - Corrie - Emmie - Seasides - Bees - Footy - Cup A Cha - BBQ's - Friends - Family - LOVE
We love everything British and can't wait for our next trip which I'm sure will have a few more Coronation Street adventures.
TO SEE PHOTOS FROM OUR CORONATION STREET TOUR.....click here.
Our holiday was : Stafford - Manchester - Sheffield - York - Lincoln - Weston Super Mare - Leeds - Llandudno - Rhyl - Surprises - Birthdays - Corrie - Emmie - Seasides - Bees - Footy - Cup A Cha - BBQ's - Friends - Family - LOVE
We love everything British and can't wait for our next trip which I'm sure will have a few more Coronation Street adventures.
TO SEE PHOTOS FROM OUR CORONATION STREET TOUR.....click here.