An Unforgettable Fan Tour of Coronation Street

Are you a Coronation Street fan? Do you follow the families on the Cobbles and almost feel like they're part of your family? I do too!

I was so excited to be asked to host a group of 26 Coronation Street fans on a tour of Manchester (the studios) and Wales. We toured the studio and sets and even met some of the stars. From staff to stars they were all friendly, approachable and kind; making us feel welcome and showing us how truly appreciative they are of our support from Canada.

Manchester is a lovely city. We stayed downtown at the Leonardo, walking distance to all the restaurants/pubs/shops, as well as a nearby open-air market with local artisans and crafters. My room was very comfortable, culinary options at the hotel were great (and well priced), staff extremely friendly and efficient. We toured the Transport Museum where we saw trams from various TV shows of today and yesteryear; bought a few souvenirs and then headed to see some of the outdoor areas of Corrie - the Bistro, the entry to the local medical clinic and Carla Connor's door buzzer. At St Martin's Church, where Tina McIntyre is "buried", we even found the tombstone of a Canadian soldier! The symbol of Manchester is the Bee - which can be seen everywhere! This represents the hard-working people of Manchester.

The highlight of the Manchester portion of the tour was visiting the ITV Studio. We were met by the representative and taken on a tour of Ken Barlow's house - yes, complete with the famous dining table and couch; Ken's chair, and the hallway table with letters addressed to Ken. Streetcars was interesting; saw Steve's ragged old chair, his coffee cup, the switchboard desk and I posed at the spot where everyone comes in to order their cab. Walking from studio to studio (it was pouring outside) Dee Dee (Channique Sterling-Brown) appeared! She was absolutely lovely. She greeted us all with a smiling face, saying she felt sorry for us in the rain. She chatted for quite a while and posed for photos. Then it was a chance meeting with Kit (Jacob Roberts) as he walked into the studio to shoot his scenes. He's even more handsome in real life! During our actual tour he was filming so we were able to watch the recording (being very quiet) and some even got to shake his hand and chat between scenes.

Next it was on to the Cobbles. Seeing all the "fronts" of the familiar places - Roy's Rolls, Preston's Petals, Prima Doner, Audrey's Hair Salon, Trim Up North, Shuttleworth's Funeral Services, the Weatherfield Police Station, the ginnel where so many nasty scenes have taken place, the Kabin, the swing set park where Mason was found and so many sit on pouring out their problems, Webster's Garage, all the fronts of the houses - including Tyrone's colourful one, and of course, The Rovers Return. Heading inside to escape the rain, we sat in "The Bistro" while waiting our turn to enter the filming area. The BIstro is the largest set of the show, although when you're there it's still pretty small. There is a museum upstairs where we saw some of the wedding dresses of the show - Gemma's brash orange dress, Haley's very subdued white gown, Daisy's dress, complete with burned sleeves; along with photos and memorabilia of past shows - like Diedre's glasses. We all took a turn posing behind the Rovers Return bar!

Our first guest for dinner was Todd Grimshaw, Gareth Pierce. He was so lovely, well-spoken and kind. He has a Welsh background and happily wrote down some Welsh words for us knowing that's where we were headed. He spent time at each table, chatting with us about life on Corrie and how his character has developed. He's quiet, just like his character. He's actually married in real life, with a 9yr old daughter. He posed for photos and signed cards for everyone; we presented him with a Blue Jays baseball hat and some lovely Canadian coasters. He stayed longer than his scheduled time which was appreciated by everyone. Such a lovely, lovely person.

The next guest, the following night, was Glenda Shuttleworth, Jodie Prenger, the Rovers barmaid. She was an absolute delight! One of our guests was so excited to see her that she stood up and spilled her wine so Jodie ran over and started cleaning the table while cracking jokes the entire time. As much as Gareth was quiet and like his character; Jodie was flamboyant, friendly, approachable, charismatic and mischievous. She was so much fun! She was open to the gossip of who's fun and who's not on the show (which I'll keep to myself); what she hopes happens to her character and how happy she is that Canada enjoys Corrie so much. We're the second largest audience outside the UK. While she moved from table to table, the rest of us tried on Bet Lynch's leopard print coat and took a photo with the statue Tracey used to kill Charlie. Such a fun evening.

With our Coronation Street portion of the tour over, we headed to Wales; just a 3hr drive from Manchester. Cardiff, the capital, was our first stop. Again, our Leonardo hotel was right in the middle of the downtown core. Very easy walking to shops/restaurants/pubs - in fact we walked to Cardiff Castle as well. Wales has more castles than any other country in Europe - over 600. A stop at Caerphilly Castle was interesting and challenging - some of us climbed to the top to get fantastic views of the city. A stop at the seaside village of Aberystwyth was a welcome change. We got to put our feet in the sand and walk around the quaint town; pub lunch of fish 'n chips - although we called them "whale 'n chips" because the fish was SO large. One thing I noticed was that dogs are very welcome - all the pubs allow dogs and even provide bowls and snacks for them! One of our favourite stays (2 nights) was in Portmeirion, in the north of Wales. The further north you venture in Wales, the more Welsh was spoken and all the road signs were in English/Welsh. I couldn't even attempt to pronounce some of the Welsh words but it was interesting to listen to our guide describing our hotel with the Welsh lilt. Couldn't understand a word! Portmeirion is a fairytale village created by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975. It's known for it's colourful Baroque buildings and Mediterranean-style piazza. The village features cottages, shops, restaurants, a hotel and has been the location of many popular TV shows, including The Prisoner. Unfortunately it was still pouring during our visit but we were all eager to go on a walking tour of the village to learn about where Sir Clough got all his quirky and unique displays. The food was completely out of this world. Absolutely delicious Welsh lamb, and other regional delicacies. Desserts the entire tour were delicious - sticky toffee pudding, pavlova, chocolate puddings, etc.; clothes were getting a little tight by the end of the tour but thankfully lots of walking during the day helped combat the excess weight! Final visits to the villages of Caernarfon (another gorgeous Castle) and Conwy on the way to Chester were also enjoyed. Pub lunches, seaside walks and castles - and the sun shone! Lots of shopping for souvenirs! What an absolutely incredible adventure this was. I was so honoured to be asked to host the tour; I met some wonderful people who I hope to see on next year's tour!

If you're worried about joining a group tour when you're flying solo - don't. We had many ladies & gentlemen who were alone but because we all had a common interest in Coronation Street, we had lots to talk about and became one happy family.