Tuesday 28 July 2009

1979: A New Beginning For The Tilsley Family...

Ivy and Bert (Lynne Perrie and Peter Dudley) - the housewarming party.

Bert Tilsley would have been quite happy to stay in Inkerman Street. It was his wife, Ivy, who was the driving force behind the decision for the family to relocate to No 5 Coronation Street - extensively modernised by Fairclough and Langton for one Michael Vernon Baldwin in 1976.

When the house went up for sale in 1979, Ivy set her heart on it.

There was trouble before the family even moved in. At one point, it seemed as though previous owner Deirdre Langton would not be going through with the sale. But the Tilsleys' house was already as good as sold, and Ivy argued fiercely with Deirdre, who for this, and other reasons, decided to move in next door with Emily Bishop.

The first major event after the Tilsleys had moved into their new home was a row with Hilda Ogden. Stan cleaned the Tilsleys' windows, despite Ivy telling Hilda she'd clean them herself. Ivy refused to pay Stan, and Hilda threw a bucketful of mucky water all over No 5's bay window.

Would you flamin' credit it?

What a start!

Still, all was forgiven (just about), if not forgotten, in time for the housewarming party, and Ivy made an effort to welcome Hilda when she turned up unexpectedly.

As Ken Barlow made a speech to welcome the Street's new arrivals, Ivy, Bert and son Brian smiled and looked forward to a happy future in their smart new home.

If only they'd known.

1 comment:

Maria said...

It was like that family was cursed!