Coronation Street in 1966



1966 was Coronation Street's seventh year. It is notable as containing one of the earliest attempts by producers to change the makeup of the Street to reflect recent trends in real-world communities; the defunct Glad Tidings Mission Hall was turned into a Community Centre, and Elliston's Raincoat Factory, which had long since been dropped from storylines, was brought back to the fore as a PVC factory. With the factory came several new short-term characters, including Bet Lynch, played by Julie Goodyear in her first appearance in the programme. Another key debut was Neville Buswell as Ray Langton, who would similarly return for a longer stint some years later.

On the casting front, 1966 was largely a year of returns, with Sheila Birtles, Jed Stone and Linda and Ivan Cheveski all brought back (although all of them had left by the end of the year). A key absence was Emily Nugent, as Eileen Derbyshire left the series in February to go on maternity leave. Also, the characters of Elsie Tanner, Annie and Jack Walker were absent from 23rd March to 25th April as Patricia Phoenix, Doris Speed and Arthur Leslie went on a promotional tour of Australia with executive producer H.V. Kershaw.

Howard Baker began the year as producer although Peter Eckersley took over with Episode 530 on 10th January. Eckersley remained in the position for six months, with his last episode transmitted on 6th July, after which H.V. Kershaw once again took on the position. Other notable production details included the first scripts by Leslie Duxbury and Susan Pleat.

Ratings were generally good, with the year peaking with Episode 613, watched in 9,050,000 homes on 26th October (although only 22 episodes reached No.1 in the weekly ratings charts in 1966 compared with 56 the previous year).

Storylines included David and Irma Barlow taking over the Corner Shop from a departing Lionel Petty, Ena Sharples arrested for shoplifting, Len Fairclough battling Annie Walker for a seat on the council, Paul Cheveski falling into the canal, Elsie Tanner being harassed by a mystery caller, Ken Barlow's affair with Jackie Marsh, Jed Stone's arrest for handling stolen goods and the doomed re-opening of Elliston's factory.

104 new episodes were broadcast on ITV in 1966. All 24 episodes of the second season of spin-off Pardon the Expression, starring Arthur Lowe as Leonard Swindley, were also transmitted that year.

January

 * Telephone engineer Jim Mount returns to the Street to look for Elsie Tanner. She agrees to go on a date with him and the two start a relationship.
 * Dennis Tanner borrows Emily Nugent's camera and secretly takes pictures of Jerry Booth when he is undressed as a joke but the photographs get into circulation and Dennis is forced to apologise for his prank.
 * Stan Ogden intervenes in David Barlow's sacking when he confronts his former boss, Sid Lambert who offers David a job in his engineering factory as recompense but David turns down the offer.
 * The local paper investigates David's sacking but this only leads to Ken Barlow taking an interest in their journalist Jackie Marsh. The two begin what is at first a platonic friendship but it soon develops into an affair. Elsie sees the two of them together, kissing.
 * Dave Smith's business affairs become entangled in the life of the Street again when he decides to open a new betting shop in the locality, a deal having fallen through to open a branch on Waterloo Road. Ena Sharples soon hears of Dave's plans and starts to oppose them. Dave approaches Lionel Petty about buying the Corner Shop but as he refuses to purchase the stock as part of the transaction, Lionel refuses to sell although he tells Ena to mind her own business when she tries to influence his decision. She is further annoyed when she finds Minnie Caldwell laying on bets in another of Dave's shops.
 * Albert Tatlock has problems when kids play on his allotment and when Clara starts to take a romantic interest in him. He does his best to avoid her.
 * Lucille Hewitt finishes with Kenny Stevens.
 * Valerie Barlow obtains an old piano through Len Fairclough and takes up lessons from Ena.
 * David falls into a drunken depression. Knowing that Lionel is interested in selling the Corner Shop, Irma Barlow suggests buying it. David doesn't want to know and Irma walks out on him. This brings David to his senses and they are reconciled. They buy the shop from Lionel who moves to Wales after a farewell party in the Rovers.
 * Minnie finds that she is short of money and can't afford coal to keep her warm. Ena and Clara Midgeley blame each other for Minnie's predicament. Her financial situation worsens and she finds herself under undue pressure from clubman Fred Nuttall who threatens her with court for an unpaid debt she owes him. The situation is saved when Jed Stone turns up on Minnie's doorstep and pays her a month's rent in advance. Jed discovers that Nuttall is adding extortionate interest to the loan and he and Dennis con money out of him so that the debts can be repaid.
 * A misunderstanding between Stan and Hilda Ogden causes Stan to think he's had a major pools win. He celebrates drunkenly with a party in the Rovers and is livid when Hilda explains the mix-up, threatening to kill her. He calms down and finds himself saddled with a large drinks bill for the party.
 * Emily announces that she's moving to Majorca to work in a friend's souvenir shop.

February

 * As part of their changes in the Corner Shop, the Barlows close the loss-making Post Office section.
 * Jed and Dennis use the money from Fred Nuttall to repay all of Minnie's debts with some to spare left over. Nuttall realises he's been swindled and confronts Dennis who spins him a yarn that the police are interested in the socks that are now in his possession an Nuttall backs off.
 * James Nugent, Emily's father has a stroke and one of her sisters, Joan Corrie, pressures her to move to Harrogate to nurse him. Feeling put upon by her family she initially refuses to abandon her dream of moving to Majorca but eventually sadly gives in. The residents hold a leaving party for her, none-the-wiser as to where she is really going. She tells everyone that her father is going into a home but Jerry realises the truth. Emily leaves Weatherfield.
 * Elsie warns Ken to be careful but he tells her to mind her own business. She prevaricates as to whether to tell Val or not but in the meantime Ken and Jackie become more serious to each other and Ken recklessly tells Elsie that she can inform whoever she likes. He plans to spend a weekend away with Jackie, supposedly at a teacher's NUT conference but has a last minute change of heart and finishes with Jackie.
 * Jed pursues his latest get-rich-quick schemes; wanting to put a fruit machine in Gamma Garments, running a market stall (with Lucille's help) selling junk, starting a waxworks business by trying to remold figures such as Ghandi and Charlie Chaplin into the Beatles. All of these go wrong and Dennis, heavily involved in some of them, becomes depressed and takes to his bed. After a short time feeling sorry for himself (and following some nursing from Ena and Minnie) he starts to come round when Jed talks of taking up selling by auction but falls into a depression again when he realises that they need premises to be able to go ahead with the plan. Dennis realises that Ena can write music down and the two start writing songs together using his lyrics. Jed hires arches under the viaduct to expand his "business".
 * Clara gets Albert to go to Cleveleys with her to help run her niece's hotel.
 * Len is delighted when Jack Walker fixes up a job for him at his spiritual home - Newton & Ridley's brewery. In view of the workload, Jerry takes on an apprentice – ex-borstal boy Ray Langton, although Len is distrustful of the young man. The job goes badly when Len spends more time drinking than working and he and Jerry start to fall out. Jerry carries on working diligently and falls off some scaffolding while Len is playing cards with the brewery workers. He is taken to hospital and Len's contract is terminated as the scaffolding was unsafe.
 * Ray asks a smitten Lucille out and they start dating.
 * Stan agrees that Jim Mount can lodge at No. 13 although Hilda isn't pleased at the extra work that a lodger brings her. She is brought round when Jim pays his rent direct to her instead of Stan.
 * The Walkers and Lucille are invited to Ireland for a holiday by the Hewitts.

March

 * Jerry recovers and Len apologises to him for his behaviour and the two business partners are reconciled but Elsie still rows with Len for his over-drinking.
 * Jed and Dennis open their auction rooms under the name of the "Viaduct Bargain Boutique". One of the items on sale is a framed photograph of Hilda's mother that Stan sold them for 10/-. Hilda snatches it back when Jed offers it to her for £1. Jed and Dennis open a bank account for the business and Dennis avoids his proper job with the novelty toy company and is sacked. The two entrepreneurs advertise that a celebrity will officially open the auction rooms - it is Minnie Caldwell. The business gets off to a bad start when no one buys anything and they discover they need planning permission. Within a week they have to close. Undaunted, Jed converts the premises into boarding kennels but the dog's barking keeps the residents awake and disaster strikes when they lose a dog belonging to a local villain, "Big" Arthur Johnson.
 * Ena is concerned for Lucille and how her relationship with Ray will end up. Ray offers to do a foreigner job for Jack but he angrily rejects it as the young man is going behind Len's back. Lucille babysits for the Barlows and Ray joins her but steals £5 from a £30 school fund that Ken was looking after. Not knowing that Ray was with her, Ken suspects Lucille of the theft. Lucille tackles Ray when she finds out that she is under suspicion but he lets on that he's not interested. Without telling him what the money is for, Lucille obtains £5 from Jack and gives it to the Barlows. Ray then cons Lucille into thinking that he took the money for his mother. Ena finds out about the incident and threatens the two with court action if they don’t clean up their act.
 * Sick of him being distant with her, Val leaves Ken and goes back to her family in Glasgow. After several weeks Ken phones and asks her to return. She does so and Ken tries to show her that he's changed his ways by decorating No. 9 and buying a car but she's more unsure than ever as to whether or not he really loves her.
 * Clara returns from Cleveleys but not with Albert. She reveals to Minnie that she got nowhere with him. Albert returns a week later but avoids Clara. After several weeks she proposes to him but he refuses as he's too set in his ways to change his life now. Clara becomes temporary Rovers cleaner when Hilda goes away for a few weeks.
 * Partly under pressure from Ray, Lucille refuses to go to Ireland with the Walkers. They leave without her and the brewery installs Brenda Riley as a relief manager. She is an ex-girlfriend of Jim Mount. He and Elsie row when she sees him chatting up another woman and Jim hits her. Len attacks Jim in Elsie's defence but Jim easily beats him down. When Jim refuses to commit himself to Elsie in any way she finishes with him. Len and Jim then compete for Brenda.

April

 * Jed finds Arthur Johnson's dog in time but has to pay £5 to the man who has her. Despondent at his latest financial failure, he closes the kennels. Soon afterwards, he receives his belated permission to open an auction room.
 * Peter and Susan Barlow celebrate their first birthday with a party. Ken tries his best to convince Val that he's devoted to her but she makes it clear that she's not interested.
 * Lucille discovers that Ray has stolen a bottle of whisky from the Rovers. Ray threatens her when she tells him that she's going to tell Brenda. Nevertheless Lucille does tell Brenda but finds that the relief landlady appears unconcerned. However she summons Ray and tells him to stop seeing Lucille. He then threatens Brenda but Len stops him, sacks him and sends him on his way, but not before he tells Lucille that he'll catch up with her one day.
 * Hilda returns and discovers that Stan and Jim have attempted to clean No. 13 but in the process have created more of a mess than ever. She tries to get her job back at the Rovers but Clara refuses to give up the position and Brenda refuses to take Hilda back on until she knows what Annie would want. A furious Hilda refuses to let Stan and Jim frequent the Rovers and Brenda gives in.
 * Vera Lomax turns up unexpectedly at Ena's for a stay. She confesses that she has left Bob and that they are in a financial mess and facing eviction. Ena gives her all of her savings - £150 - which is the money Vera needs.
 * Dennis takes on a job as entertainments manager at a holiday camp in Carlisle and leaves the area.
 * The brewery, pleased with Brenda's progress in the Rovers, ask her to stay on after the Walker's return, with the specific task of teaching Annie how to be nice to customers. The Walkers return on the night of an organised betting evening in the pub, over a billiards match between Jed and David. A horrified Annie orders Brenda out. David wins the match, and Stan for one loses his wager. Elsie makes Hilda see that Jim is a bad influence on Stan and, angry with Jed for organising the match and with Elsie for her attitude towards him, he and Brenda leave the Street together.
 * A new Mission worker, Ronald Nesbitt, causes further problems for Ena when he catches her frequenting the Rovers and orders her out of the Vestry while repairs to the building are carried out. No one helps Ena with her accommodation problem until Minnie lets her stay at No. 5. Minnie worries about her depressed state and things look bleaker than ever for Ena when she is caught shoplifting in the Pick-a-Snip Supermarket.

May

 * Ena is charged by the police. She appears in court and pleads not guilty but the magistrates find otherwise and fine her 40/-. She returns to the Mission to find social worker Ruth Winter has been placed in charge and resigns on the spot. She also refuses to return to the Vestry and finds fault on religious grounds with the adult education classes and events that Ruth puts on. Len helps Ruth with handyman classes while Val signs on for the playgroup. Ena and the over-sixties' club try to sabotage the events at the Mission.
 * Chimney sweep, and Elsie's ex-father-in-law, Wally Tanner moves back to the area after a twenty-absence. Much to Elsie's displeasure, he moves himself into No. 11, complete with his pigeons, and takes on a job as potman at the Rovers.
 * Ena is offered a flat in a tower block on Navigation Street but refuses it. Jerry moves the old lady into their home as a housekeeper. Len hates the way that she bosses him about but Ruth asks him to try and get along with her for everyone's sake. He moves her rocking chair in and the two start to get along better.
 * Stan gets himself an ice-cream van, intending to use it in the afternoon when his milk round finishes in the morning. David refuses to give him financial backing and he and Irma row about the way her parents sponge off them. Frustrated with life in the shop Irma decides to get a different job. David tells Hilda she'll have no more on the tick. Irma settles her mother's debt for her.
 * Elliston's Raincoat Factory changes to pvc production. New workers are taken on including Irma, Lucille and Bet Lynch. Irma takes Hilda on as shop assistant to "help" David when she starts at the factory. He is not pleased at the prospect.
 * Stan's ice cream round runs into problems when he poaches customers on the patch covered by the Bonetti family led by matriarch Mary. They counter Stan by driving ahead of him and getting to the customers first, then offers to buy his melting ice cream off him at cheap prices.
 * Minnie collapses with head pains, then contracts flu and Jed looks after her. When she is recovered he takes her and Jerry out to a posh club where Jerry bumps into Sheila Birtles.

June

 * Jerry persuades Sheila to return to the Street and take a job at the factory but, filled with bad memories, she refuses to live in the Corner Shop flat again and instead lodges with Elsie. Wally is forced out of his room and has to sleep on the sofa.
 * Although Hilda refuses to sell the ice cream to Rose, Stan does a deal where he sells her the van and works for her on a salary. A jealous Hilda starts to believe that the two are having an affair and tells Stan to ditch his job. He refuses so Hilda reports him to the town hall for trading without a licence. He ends up being sacked but, rather than being angry, is flattered that Hilda was jealous.
 * The factory reopens for business but Irma finds the work difficult and blows her welding machine up. John Benjamin, the manager, threatens to sack her if her work doesn't improve.
 * Dennis returns from Carlisle, in trouble again when a deal with a nightclub croupier went wrong and he owes some mobsters £94. He asks Len for help but is not believed. Elsie gets him a job at Dave Smith's betting shop where he tries to gamble his wages to get more money but the horse loses. The villains catch up with him and give him a week to find the money. Dave tells Elsie he'll lend him the money if she'll be his mistress. She angrily refuses and one week later the heavies return. Ena begs the menfolk of the Street for help when she realises that Elsie and Dennis are trapped with the thugs in No. 11 but only Len and Jack come forward. A fight ensues in No. 11 which only ends when Len hands over the money on Dennis's behalf. He gives Dennis a job at the Builder's Yard to enable him to get his money back.
 * Ruth organises further community events at the Mission. Albert is to give a talk while Ken starts a film club. Lucille helps organise a dance for the local teenagers. Ena objects and her fears come true when she and Lucille are cornered in the Vestry by two young toughs who threaten the pair of them. Ruth rescues them with a surprising display of self-defence. A week later, Ena moves back into the Vestry.
 * With Dennis also at No. 11, Elsie allows Sheila to turn the front parlour into a bedroom. The crowding situation is eased when Elsie contacts her divorced husband Arnold Tanner and dumps Wally on him. Despite almost everyone's reservations, Jerry and Sheila become closer when Val arranges for Sheila to babysit and Jerry to call. They admit their love for each other but Jerry is shocked to the core when Sheila takes him to see a baby - her son, Danny.

July

 * Lucille falls foul of pvc factory worker Bet Lynch who is jealous of her speed compared to the other girls but is also angry that she doesn't own up to carrying out shoddy work and the result is that all of the girls get blamed. Bet gives Lucille a black eye. Sheila tells Jerry that her child is Neil Crossley's. Lucille finds out about Sheila and, in her anger at the factory girls' treatment towards her, revealing that she has an illegitimate child. Irma and Annie then jump to the conclusion that Sheila gave Lucille her black eye and Jerry, uncertain before now how he feels about Sheila, stands up for her before everyone. John Benjamin knows the truth and tells Bet to apologise but she refuses and she and Lucille end up in a fracas. Len, looking for Lucille when she is late home, finds out that Benjamin and Bet are in a relationship and threatens to report Benjamin for mismanagement. He and Len fight with the Barlow brothers jumping into the fray on Len's side.
 * Sheila decides to leave Weatherfield but Jerry persuades her not to. He decides to get a divorce from Myra and marry Sheila.
 * Ken's first film society meeting falls into disarray when he shows a nudist film by mistake. Some of the residents are disgusted. Some less so…
 * David gets World Cup tickets for another match in Liverpool which he distributes. Jack is one of the recipients but Annie refuses to allow him to go and he gives his ticket to Jed. When the match trip takes place, he is angered when Stan gets into trouble with the police and gives his name as "Jed Stone".
 * Ken decides to buy a caravan and David agrees to go halves with him.
 * Ruth organises a pub quiz – the Rovers against the "Bird in Hand" pub. The Rovers wins but Annie is impressed with cultured George Chippendale from the opposing team and asks him to look at a painting she found in the Rovers cellar. Behind the frame is money and a mask. This appeals to Annie's romantic nature and she considers changing the name of the Rovers to "The Masked Lady". The customers are not happy about this change but Annie drops the idea. Everyone is surprised at this change of mind but what they don't know is that Mrs Arkinstall of the Federation of Women's Associations has asked her to stand as a Councillor in the forthcoming elections and this now occupies her attention.
 * Ruth starts going out with Len but an old boyfriend called Paul proposes to her and asks her to move to Rome with him. She accepts, says goodbye to a saddened Len and is given a send-off by the residents. The community centre operations move to a Mission in Chester Street.

August

 * Ken forgets his own fourth wedding anniversary.
 * Dennis is fed up of working at the yard and the nagging women in No. 11. He packs and leaves. Elsie is unconcerned about his whereabouts whereas everyone else thinks she ought to be worried. Dennis however is only lodging in Jed's room at No. 5, trying to provoke a reaction from his mother while Minnie wonders why Jed is suddenly eating so much. Lucille works out where Dennis is staying and he has to buy her silence. Dennis grows hungry while he hides and Jed and Irma con him into thinking that Elsie is worried sick. He breaks into No. 11 to steal food and is caught by Elsie.
 * George Dickinson tells Jerry that it will not be easy to obtain a divorce from Myra. Sheila thinks he's deliberately stalling and, tired of being hurt, tries to get a bus away from Weatherfield but Jerry persuades her that he's doing everything he can. Myra refuses to cooperate with a divorce and leaves everything up to her father who tells jerry he will have to provide grounds. Soon afterwards, a private investigator named Harry Bishop starts asking questions in the Street about Jerry. Ena recognises him and she and Elsie hatch a plot whereby they get money out of Bishop to supply information about Jerry and Sheila, Bishop having been employed by Mr Dickinson. The PI is provided with nothing but Elsie happily passes on her "wages" to Sheila. Jerry is warned by Ena that he is being watched. Sheila's son is adopted by his foster mother.
 * Jack and Albert attend a regimental reunion where Jack gets into a drunken fight with Colonel Arkinstall, husband of Annie's election sponsor. Annie is horrified as what this will mean to her chances of getting on the council but Mrs Arkinstall tells Annie she should be proud of the way that Jack stood up to her bullying husband.
 * Irma grows tired of the factory and returns to the shop, but tells David that she did it only to support him.
 * Ken and Val have to pull out of a weekend in their caravan with Irma and David when Val falls ill. Stan and Hilda go in their place. The break goes badly when the menfolk get lost while trying to find a pub and Stan leaves a gate open on the farmland field they are camped on, leaving a herd of cows to surround the caravan.
 * The election is brought forward when the sitting councilor resigns. Both Annie and Len announce their candidacy as the residents start to take sides. Elsie lets Len use No. 11 for his committee room while Annie annoys Jack by neglecting the pub to pursue her campaign. Jack wangles an order from the brewery for him to help out at brother Arthur's pub for a fortnight, thus getting him away from the hassle the election is causing. Ena also stirs things up by double-booking the Mission for election speeches by Len and Annie (both written by Ken) and then suggesting a debate between the two of them. The meeting takes place and Len impresses the audience with a pledge to fence off the dangerous canal.
 * A young girl from London called Merle Baker turns up in the Street looking for her fiancé - David Barlow.

September

 * Merle and David meet and don't recognise each other. Merle produces a photo of "her" David and everyone realises that Billy Walker is her real, but reluctant, intended. Jack returns from Arthur's pub and persuades Merle to return to London, with her rail fare paid for.
 * As the election campaign finishes, the Street is split almost equally between the two candidates with, for the most part, the men voting for Len and the women for Annie. The remainder of the voters in the ward are equally split and the result is a dead heat between Len and Annie, even after a recount. They toss a coin and Len wins. Annie is distraught.
 * The residents fall ill after eating a buffet prepared by Irma for the election night party. Ena blames the potted mean supplied by the Corner Shop and demands that Councillor Fairclough get the Public Heath inspectorate to investigate. They take samples away while a worried Jack Walker throws out the Rovers' pies. Customers initially stay away from the shop and Irma blames Len.
 * Jed is tipped off that the police are after him for receiving five dozen stolen blankets and he plans to flee the area but cannot with Minnie still ill with food poisoning. He nurses her back to health and plans a birthday party for her in the Rovers which will also be a farewell party as well. However, prior to the celebrations, Det Con Bill Sharp searches No. 5 and finds the blankets. Jed is taken away during the party, leaving Minnie in tears. Dennis thinks the police traced Jed from Stan pretending to be him when arrested in Liverpool in July. Hilda is annoyed at the accusation.
 * Elsie's Laundryer employers open another branch and Hilda asks her to put in a word for her for a job there. Hilda is too late for the vacancy and blames Elsie.
 * Elsie starts to receive nuisance phone calls. She also receives one from Linda Cheveski to say that she's coming home.

October

 * The Cheveski's return from Canada, their life there over, although Elsie wonders what has brought this about. Ivan wants to settle down in Birmingham although Linda is determined to enroll Paul at school in Weatherfield. She succeeds and confesses to Elsie that she had an affair in Canada and that is the reason they moved back. Ivan goes to Birmingham to look for work.
 * Elsie overreacts to Linda and Ivan's rowing and Linda realises that Len was right when he told he that something else is wrong. Eventually Linda takes one of Elsie's malicious phone calls and discovers what is disturbing her mother. She at first suspects Irma, who thinks she is jealous of a supposed past relationship with David, then Val who she finds to be on the phone at the same time. Elsie and Val row and Elsie's confused state leads to her being sacked from the Laundryer. Ena brings the two women back together and witnesses Hilda making a call from a phone booth. Hilda confesses to one call as she was angry that she didn't get the laundry job. Len informs the police of the calls and Annie puts them on to Hilda. Eventually Elsie and Hilda make up and the real culprit is revealed when an unbalanced Moira Maxwell turns up at No. 11, holding a knife to Elsie and blaming her for the death of husband Robert the year before. Len rescues Elsie and the police take Moira away.
 * The Barlows are cleared by the Public Health inspectorate although David starts to tire of working in a shop with gossiping women all day long.
 * The residents hear that Jed has been jailed for nine months. Minnie pretends not to know so that Jed will not be upset when Dennis visits him. She keeps his room prepared for his return but instead receives a message to sell all of his belongings. Jack suggests an auction at which the residents will purchase the items above expected price to help the impoverished widow. The plan seems to go well until discord breaks out when it is revealed that Annie has purchased a brooch for 2/- which is worth £15 and pressure is put on her to give the difference to Minnie, who is upset that she is seen as receiving charity. A compromise is reached whereby Ena passes on to her £4 from Annie as supposed coal money so as not to offend her dignity. A row is avoided when Dennis borrows the brooch through Lucille to compare to some others which he thinks are worth as much. Lucille returns the item before Annie can confront her prime suspect - Hilda.
 * Jerry tells Sheila that as he has now been married for three years, he can start divorce proceedings, whether Myra wants him to or not.
 * Ivan contacts Linda from Birmingham to say that he's found a suitable house. She is happier about moving there but a crisis breaks out when Paul disappears from Bessie Street School. The police are called in and the residents help with the search but fail to find the five-year old.

November

 * Paul is fished out of the local canal by a mystery stranger and the police take him to hospital where he is kept in, suffering from pneumonia and put into an oxygen tent. Len realises that the boy gained access to the bankside through Gas Street where it was proposed that a fence be erected but he had voted against it. Jerry drops Len in it by telling Elsie this and the two are involved in a huge row which culminates in Len slapping Elsie out of her hysteria. She listens to his excuses and forgives him.
 * John Meakin, a reporter for the Weatherfield Gazette, gets hold of the story about Len blocking the fence and prints the story. A distraught Ivan returns from Birmingham and reads the paper, after everyone tries to prevent him seeing a copy. He gets drunk and attacks Len and the two men have to be separated.
 * Val and Irma go on a girl's night out together to the cinema where they are picked up by two men, Ron Jenkins and Brian Thomas. For a giggle they pretend to be single and tell them that their names are Gail and Avril. Everything starts to go wrong though when first they are seen by Lucille (who realises that the fun is harmless and goes along with it) and then when the two men turn up at the Corner Shop, insisting on a second date. Ron forces Irma to agree by taking her compact but the situation becomes dodgy when Ken and David get chatting to Ron and Brian in the Rovers and their wives' joke is revealed. The two would-be Romeos though are not amused.
 * Ena has a lonely birthday with only a box of chocolates for company.
 * A local forty-year old man dies of a heart attack and Stan is advised to look after himself more. To everyone's amazement, he starts to drink tomato juice and loses two pounds in weight.
 * On the eve of their departure for Birmingham, Linda reveals to Elsie that she is still in love with her boyfriend in Canada, Mike, and that she has airline tickets to go back there for her and Paul. A furious Elsie refuses to let her take her son with her but events sort themselves out when Linda receives a letter from Mike in which he tells her that he has a new girlfriend. She leaves from Birmingham with Ivan and Paul.
 * On the way back from visiting her parents in Rawtenstall, Sheila meets Neil Crossley on the train. He is now the manager of supermarket in Weatherfield and Elsie advises Sheila to keep away from him but the young girl is smitten again and starts to see him behind Jerry's back. Len breaks the news to his young partner while Sheila also tells Neil that he has a son. Neil arrives to talk to Jerry.

December

 * Neil tells Jerry to stay away from Sheila and asks her to marry him. She agrees and they leave Weatherfield together for him to start his new job in Sheffield. A morose Jerry goes on a bender at a nightclub where a hostess, Margot, fleeces him of his money.
 * Ena realises how much more the Corner Shop charges compared to the supermarket and reports them to the Ministry of Agriculture for breaking the government's price freeze.
 * Dot Greenhalgh encourages Elsie to apply for her old job back at Miami Modes as Dot is in line for the supervisor's position. Elsie agrees but, to Dot's dismay, is taken on as supervisor herself.
 * Lucille collects and distributes food parcels for the poor and elderly although Ena refuses to accepts hers as she sees it as charity.
 * After six months, Dennis has earned enough to pay off his debt to Len but is happy to stay on at the yard.
 * Stan is made redundant from his milk-round job and, in his depression, comes off his diet. After trying for several jobs, including one as Father Christmas which Albert gets, he is taken on as a lorry driver in Newcastle but Hilda refuses to leave. Stan turns down the job and applies for a job with Len but is refused as Dennis is still working there. Hilda is convinced that Len is only keeping Dennis on for Elsie's sake and rows with him. The Ogdens soon run out of money and Hilda orders Stan to find a job.
 * Vera Lomax turns up at the Vestry having left Bob and Colin. She tells her mother she is ill but Ena refuses to believe her. She is shocked when Doctor Connor confirms that an unsuspecting Vera has a brain tumour and only has a month to live. Her sudden concern for her daughter makes her suspicious and Minnie, not knowing the truth, thinks Ena is being taken advantage of. Ena is desperately short of money and Ken advises her that she's entitled to supplementary benefit.
 * Ken organises a Christmas fancy dress part for the residents in the Mission which includes a competition for the best costume judged by Dot. Annie (as Elizabeth I) and Jerry (as Robin of Batman and Robin fame) are the winners.
 * Lucille amazes everyone when she tells them that she's engaged to a young man called Alistair Bradshaw who has been affianced several times before. She soon realises that it's just an infatuation and calls it off.

Who lives where
Coronation Street Mawdsley Street Others
 * Rovers Return Inn - Jack and Annie Walker (except March to April). Lucille Hewitt. Brenda Riley (from March to April).
 * 1 Coronation Street - Albert Tatlock
 * 3 Coronation Street - Empty
 * 5 Coronation Street - Minnie Caldwell. Ena Sharples (from April to June). Jed Stone (from January to September).
 * 9 Coronation Street - Ken, Valerie, Peter and Susan Barlow
 * 11 Coronation Street - Elsie Tanner and Dennis Tanner. Wally Tanner (from April to June). Sheila Crossley (from June to December). Linda and Paul Cheveski (from October to November).
 * 13 Coronation Street - Stan and Hilda Ogden. Jim Mount (from January to April).
 * Corner Shop (No.15) - Lionel Petty (January). David and Irma Barlow (from January onwards).
 * Corner Shop Flat (No.15a) - Empty
 * Glad Tidings Vestry - Ena Sharples (except April to June). Vera Lomax (December onwards)
 * 15 Mawdsley Street - Len Fairclough
 * 17 Ackroyd Street - David and Irma Barlow (until January)