Forum:When did The Street become Corrie?

Just wondering does anybody know where and when the shortened term for Coronation Street became Corrie? During the 60s,70s and 80s the people working on the programme and the press would often shorten it to The Street. And indeed,in interviews,the actors from this period still refer to The Street-including those still on the show like Bill Roache,Helen Worth,Sue Nicholls.

The first time I recall seeing the show called Corrie was in a teen mag in the late 80s. This was during a period when such mags started featuring a lot about soaps with the advent of shows like Neighbours. Corrie was used along with Brookie and Easties as abbreviated terms,although the latter doesn't seem to have stuck. I'm not sure if this would have been the earliest example of this use or how long it took to cross over to the mainstream and become so widely used.

But over the last decade or more Corrie has replaced it to the extent that the show is hardly ever called Coronation Street except on more formal occasions. Continuity announcers,TV presenters and the stars,themselves,all constantly call it Corrie. The Jonathan Harvey play was called Corrie and the current ITV documentary series is called The Corrie Years. Even this site is Corriepedia. I suppose it's easier to say and sounds affectionate.

However,I have heard Bill Roache(on Steve Wright's radio show) say he doesn't like it. Daran Little,writing a piece on his drama on the programme's early days,said he could hardly bear to call the serial Corrie-although he does on Twitter,but that could be because of the 140 letter limit on that site.

I'd be interested to read any further information on this subject