Horace (Episode 742)

Horace, a removal man and his driver colleague assisted Mr Ironfield of Weatherfield County Borough Council in the eviction of Ena Sharples from her beloved Vestry prior to its demolition in January 1968.

Not surprisingly, Ena refused to cooperate with Mr Ironfield, refusing accommodation in either a council flat or the Sunshine Villas Old Folks Home and keeping her plans as to where she would be living strictly to herself. She enjoyed the trouble that the removal men found with her furniture such as a chest of drawers in her bedroom that they couldn't lift until they discovered that it was screwed down to the floor. It was Minnie Caldwell though who leapt to Ena's defence when the driver described her beloved harmonium as a "pianola effort". Raising herself up as imperiously as she could, she informed the men as to the true nature of the instrument and warned them that they would be answerable to her if they scratched it. Ena then pushed Ironfield into helping move the heavy piece, much to the amusement of the two old ladies.

The van was supposedly filled with all Ena's belongings but she demanded that the men also fetch out two coat-hangers in the bedroom. Muttering "Gawd, stone the crows! Two coat hangers!", Horace went back in to collect the two insignificant items. With the task then completed Ena finally announced her destination: 5 Coronation Street, mere yards away!


 * Credited as "Van Driver's Mate", the character's name was given in dialogue.