Harry Goulden

Harry Goulden was a local business owner and friend of Ernest and Emily Bishop who led a fight against the Council over a sharp increase in the rates in 1975.

Furious at the sudden 30% rise, Harry and Ernie formed WARP - Weatherfield's Association of Ratepayers - in order to give the community a rallying point for their cause. Although Ernie spearheaded the movement, Harry provided updates from the Town Hall via a mole as well as motivation for the mild-mannered Bishops to fight dirty if necessary.

On the evening of 26th May, Harry and Ernie chaired a meeting at the Community Centre where Councillor Alf Roberts defended Council plans to spend £2,000 on a statue and fountain for the precinct. The meeting ended with the residents deciding to hold a rates' strike. A few days later, Harry learned from his mole that the finance committee chairman Bill Lucas was being sent to Torquay in the Mayoral Rolls out of the rates. He and Ernie confronted local Councillor Len Fairclough, who refused to take them seriously and smashed Ernie's tape recorder when Ernie tried to record his comments.

Spurred on by Len's actions, Ernie arranged an interview on local radio to publicise inside information he'd obtained that the Council had purchased eight tractors from a Councillor's brother-in-law and not used them. Harry and Emily coached Ernie before the interview, and found to their alarm that Ernie wasn't prepared for the tough questions that would be put to him, but in the actual interview Ernie performed well against the Council's representative Tommy Garret, winning the debate with his tractor bombshell. WARP's celebrations were short-lived however as it quickly transpired that the tractors had in fact been sold at a profit ages ago. Facing a lawsuit, Ernie, Harry and WARP dropped their campaign and agreed to pay their new rates.

1975

 * Wed 14th May
 * Mon 19th May
 * Wed 21st May
 * Mon 2nd Jun
 * Wed 4th Jun
 * Mon 9th Jun
 * Mon 11th Jun
 * Mon 16th Jun
 * Wed 18th Jun