Alf Chadwick was a pianist whose skills were often used at events in Weatherfield. In August 1964, the Viaduct Sporting Club hosted a talent contest when manager warned club host and comic Charlie Moffitt that the takings were down and his job would be the first to go if it didn't pick up. The contest was Minnie Caldwell's idea and enthusiastically supported by the management. Annie Walker, Lucille Hewitt and Irma Ogden were among those taking part, with Irma doing impressions including Hylda Baker along with Charlie dressed up as Cynthia, while Annie and Lucille sang.
Annie wasn't pleased to be told the club didn't have a band call anymore, simply because they no longer had a band, and instead she would be accompanied by Alf. Wanting to rehearse with him, she was put out to find that as it was the afternoon Alf would be found in the local pubs and then in Dave Smith's betting shop and it would be best for her to return just before the contest and discuss her requirements with him. She later caught up with Alf as he was playing away to some community singing and he assured her that he could "play the ink spots on a piece of blotting paper". He thought she wanted to bring the audience in on the chorus, but she intended her performance to be a solo. He told her not to worry, he would be playing heavily on the left hand, and she should nod at him when she wanted him to come in. Annie then sang We'll Gather Lilacs to heckling from Len Fairclough and was convinced she’d won but lost out to Lucille singing My Guy.
In November of the same year, Annie and Jack Walker had obtained a music licence for Rovers and decided to host a "free and easy" evening to take advantage of it. Annie wanted something upmarket with classical pianist Howard Seymoure playing and a buffet laid on but Jack had something far more suitable for the area in mind - a hotpot evening with Alf playing pub songs on the piano. Jack found him buying a last-minute stamp in the corner shop before Florrie Lindley closed up for the night and asked him to play. Alf made a show of being a man who was heavily in demand in the area but accepted the job at once when he was told it was for that night with a promise of further bookings on Fridays and Saturdays at £2 each night. Accepting conditionally, Alf told Jack he would have to arrange those future dates with his manager i.e. his wife, and he wouldn't need sheet music as he had all the tunes in his head. Alf became a regular player at the pub, including one evening later in the month when barmaid Irma asked him to play fewer drinking songs as the raucous regulars were splashing their beer over the walls of the select.
His next gig was rather different: Emily Nugent organised a Christmas pantomime to be acted out by the residents at the Glad Tidings Mission Hall for the residents of the Weatherfield Trust children's home and Alf agreed to provide the music on his piano. The rehearsals of Cinderella were marked by disagreements and fallouts and one such occurred when Annie pushed to rehearse her song – Friends and Neighbours – with Eddie accompanying her. The rest of the cast and helpers hurriedly found other things to do rather than listen to her. The panto itself was a huge success with Eddie contributing enormously to a barnstorming performance by Elsie Tanner of Hey Look Me Over as well as renditions of Bread and Butter, Over The Rainbow and She Loves You.
Back to his regular gigs at the Rovers, one Friday night in April 1965 saw the pub initially quieter than usual as some of the men folk were preparing to get the train to London to see the Cup Final courtesy of free tickets from David Barlow but before going to catch the train they graced the pub for a raucous evening accompanied by Alf.
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The residents put on another charity pantomime in December 1968, this time at the St. Mary's Church hall when they presented Aladdin. Alf played the piano again but this time Len accompanied him during the rehearsals on drums and Ena Sharples directed all the music. The songs he played this time, which the audience all joined in with, were Congratulations, Puppet on a String and Jingle Bells but this time Alf also supplied plenty of incidental music during the scenes.
- The character was initially credited as just "Alf" and given a surname from his fourth appearance onwards. He was only glimpsed briefly in Episode 468 (7th June 1965) and not seen at all in the next episode but his piano playing was heard in both instalments.
List of appearances[]
1964
1965
1967
1968