Len Fairclough reads the best man's speech in 1961...
The Greenvale Hotel hosted the wedding reception for residents of Coronation Street on two separate occasions, sixteen years apart.
In October 1961 Harry and Concepta Hewitt went to the hotel after the service at Theresa's RC Church. After the meal and the speeches, the U-shaped table configuration was changed to separate tables where the guests could sit after fetching their drinks from the bar. Future husband-and-wife Elsie Tanner and Bill Gregory first caught each other's eye on this occasion.
...and his own groom's speech in 1977
By April 1977 and the wedding of Len and Rita Fairclough, the hotel had undergone structural changes and Annie Walker, despite approving the establishment years before, now found it "lacking in atmosphere" and gave manager Ted Brownlow a long list of strict and detailed instructions as to how to change the arrangements, leading him to wonder aloud to the bride how she managed to attract any customers at all at the Rovers.