‘This should be illegal’ say Coronation Street fans as unearthed photos emerge of soap set
CORONATION Street fans have been left shocked after newly-emerged photos of the soap’s former set.
Images from the former home of the ITV soap opera have been unearthed online with only a few nods to the soap still remaining to this day.
Coronation Street was based at Quay Street close to the heart of Manchester City Centre for the first fifty-three years of the programme.
The show was then moved to MediaCityUK in nearby Salford to sit alongside the other thriving TV studios and their rival channel BBC.
Coronation Street officially left their former site in 2013 with the final episodes to be filmed on the site airing in early 2014 and soon it became a guided tour experience for hardcore soap fans to take a look at where all the Cobbles action was filmed.
As the tours ceased operating, the site was transformed and became the home for other local Manchester TV studios as well as a marketing agency known as Lightbulb Media.
However, in the newly-released images, eagle-eyed fans have been able to work out the homes of The Bistro and the Weatherfield Medical Centre which remain largely unchanged.
Now known as Manchester Studios, the former site of Nick Tilsley’s Bistro is still evident to see with the front door entrance to the restaurant having been retained as the main front door for the current TV studio.
Elsewhere, the other end of Coronation Street is still easy to make out with the exterior of the medical centre having featured no change with the show’s mainstay green lamppost having also not been removed.
Whilst fans were overjoyed to see that some elements had been preserved, the obvious lack of Corrie cobbles left them admitting their sadness at the history which has now disappeared for good.
Only one set of cobbles now remains down a small side entrance at the present day studios.
Writing online, one fan said: “I feel so sad whenever I see pictures from Quay Street. Should never have been demolished.”
Another added: “It’s so sad to see, especially watching classics & knowing it was there.”
Before a third said: “Omg this should be illegal… but I love that the medical centre still looks the same, feels weird that the houses aren’t there but nice to see some cobbles left down the side street.”
As it left someone else quipping: “I can hear the voices of the past through the screen!”
History of the Coronation Street set
By Jake Penkethman, TV Reporter
1960-1968 – Whilst the Coronation Street set remained on Quay Street for 53 years, it actually had three separate studio sites. The first was an entirely indoor wooden set which was used for the first eight years of filming. This encompassed a replica of the Street built entirely indoors. The set was known to be awkward for actors to use and the houses brought to three quarter scale.
1968-1982 – In 1968, the addition of an outdoor set was created to adjoin the existing indoor set which was still used for filming right up until 1982. The set was used only when required with many of the show’s cast reportedly hating it and describing it as ‘the coldest place on Earth’.
1982-2013 – A brand new set was officially constructed in 1982 and was almost built fully to scale but still only permitted for one car to drive down the cobbled street. The house were purpose-built using reclaimed Salford brick in order to give it the most authentic feel possible. During these years, some of the show’s buildings were adapted to allow for both interior and exterior filming at the same time. These locations included Elliott’s Butchers, Barlow’s Buys, Prima Doner and Webster’s Autos. The final scenes to be recorded on this site occurred in December 2013. By early 2014, it began operating as a tourist attraction for around two years before ultimately being demolished and re-purposed in 2017.
2014-present – In early 2014, the show’s set moved to the TV hub of the North – MediaCityUK in nearby Salford Quays. It is now located a stone’s throw from major TV studio Dock 10 as well as the BBC’s base in the North – home to Blue Peter, Newsround, BBC Breakfast and BBC Sport. The new set was even bigger and built to 9/10 the scale of a real street and allowed for two card to be travelling down the road at opposite sides for the very first time. The site has even undergone major expansions during its 10 years. Just four years after opening in 2018, a brand new set extension was unveiled which introduced viewers to Victoria Gardens for the first time in its history. The Weatherfield North tram stop also became visible as did a series of shops which became used as part of product placement advertising deals. Brands to have been seen on the Street so far include a Co-Op, a Costa Coffee and a branch of Hay’s Travel. Four years later in 2022, another brand new set was unveiled, this time being the heavily mentioned Weatherfield Precinct. It became the first time in 62 years that the area had ever been seen on screens. It fearued a variety of shop fronts, a playground and a number of small flats which have begun to house more and more residents on the street in recent months.