Intro – 2012
Living in Castlefield meant that I'd often walk by the Quay Street Coronation Street set, always having a quick peek as I walked by the security gates at the junction of Atherton Street and Great John Street.
Only this time – at some point around seven years ago – I spotted an opportunity to cross from the real-life public street into the fictitious world of 'Weatherfield', by confidently strolling in through the momentary lapse in security that I'd spotted.
As I somehow made it onto the cobbles, a yell came from behind me. I figured I'd been spotted, so decided to make a run for it along 'Coronation Street', eventually reaching the builder's yard and hiding in its shed under a desk.
Builder's yard (shed in background)
After a short while, both a crew and cast member stepped inside the shed – seemingly to search for me – but somehow failed to see me curled up under the desk. I found this odd, as I was absolutely certain at the time that eye contact had been made.
Builder's yard shed (desk in bottom right)
As soon as the coast was clear, I cautiously made my way across the builder's yard, through the rightmost of three possible doors and down a short corridor, which lead to the back of what appeared to be a fridge. The voices I could hear from the room just beyond the fridge suddenly dropped into silence. My heart sank as I assumed I'd been caught, when I heard "action!", immediately followed by actors delivering their lines in what I then realised was the bookies set.
Corridor between bookies and builder's yard sets
Sheepishly creeping back along the corridor into the builder's yard, I headed through the leftmost of the three doors, as the nearest [middle] door was locked. I'd later realise that, had it been open, this would have lead into a series of real-life Victorian tunnels (covered later in this report) and made the perfect escape route. Instead, the door I'd entered lead me into the hospital/medical centre set inside a late 19th/early 20th century stable building.
Medical centre set
The set was empty, but I was trapped inside. With cast and crew surrounding it, I had little choice but to re-enter the builder's yard and head upstairs into the builder's office, where I [in hindsight, foolishly] stepped out onto the balcony to scope out an exit route, when someone looked up and spotted me.
Builder's yard – stairs up to office
Before I knew it, Dave, Corrie's much-loved burly security guard, was running up the steel stairs of the builder's yard (above), as I surrendered myself and begged for mercy. Dave could've quite easily kicked me out via a discreet door at the back of the site (if anything, it would have been quicker); but instead, perhaps deservedly, subjected me to a walk of shame down Coronation Street, in front of dozens of disapproving cast and crew (although one did gave me a cheeky smile).
I'd long since hoped to return to the set to fulfil my fetish of exploring TV filming locations, so I was excited to hear that the Granada Television Centre was set to close in late 2013, with subsequent complete abandonment of the Coronation Street set in late 2015 (following closure of the tour attraction). Note that the photos above are of the locations described, but were taken on later explores in more recent years – featured below.
Explores (2016-2018)
Built in 1982, this is the third incarnation of Coronation Street and the first set to use actual bricks, which were reclaimed from real houses. The modern terrace on the south side of Coronation Street was built in 1989, with the 'Victoria Street' set added to the backlot ten years later and other parts added in subsequent years.
The original terrace is essentially one long building, with partial breeze block walls and some wooden boards along the bottom floor to divide each property, allowing for shots of characters entering/exiting doors or looking out of windows. Some of these wooden boards don't quite stretch from front to back, meaning that it's possible to walk through some of the 'houses' between nos. 1 and 15 (Dev's shop):
Inside no. 3 (looking through to no. 5)
The sets are essentially just voids containing only lights and wallpaper, with the majority of interiors filmed in dedicated sound stages on either side of the backlot.
Inside no. 3 – note the lighting used to add realism during exterior night shots
Some details, like the kitchen of no. 11, can be found in scaled-down forms inside these predominately empty shells – but most are empty, other than bins etc.
No. 11 kitchen
Inside no. 1
Most of the staircases, like the one above, are also just for show and don't actually lead anywhere, but it's possible to reach the top floor of the terrace via a number of sets of stairs – in one of the 'houses'; through a green door beside the 'Rovers'; and via the door in the side of Dev's shop – which in the programme, leads to flat 15a above the shop.
Green door beside the Rovers
The top floor of the terrace is a slightly different layout, divided by more permanent-looking walls into several rooms that don't necessarily correlate with the house divisions. A long corridor along the back of the terrace provides access to each room, some of which have clearly been used for multiple purposes:
The rooms are plain and maintain the same relatively dull layout and decor throughout – until the room at the end of the corridor, directly above the Rovers, which features an inexplicable arch and wooden laminate flooring:
The view from the open window up here provides a nice view along the street:
Like the upper level, the ground floor of the Rovers is also different from the rest of the terrace:
Whilst maintaining a relatively empty shell, it appears slightly larger than the other 'houses' (as you'd expect), and even has what looks like an old, once functioning toilet room, complete with “Violet takes Jason up the no. 2 hole” graffiti – a reference to two former characters.
Directly opposite the Rovers is 'Audrey's' salon – another empty shell but dressed to an extent inside to complete the illusion:
Next door to Audrey's at no. 2 is no. 4 – part of the modern terrace. Unlike the original terrace, it's not possible to walk inside from one end to the other (between nos. 4 and 8), as the wooden boards between each property divide them completely, but no. 4 can be accessed though Sally's conservatory:
As it's visible through the conservatory, the kitchen area in this 'house' is fully wallpapered:
Stepping outside, the gardens of all three 'houses' of the modern terrace can be walked between, by hopping over or ducking under gaps in the small dividing fences:
The top floor of the modern terrace can only be accessed via no. 6, which is completely blocked off from nos. 4 and 8 and locked up, but I manage to gain access on my final visit (covered later).
The downstairs of no. 8, however, can be accessed separately via Gail's converted garage 'granny flat'. It's small and there's not much to see inside, other than some fitting graffiti, presumably sprayed by Gail herself:
The garage space is on the other side of this board, filled with a combination of promotional literature for the Coronation Street tour and discarded props, including a sign from the salon, which was once known as Alma's:
The double doors of Gail's garage (which were once locked shut by Richard Hillman as he attempted to gas the Platt family to death) open onto the forecourt in front of 'Underworld' and Kevin's garage at nos. 14 and 16. The tracks that can be seen here are real historic train tracks from the 1800s:
An outside staircase just out of the above shot to the right leads up and left into flats 10a (above 'The Kabin') and 12, which provide office space:
Turning right at the top of the same staircase leads into more office space above Underworld and onto a gantry overlooking the garage floor – never seen on screen, but presumably used for technical purposes:
There's no stairs down into the factory and the front and loading bay doors are locked, but a back door is open, which leads into the police custody suite set, behind the desk:
This is probably the most intact set, because it's one of the only ones to be filmed inside one of the exterior buildings on the backlot. At the front of the building, none of the police set is particularly visible, to allow for shots of characters entering and exiting the factory – without it looking like it's not really a factory:
The green door in the background looks to have once been used as a shortcut into the garage set, but this has at some point been bricked-off.
Towards the back of this building is the cells/interview room part of the police custody suite set:
Looking back towards desk
A door in the 'interview room' leads out onto 'Viaduct Street' at the back of the garage, close to The Kabin at no. 10.
Interview room exit door
Inside The Kabin
[Continued...]
Living in Castlefield meant that I'd often walk by the Quay Street Coronation Street set, always having a quick peek as I walked by the security gates at the junction of Atherton Street and Great John Street.
Only this time – at some point around seven years ago – I spotted an opportunity to cross from the real-life public street into the fictitious world of 'Weatherfield', by confidently strolling in through the momentary lapse in security that I'd spotted.
As I somehow made it onto the cobbles, a yell came from behind me. I figured I'd been spotted, so decided to make a run for it along 'Coronation Street', eventually reaching the builder's yard and hiding in its shed under a desk.
Builder's yard (shed in background)
After a short while, both a crew and cast member stepped inside the shed – seemingly to search for me – but somehow failed to see me curled up under the desk. I found this odd, as I was absolutely certain at the time that eye contact had been made.
Builder's yard shed (desk in bottom right)
As soon as the coast was clear, I cautiously made my way across the builder's yard, through the rightmost of three possible doors and down a short corridor, which lead to the back of what appeared to be a fridge. The voices I could hear from the room just beyond the fridge suddenly dropped into silence. My heart sank as I assumed I'd been caught, when I heard "action!", immediately followed by actors delivering their lines in what I then realised was the bookies set.
Corridor between bookies and builder's yard sets
Sheepishly creeping back along the corridor into the builder's yard, I headed through the leftmost of the three doors, as the nearest [middle] door was locked. I'd later realise that, had it been open, this would have lead into a series of real-life Victorian tunnels (covered later in this report) and made the perfect escape route. Instead, the door I'd entered lead me into the hospital/medical centre set inside a late 19th/early 20th century stable building.
Medical centre set
The set was empty, but I was trapped inside. With cast and crew surrounding it, I had little choice but to re-enter the builder's yard and head upstairs into the builder's office, where I [in hindsight, foolishly] stepped out onto the balcony to scope out an exit route, when someone looked up and spotted me.
Builder's yard – stairs up to office
Before I knew it, Dave, Corrie's much-loved burly security guard, was running up the steel stairs of the builder's yard (above), as I surrendered myself and begged for mercy. Dave could've quite easily kicked me out via a discreet door at the back of the site (if anything, it would have been quicker); but instead, perhaps deservedly, subjected me to a walk of shame down Coronation Street, in front of dozens of disapproving cast and crew (although one did gave me a cheeky smile).
I'd long since hoped to return to the set to fulfil my fetish of exploring TV filming locations, so I was excited to hear that the Granada Television Centre was set to close in late 2013, with subsequent complete abandonment of the Coronation Street set in late 2015 (following closure of the tour attraction). Note that the photos above are of the locations described, but were taken on later explores in more recent years – featured below.
Explores (2016-2018)
Built in 1982, this is the third incarnation of Coronation Street and the first set to use actual bricks, which were reclaimed from real houses. The modern terrace on the south side of Coronation Street was built in 1989, with the 'Victoria Street' set added to the backlot ten years later and other parts added in subsequent years.
The original terrace is essentially one long building, with partial breeze block walls and some wooden boards along the bottom floor to divide each property, allowing for shots of characters entering/exiting doors or looking out of windows. Some of these wooden boards don't quite stretch from front to back, meaning that it's possible to walk through some of the 'houses' between nos. 1 and 15 (Dev's shop):
Inside no. 3 (looking through to no. 5)
The sets are essentially just voids containing only lights and wallpaper, with the majority of interiors filmed in dedicated sound stages on either side of the backlot.
Inside no. 3 – note the lighting used to add realism during exterior night shots
Some details, like the kitchen of no. 11, can be found in scaled-down forms inside these predominately empty shells – but most are empty, other than bins etc.
No. 11 kitchen
Inside no. 1
Most of the staircases, like the one above, are also just for show and don't actually lead anywhere, but it's possible to reach the top floor of the terrace via a number of sets of stairs – in one of the 'houses'; through a green door beside the 'Rovers'; and via the door in the side of Dev's shop – which in the programme, leads to flat 15a above the shop.
Green door beside the Rovers
The top floor of the terrace is a slightly different layout, divided by more permanent-looking walls into several rooms that don't necessarily correlate with the house divisions. A long corridor along the back of the terrace provides access to each room, some of which have clearly been used for multiple purposes:
The rooms are plain and maintain the same relatively dull layout and decor throughout – until the room at the end of the corridor, directly above the Rovers, which features an inexplicable arch and wooden laminate flooring:
The view from the open window up here provides a nice view along the street:
Like the upper level, the ground floor of the Rovers is also different from the rest of the terrace:
Whilst maintaining a relatively empty shell, it appears slightly larger than the other 'houses' (as you'd expect), and even has what looks like an old, once functioning toilet room, complete with “Violet takes Jason up the no. 2 hole” graffiti – a reference to two former characters.
Directly opposite the Rovers is 'Audrey's' salon – another empty shell but dressed to an extent inside to complete the illusion:
Next door to Audrey's at no. 2 is no. 4 – part of the modern terrace. Unlike the original terrace, it's not possible to walk inside from one end to the other (between nos. 4 and 8), as the wooden boards between each property divide them completely, but no. 4 can be accessed though Sally's conservatory:
As it's visible through the conservatory, the kitchen area in this 'house' is fully wallpapered:
Stepping outside, the gardens of all three 'houses' of the modern terrace can be walked between, by hopping over or ducking under gaps in the small dividing fences:
The top floor of the modern terrace can only be accessed via no. 6, which is completely blocked off from nos. 4 and 8 and locked up, but I manage to gain access on my final visit (covered later).
The downstairs of no. 8, however, can be accessed separately via Gail's converted garage 'granny flat'. It's small and there's not much to see inside, other than some fitting graffiti, presumably sprayed by Gail herself:
The garage space is on the other side of this board, filled with a combination of promotional literature for the Coronation Street tour and discarded props, including a sign from the salon, which was once known as Alma's:
The double doors of Gail's garage (which were once locked shut by Richard Hillman as he attempted to gas the Platt family to death) open onto the forecourt in front of 'Underworld' and Kevin's garage at nos. 14 and 16. The tracks that can be seen here are real historic train tracks from the 1800s:
An outside staircase just out of the above shot to the right leads up and left into flats 10a (above 'The Kabin') and 12, which provide office space:
Turning right at the top of the same staircase leads into more office space above Underworld and onto a gantry overlooking the garage floor – never seen on screen, but presumably used for technical purposes:
There's no stairs down into the factory and the front and loading bay doors are locked, but a back door is open, which leads into the police custody suite set, behind the desk:
This is probably the most intact set, because it's one of the only ones to be filmed inside one of the exterior buildings on the backlot. At the front of the building, none of the police set is particularly visible, to allow for shots of characters entering and exiting the factory – without it looking like it's not really a factory:
The green door in the background looks to have once been used as a shortcut into the garage set, but this has at some point been bricked-off.
Towards the back of this building is the cells/interview room part of the police custody suite set:
Looking back towards desk
A door in the 'interview room' leads out onto 'Viaduct Street' at the back of the garage, close to The Kabin at no. 10.
Interview room exit door
Inside The Kabin
[Continued...]
