Coronation Street

Coronation Street is my all time favourite tv show! It was created by the wonderful Tony Warren and first aired on December 9, 1960 on ITV out of Manchester, UK and is now broadcast 3 nights a week (five half hour episodes). Many countries around the world carry it including Canada. Most places outside the UK are not showing current episodes, but are behind the UK timeline depending on the broadcast network. CBC in Canada is currently about 9 months behind the UK storyline.

Coronation Street was the first thing i looked for on the internet and I have met many wonderful people through the Sorcerynet irc channel #coro_street and through the various other forums on the web. These people have become good friends, and in once case, my fiance, and I have met many of them at pingfests here in Halifax and on my travels.

I've been in the habit of making notes and posting comments about the weekly episodes on the Coronation Street Guestbook. and i post them on my Downeast Blogspot where you can see the comments back as far as April 2007.

Corrieblogging

I also write about Coronation Street on a professional basis for a website called Corrieblog. It's been a lot of fun, writing about a subject I know pretty well. The site is U.K. based so there are spoilers there for all comers. They have tid bits, photos, trivia, information about current and former actors and characters, Corrie history, upcoming UK spoilers and brief episode updates. Check it out!

Star visits to Halifax!

In 2009, An Evening With will be held on March 31. We don't know who the Corrie star is yet but check out the Downeast Streeters website (see link on left) for details on ticket sales and a "Who's Coming to Halifax" contest which ends January 31. Tickets to the event are now on sale.

Since 2002, Halifax was privileged to host An Evening With a Coronation Street actor. I have written up an account of each visit with accompanying links to photos. The actors we've hosted to date are: Jenny James and Lee Boardman (Geena Gregory and Jez Quigley) 26/02/2002; Samia Smith (Maria Sutherland) 25/02/2003; Sue Cleaver (Eileen Grimshaw) 02/03/2004; Bruce Jones (Les Battersby) 01/03/2005; Shobna Gulati (Sunita Parekh Alahan, 28/02/2006); Steven Arnold (Ashley Peacock, 04/03/2008); Michael LeVell (Kevin Webster, (coming soon) 31/03/2009). Click on the face of the actor below to read all about it!

Jenny James, Samia Smith, Sue Cleaver, Bruce Jones, Shobna Gulati

Steven Arnold, Michael LeVell

#coro_street

#coro_street is a live chat room where you can meet like minded Corrie fans. You will need mirc software or the Mac equivalent, ircle, for the easiest access but there is a java link Here and This website by Elaine aka ^FR^ is the best tutorial for using mirc around. We welcome all new chatters! On Friday night at 8 p.m. EST/1 a.m. GMT there is a Corrie trivia quiz and If you win the Friday quiz, you are responsible for writing the quiz for the next week or finding someone to do it for you.

Coronation Street In Canada

CBC:

News:

Coronation Street is now available to watch online! After each week's omnibus is aired in all time zones on Sunday, you can watch that week's episodes on CBC and even better, no commercials! They keep about 3 or 4 weeks' worth online so you can catch up.

Coronation Street airs Monday to Friday on CBC at 7:00 pm local time (7:30 NST) and repeated on Sunday mornings in most areas at 7:30 a.m. (8:00 NST) in an Omnibus format, all five episodes aired back to back for a Sunday morning treat (well, in my opinion). I love settling down with my newspaper, breakfast, tea and Corrie. CBC airs Coronation Street episodes that are currently over 9 months behind the U.K. broadcast dates and losing ground because CBC suspends broadcast during events such as the Olympics. The good news is, CTV will have the Olympic broadcast in 2010 and 2012!

CONTROVERSY/RUMOUR SQUASHING SECTION

There was a rumour propogating around the net and I would just like to clarify things once and for all, and NO, this is NOT a "protest too much" section! I have my reputation to keep up you know! People seemed to be under the impression that I preferred a Corrie character called Charlie West to one called Charlie Whelan. The names are similar so I can understand where there was a misunderstanding. And although I did think Charlie West, good mate to Les Battersby, was a top character, the one that made my heart go pitty-pat was Charlie Whelan. Well, just compare!!!

(Just so you know, both photos are copyright and courtesy of Granada Media though the photo of John Saint Ryan was sent to me on request some time ago by the very nice Daran Little)

The very lovely Charlie Whelan,
long distance lorry driver circa 1994,
played by the equally lovely John Saint Ryan!

The irrascable Charlie West,
Jack of all Scams and Schemes circa 1999,
played by the talented Keith Clifford.
Top man but... really, now!!

This rumour was started by Mike Plowman when, during an innocent exchange of emails, he started joking with me that he knew it was really Charlie West that captured my heart and promised a surprise in his next Visual Update. He did that, allright. Check out a clip of the Visual update, kindly donated by Mike to see where the controversy began!!! Now i could hardly let that slide by could I? Retaliation was in order and I warned Mike fair and square. I took a few days to mull it over and then I got INSPIRED! A bit of web searching, a bit of play with PaintShop and This was the result... Mike and I called a truce, decided we were even but the rumour STILL persists. Let me tell you, Charlie Whelan's "big rig" is much more of a lure than Charlie West's "small holdings" I hope this clears up any misunderstanding! :))))

PINGFEST SECTION

Pinging at the Royal Oak pub, Ottawa

What is a "Pingfest"?

Corrie fans from the internet get together regularly for "pingfests", commonly known as a "Ping", which can be used as a noun or a verb. i.e. "Are we pinging this weekend?"

Graham Rumsby explains:

Pingfest eminated from a bunch of us that used to hang around on #Rovers, the original IRC channel on Undernet. There was Barry Selk, Nancy Charbonneau, Max Anderson, Chris Grant, Sean Rogers and other folk I can't remember off of the top of my head. We used to buy one another "Cyber" pints and Barry Selk in is his iniminatable typing fashion occassionally would type "ping" as opposed to pint. As "ping" is a term used on IRC to determine the amount of "lag" that a message may take to go from one person to another it was maintained as our term to describe a "Cyber pint".

In early 1995 the first get together was held where folks that had met on the net and were interested in Coronation Street met "in real life". It was held at the Duke of York in Toronto. Claire Wollen, Tracy Roketta, Jane Little and a few others I don't recall went. I went to the second get together at the same location and when discussing it on IRC I just referred to it as a "Pingfest". It stuck and seems to have taken on a life of its own. Who knows one day it may end up in a dictionary as a "real" word :) There have been innumerable ones since not only in Canada but in the UK and New Zealand.

Pings may be of various sizes and complexities, from get togethers organized with games and prizes to just a couple of Corrie fans having a cup of coffee. A Pingfest is generally a larger crowd and there are often games, videos and lots of corrie chat. MiniPings are smaller groups, perhaps to meet a Corrie fan visiting in your local area. Micropings are usually just a few people. I have gone to organized pingfests, minipings, micropings, coffee pings, shopPings and pancake pings!

The first pingfest in Halifax was held over the Canada Day weekend in 1996. Photos of corrie mates and from Pings i've attended in Halifax, other places in Canada, UK and Dublin (you shouldn't need to sign in, just click on "View Photos" but if you do need to sign in, use "tvordlj@hotmail.com" as a userid and "photos" as the password) Here, and Here.

NEXT HALIFAX PING (number 45), February 1 at Colby Ale House on Cole Harbour Road by the Superstore.

Contact Connie Rose to preregister (limited seating) and check out the Downeast Streeters for full details about upcoming events and pings

Then there are Contresses....

There is also such a thing as a Contress - also a getting together of Coronation Street net-fans. Again a typing error, this time of "Congress". Regular readers of Mike Plowman's CS Visual Updates will not be surprised to find that it was he who mistyped it as Contress!
What's the difference between a Contress and a Pingfest ?

Very little, both will usually involve copious consumption of alcohol but a Contress can only take place on "hallowed ground", namely, that of The Granada Studios Tour in Manchester. Sadly, the Granada Studio tours are now closed but if you're very lucky you can get on the set as part of a package tour through Kemptville Travel who put on a "World of Coronation Street" tour every year in September. Coronation Travel out of Halifax also has recently been offering tours that include a stop in Manchester and a set visit. Sometimes you can even get *really* lucky as i did in May 2006 (see below)

CoroPing Weekends.

The first ever CoroPing weekend took place in September 2000, when a large Contress/ping took place in Manchester to mark the show's 40th anniversary. Internet friends from around the world, places as far flung as New Zealand converged on Manchester to party on the "holy ground" of the outdoor Granada Coronation Street Set, see a bit of Northern England and gather at local watering holes to meet, greet and get to know one another in person, having previously chatted on irc or corresponded by Guestbook, Instant Messenger (ICQ back then) and email. There were events all week for earlier arrivals with day trips to Derbyshire, the Lake District, Liverpool, Blackpool and York. The main events on the weekend started with a barbeque on Friday night, and the highlight, a visit to Granada Studios on Saturday afternoon (MAJOR KUDOS TO ANNIE, YOU'RE A STAR!) and a dinner and dance on Saturday night at a pub called the Southern in Chorlton, just outside Manchester. Thank you very much Alan, Annie and John for your stellar and above and beyond the call of duty efforts coordinating the Manchester events!!!

Coroping2000 photos:

If you need to sign in, you can sign in using "tvordlj@hotmail.com" as a userid and "Photos" as the password

Annie's BBQ , Manchester Side trips, The Outdoor Set Visit at Granada Studios and The Party and check out My Coroping Travelogue. Also, check out Mary Sue's photos.

A few more pings on the anniversary of the first Coroping weekend have taken place in Manchester, though mainly just dinner and pub crawling, and usually at least one non-U.K. member in attendance.

Dublin Ping Weekend, 2002

The Dublin ping weekend evolved after i decided to visit Ireland and suggested a get together in Dublin. We numbered 10, mostly mates from Ireland, N. Ireland and Manchester with two of us from Canada, hanging our hats at the (recommended!) Harcourt Hotel.

Kingston SailPing, 2001

For several years, a sailing ping was held at Kingston, Ontario every June though, alas it is no longer held! Sailing, pinging and good friends... See the photos my friend Tracey and I took ,when we went in June 2001, which was the last year the event took place. Travel Diary here. The organizer, Sue, put a lot of work into organizing it every year and we all can't thank her enough for all her efforts!

Me, Graham and Christine behind the bar

A dream came true!

Contress 2006:

An amazing opportunity came up in 2006. A mate, Christine, was invited to a private on the set visit to Granada Studios and invited Graham and I to go with her! The last time I was on the studio grounds was Sept. 2000 when we were only able to see the outside Street set. This time, an inside, behind the scenes visit, just the three of us, David Nugent of Granada Studios and Mark Llewellyn, one of the editors of the now-defunct magazine, On The Air. Yesssss!!!!!! We saw many of the sets including the cafe, the new Underworld set, various characters' "kitchens" and "living rooms" including one of the oldest sets, the Barlows at Number 1 and, of course, The Rovers Return! What a thrill to stand behind the bar! It was astonishing to see how small the sets really are. We got to see the outside sets again as well so I could get some updated photos but the real treat was the insider's view which few people get to see these days since Granada closed the set tours to the general public. We three took soooo many photos!

Mine and Graham's Granada Studios photos
Christine's Granada Studios photos