Ena Sharples


Full name: Ena Sharples (née Schofield)
Parents:

Born:
14 November 1899
Siblings:

  1. Alice
  2. Tom

Married: Alfred Sharples
Children:

  1. Vera
  2. Madge
  3. Ian


Played by: Violet Carson
Appeared:
9 December 1960 - 2 April 1980

Ena Sharples was one of the original characters of Coronation Street.

A Christian woman with high morals, she was well known for her interfering and obstructive nature. Her vicious tongue had alienated her against her two daughters, Vera and Madge. Ena also had a son , Ian, who died aged four, and she had never remarried after her husband Alfred died during the Depression.

Ena was very strong minded and critical, even to her friends Minnie Caldwell and Martha Longhurst, with whom she often shared a glass of milk stout in the snug of the Rovers Return. Ena lived in the Glad Tidings Mission where she was the caretaker. How ever, after complaints from the neighbours, Ena was asked to give up her post there by the Mission supervisor, Leonard Swindley. For a short time, Ena lived with Martha Longhurst before returning to the Mission, triumphant, a month later on a higher salary when a replacement could not be found to take on the caretaker post.

In 1965 Ena inherited No11 which made her Elsie Tanner's landlady but she went on to sell the house. Ena had a soft side to her that was usually well hidden to those who thought they knew her. In 1966 she was caught shoplifting 2 tins of salmon as she had no money. She had given all of her savings to her daughter, Vera Lomax (who had been deserted by her violent husband and needed money to feed her son). Ena was fined 40/- for her crime.

More bad news was on its way when she found out that the Mission was to be converted to a community centre, run by social worker Ruth Winter. Once more, Ena's protective nature came through when she collard two youngsters who had threatened to rape Lucille Hewitt. Ena did her best to protect Lucille even though the youths threatened her with a knife.

In 1967, the great train disaster struck Coronation Street and Ena was one of its victims, trapped under the viaduct where she was eventually found alive by David Barlow. In January 1968, Ena was made homeless when the Mission was demolished. She moved into No5 with Minnie Caldwell before moving into a purpose built OAP ground-floor maisonette built on the side of the Mission. In 1980, after suffering heart problems, and whilst her Community Centre flat was having major repairs, she went to stay with her old friend Henry Foster in St Anne's, and she never returned.


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