1973

January
Ken and Norma find evidence to corroborate Jacko's alibi, and he is freed from the burglary charge. Alf Roberts is made Mayor-elect and asks Maggie to become his Mayoress. She refuses, but Annie eagerly accepts. Alan Howard has a drink problem and comes to blows with Elsie. They make up and plan a new start. Lucille, fed up with Annie, moves in with them.

Minnie, deeply upset, finds a love letter from her late husband Armisted to Ena. Ena explains that she once had a tiff with Armisted and advised him to propose to Minnie. He did, and wrote to Ena to thank her.

February
Hilda celebrates her forty-ninth birthday with a Barbara Cartland-style party. Billy Walker is caught in Stan's bedroom with Edna Gee, and mistaken for Ernest Eishop. Ernest is too drunk and incapable to establish his innncence.

Alf Roberts gives Bet Lynch a late-night lift and knocks down an old lady, who is unhurt. Her crooked son tries to blackmail Alf for £200, but Bet gets the cheque back.

March
Albert is taken to hospital because of a gas leak when Jerry Booth takes out his old cooker to install an electric model. The Street has to be evacuated to the Community Centre. The Capricorn Club is taken over by Duggie Bowker, who runs blue film shows. American Army Master Sergeant Mike Ritchie, a buddy of the late Steve Tanner, turns up to see his old flame Maggie Clegg.

April
Mike goes home to a widow in Wichita, leaving Alf Roberts jealous of his attentions to Maggie, who is angry at his interference. Emily is jealous too, when Ernest asks Rita to tout for photographic orders on a commission basis. She outshines her by taking pictures of strippers at a local club.

Retiring Mayoress Ethel Bostock calls on Annie who mistakes her for the new charlady. Albert is challenged by an old school chum, retired teacher Herbert 'Jesse' James to walk the Pennine Way. Stan and Hilda have mice. On a tip-off from Elsie, the public health inspector fumigates the house. Hilda tries to uncover the informer.

May
Alf Roberts and Annie Walker are installed Mayor and Mayoress. Caterers refuse to supply the celebration party because Billy Walker's cheque has bounced. Annie, finding he has gambled with the Rovers accounts puts Betty in charge.

Len buys Biddulph's shop in Rosamund Street, christens it the Kabin and installs Rita as manageress. Annie, Stan and Hilda join a Street outing to Woburn Abbey, where Minnie buys a tea towel frorn the Duke of Bedford.

June
Mavis Riley is taken on as Rita's assistant at the Kabin. They discover that Biddulph was selling porn under the guise of the Pig Producer's Weekly. Hilda enrols for ballroom dancing classes at the Community Centre. The Street pools syndicate wins a first dividend. Stan has forgotten to pass Bet, Elsie and Alan Howard's stake money on to Ray who refuses to share the winnings.

July
The pools win turns out to be £300. Ray decides to pay Bet, Alan and Elsie £75 each - and the Ogdens nothing. Bet is mugged on the way home frorn the Rovers, and taken to hospital. Stan is suspected, but has an alibi - he was at 19 Inkerman Street.

Elsie tells Alan she is going to see Sheila Birtles in Sheffield, but catches a train to London. She is visiting Dennis, who is in Pentonville prison for hustling double glazing to pensioners. Elsie is knocked down by a taxi in Oxford Street, and lies in hospital unidentified, suffering from concussion.

August
Elsie is traced to Guy's Hospital by the police, and Alan travels to visit her. She recovers enough to return home for the bank holiday, while the Street awaits the truth about her trip.

The men challenge the women to a bank holiday bowls match, and win. As a forfeit the girls stage a drag show in the Select.

September
Annie Walker finds out about Dennis from Billy, but respects Elsie's wish for secrecy. Deirdre Hunt is taken on by Ray to work in the office at the Yard, and Jerry's initial disapproval melts. Alan Howard has a brawl with Stan after Hilda calls Elsie a slag. Ken Barlow starts an affair with Janet Reid.

October
Ken brings the twins from Glasgow to meet Janet. Later they travel to meet Val's mother, who does not approve of Janet. Ena returns from holiday in Llandudno and finds she is threatened with dismissal at the Community Centre. She has a heart attack in the Snug.

A Street non-smoking syndicate, launched to buy a villa in Majorca, collapses. Ken and Janet arrive home from Glasgow and announce they have married at her parents' in Keswick.

November
Ken and Janet throw a wedding party at the Rovers, but the marriage gets off to a rocky start. Janet finds a house for £11,500, which Ken refuses to consider. They are late at the estate agent's to buy a house in Cheadle, and miss it. Ken slaps Janet's face in a furious row.

Annie, as Mayoress, invites volunteers to accommodate visitors from Weatherfield's twin town Charleville. Bet looks after Marcel Lebeque, anticipating romance. Stan and Hilda opt for a girl, Renee Dubois. 'She' turns out to be a huge jugernaut driver who becomes firm friends with Stan.

December
Albert proposes to Minnie for financial reasons, but she tells him to ask Ena's permission first. Ena thinks Albert is proposing to her, and accepts. Ena is sacked by the Community Centre Committee for inefficieny. Minnie publicly accuses Committee members Ernest and Emily of evicting her, and the Street ostracizes them. On New Year's Eve, Ena moves to St Annes.

Rita announces that she intends to marry Len. Stan and Hilda visit their son Trevor and his wife Pauline in Chesterfield, and find that they have had a baby. Trevor has told his wife that his parents are dead, because he wants to go up in the world (wouldn't you?).


Written by Graham Nown
© Graham Nown, 1985. Reproduced with permission. Do not reproduce this without permission.

 

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