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Ida Barlow (née Leathers) was the wife of Frank Barlow and mother to Ken and David. She worked as a cleaner at the Imperial Hotel in Weatherfield but left behind a devastated family when she was hit by a bus in 1961.

Biography[]

Ida Leathers 1920

Ida aged 4 in 1920

Born in 1916, Ida Leathers never knew her father George as he was killed in the trenches during World War I before she was born. Raised by her mother Nancy, Ida married postman Frank Barlow on 1st May 1938 after going out with him for several years. They had two sons, Ken in 1939 and David in 1942. Frank was away for much of the war, only returning on rare occasions, such as David's conception. Towards the end of the war he stopped sending letters and Ida believed the worst, only to learn he was in a prison camp. In the war's early years, Ida was terrified, often taking to her bed, but after the death of her sister-in-law Marjorie Barlow and the passage of time, Ida became stronger. She even began a small business with Bessie Tatlock mending clothes. As the war ended, Ida realised how independent she had become, and how much she might regret a return to the old ways.

Barlows 1960

Ida, right, and the Barlows in 1960

In 1960, Ida worked at the Imperial Hotel as a cleaner in the kitchens. Though usually supportive of Ken, who was at university and sometimes embarrassed about his working class roots, and proud of his education, Ida was displeased when Ken invited some college friends into 3 Coronation Street to make anti-Nuclear protest signs. A caring, saintly woman, Ida spent most of her time cleaning the house and cooking for the family. She rarely went to the  Rovers Return though Frank was a regular.

With her mother Nancy Leathers' health failing, Ida moved into her house to take care of her. Nancy later agreed to move in with the Barlows.

Ida was very close to Albert Tatlock. In September 1961, Ida went to visit Albert's daughter Beattie Pearson, but stayed out so long that Ken and Frank began to worry about her. Ken went to see Beattie, who told him Ida had never shown up. Soon they learned she'd been hit by a bus and killed.

After her death Ida was not forgotten. On his wedding day in 1962, Ken spoke to his father about her, after finding him looking at photos of her. Her first granddaughter, Susan Ida Barlow, was partially named after her. On the eighth anniversary of her death, Ken laid flowers on her grave.

Ida was mentioned irregularly during the 1970s, but for the most part Ken often spoke of Uncle Albert as though he were his only parent. Ken mentioned his mother in 1974 when talking to Len Fairclough, and Ken was seen looking at a picture of Ida (along with other past members of his family) in 1990 when he contemplated suicide.

Personality[]

Duckworths 1983
"If you've owt to say, spit it out before it flamin' well chokes yer"
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Please edit this article to fill in the missing parts and remove this message when done.

Ida was a hard-working woman, balancing her shifts as a cleaner at the Imperial Hotel with taking care of the household and making sure her family were fed. She also went out of her way to look after her elderly mother when she became frail and rarely complained about having the duty of taking care of them all. Ida was a calm-natured person and sometimes found herself in the middle of conflict between her husband and eldest son Ken.

Relationships[]

Duckworths 1983
"If you've owt to say, spit it out before it flamin' well chokes yer"
This article or section is unfinished.
Please edit this article to fill in the missing parts and remove this message when done.

Background information[]

The mother of the Barlow family, Ida was one of Coronation Street's original characters and the first to leave after the programme's beginning in 1960.

Actress Noel Dyson was cast as Ida. Dyson had been born into an affluent family in Manchester and after attending a finishing school in Paris, enrolled in the prestigious drama school RADA, from which she graduated in 1938. Her early roles were in repertory theatre and she made her television debut in the 1949 BBC film The Guinea Pig. When Dyson gained the role of Ida, Coronation Street had only been commissioned for an initial 13 episodes and was not expected to run much longer. When the programme became a rapid success and its run was extended, Dyson struggled with continued filming in Manchester as her home and family were now based in London. When her contract came up for renewal later in 1961, she refused to sign and the producers were left with no option but to write her out. It was decided that to be most realistic, Ida would have to be killed off and she became the first regular character to suffer this fate in September 1961.

The character made her last appearance in Episode 77 (6th September 1961), and the character's death was dealt with off-screen in the following episode, when the police arrived to break the news to her husband Frank and son Ken. This was a deliberate ploy by the production team, who held the news over by an episode as Noel Dyson was due to appear with the rest of the Coronation Street cast at the switching on of the Blackpool illuminations by Violet Carson on the 8th September. As Ms Dyson said many years later, "you couldn't have public mourning and public rejoicing in the same week", nor did the production team wish to give away the fact that Ida would die in the next transmitted episode. She therefore appeared with the rest of her television family without any hint of what was to come. Ida's funeral episode was the most watched episode of Coronation Street up to that point, with 15.6 million viewers.

After leaving the show, Noel Dyson continued to appear in other television roles right up until her death in 1995. Notably she appeared as guest character Jennifer Wennington in the final episode of the Coronation Street spin-off Turn Out The Lights in 1967. Although Ida's son Ken Barlow still remains on the show, references to the character have been sparse, particularly since the 1970s with Ken more often been known to reminisce about his Uncle Albert. Noel Dyson on the other hand left a lasting legacy with her departure in the form of an ivy plant which came to be known as Dear Quatermass. The plant survives to this day and has been tended to by the shows' actors over the years under the superstitious belief that if the plant were to die so would the programme.

Information on this page about Ida's life from 1939-1945 is sourced from Daran Little's book Coronation Street: The War Years.

First and last lines[]

"Sauce, Kenneth?" (First line)

---

"Oh no, don't you talk. Anyway, I am glad for myself. There's Frank as supervisor and me a lady of leisure. Ee, I don't know. Life's really worth living! Well if I don't move myself I'll be getting the sack even before I've had time to give me notice in. Frank! I'm off! Frank! Oh well, don't answer then. If he doesn't burn the house down, say goodbye to him for me." (to Nancy Leathers as Frank Barlow is outside working on sealing the back windows)

Appendices[]

List of addresses[]

Address Duration
3 Coronation Street 30th April 1938 to 11th September 1961

Employment history[]

Role Institution Duration
Cleaner Imperial Hotel 1960

See also[]

External links[]


Original characters
Ken Barlow | Frank Barlow | Ida Barlow | David Barlow | Jack Walker | Annie Walker | Elsie Tanner | Dennis Tanner | Linda Cheveski | Ivan Cheveski | Harry Hewitt | Lucille Hewitt | Concepta Riley | Ena Sharples | Minnie Caldwell | Martha Longhurst | Albert Tatlock | Christine Hardman | Florrie Lindley | Esther Hayes | Leonard Swindley
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