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WGazette

The Weatherfield Gazette is the local newspaper for the Weatherfield area. For decades it has reported the births, deaths, marriages and criminal behaviour of many Coronation Street residents. Ken Barlow is perhaps the most notable contributor to the publication and for a brief period he also ran a rival newspaper, the Weatherfield Recorder, before he was forced to sell it to the Gazette itself after the latter started a free sheet in May 1989. Ken struggled on with the paper for another eight months but in the end there wasn't enough advertising revenue around to support two titles, especially when Deirdre Barlow demanded half the profits of the paper as part of a divorce settlement from Ken.

At some point, the paper launched its own internet edition which allows reader's comments underneath the on-line stories.

They are the official sponsors of Weatherfield County FC.

List of Gazette stories featuring Coronation Street residents[]

Note: reference to matters such as job adverts, etc are not included in the list below.
Episode 1705
  • The paper reports on a "Glamorous Granny" and "Beautiful Baby" contest run to mark the Silver Jubilee of The Queen and prints photographs of the finalists including Elsie Howard (May 1977)
  • "French Frolics. Twin-town complains about visitors behaviour". Several Weatherfield women get drunk and disorderly while on a trade mission trip to Charleville in France while representing the borough (February 1980)
  • Window cleaner Stan Ogden has been left £100 and a pot dog by Dora Entwistle, a grateful customer of his who has just passed away (March 1980)
Rubbish 1980
Episode3220
  • "Councillor's husband threatens opponent" Ken Barlow and Alf Roberts are photographed in an altercation in the Rovers Return over an election in which Mr Roberts and Mrs Barlow are opposing candidates. (May 1991)
  • Traffic flows through Coronation Street have increased 500% since a new one-way system was introduced. (January 1993)
  • Weatherfield resident Emily Bishop has won a victory against illegal clampers who have returned her £60 fine (it later transpired that the money was paid by her concerned lodger Percy Sugden to try and make her drop her complaint) (June 1993)
  • "Angry OAPs Slam Shopkeeper Scrooge" Shop keeper Alf Roberts comes under fire from his customers for refusing to honour vouchers issued by his predecessor Brendan Scott (December 1993)
  • Alf has assaulted a pensioner who is part of a group protesting over the withdrawn vouchers scandal (December 1993)
  • Weatherfield Comprehensive is broken into and £3,000 worth of equipment stolen (February 1994)
  • Twelve years of age is considered a good age for budgies (Percy Sugden disagrees, thinking his own bird is eighteen but Emily Bishop tells him he died six years before and she replaced him without telling him) (April 1994)
  • Coronation Street resident Jack Duckworth - "The Birdman of Weatherfield" - has spent the night on the rooftops as a protest against his neighbour Curly Watts who has refused to allow him access to his loft observatory to retrieve one of his pigeons (May 1994)
  • Weatherfield Councillor and former Mayor Alf Roberts has been awarded the OBE (June 1995)
  • £7,000 is missing from the Mayor's charity fund. Alf Roberts is the chief suspect for the theft (June 1995)
  • Newton & Ridley are selling six of their pubs including the Rovers Return and the White Swan (October 1995)
  • Spirited pensioner Phyllis Pearce beats off the flasher who has been terrorising the residents of Weatherfield, enabling him to be caught (November 1995)
  • The Rovers Return Inn is reportedly being haunted by ex-patron Ivy Brennan (February 1996)
  • "2 Years For Conspiracy" Steve McDonald is sent to prison for two years and his ex-girlfriend Vicky Arden is given a twelve month suspended sentence for dealing in stolen goods and attempting to pervert the course of justice (May 1996)
  • Three residents of Coronation Street are held hostage by an armed gunman (March 1997)
  • "Millenium [sic] concert bowl gets go-ahead": The application to build an outdoor concert bowl on the Red Rec receives approval (January 1998)
  • "Eco-Warriors Clash with Councillor Alf Roberts": Activists protesting against the plans for the concert bowl on the Red Rec occupy the garden of Councillor Alf Roberts (January 1998)
  • The protesters against the Millennium concert bowl have now occupied trees about to be cut on the Red Rec site (January 1998)
  • Rovers Return Inn landlord Alec Gilroy has been running a sleazy escort agency named Golden Years which is implicated in the recent death of Babs Fanshawe (March 1998)
  • "Drink Driver Prangs P.C.": Les Battersby is banned from driving for eighteen months after hitting an unmarked police car and failing a breathalyser test (May 1998)
  • "Council Candidate Lured Schoolgirl to Nights on Red Rec": Council election candidate Audrey Roberts accuses opposition candidate Geoffrey Nugent of sleeping with a teenage girl (June 1998)
  • Coronation Street resident Desmond Barnes dies after being attacked in his own home (November 1998)
  • Window cleaner Gary Mallett is hailed a hero after scaring off a burglar while on his rounds (June 1999)
  • Brave barmaid Leanne Battersby single-handedly tackles raiders at the Rovers Return pub (January 2000)
  • Weatherfield resident Ken Barlow asks readers for any information about the Cartwright murders that were infamous in Weatherfield over 100 years ago (March 2000)
  • New columnist Ken Barlow in his Ken's Corner column slams "fat-cat" councillors for promoting themselves over the interests of their electors (July 2000)
Episode 4903
  • Ken Barlow writes of the contributions made to Weatherfield by former councillor Alf Roberts who died the previous year (July 2000)
  • Local factory owner Mike Baldwin is running his business under sweat-shop conditions (August 2000)
  • "Rugby star plays dirty in flats conversion deal": landlord Duggie Ferguson has been illegally evicting tenants from his properties (October 2000)
  • "Supermarket Siege": Dean Sykes is shot dead by Police Sergeant Emma Taylor after a siege at Freshco supermarket. (October 2000)
  • Landlord Duggie Ferguson says his employee Vinny Sorrell is to blame for the evictions which have taken place and he's since been fired (November 2000)
  • "Local girl in sex attack!": Toyah Battersby is raped in the ginnel behind the Rovers (April 2001)
  • Weatherfield Women in Cancer Scare: smear tests are having to be rerun after errors found with previous results (April 2001)
Episode 5038
Episode 5312
Gazette 2015a
  • "No room at the inn for gay vicar & boyfriend?": Billy Mayhew and Sean Tully asked to leave Peak District pub by homophobic landlord (May 2015)
  • "Re-Installed Memorial": Norris Cole (falsely) hails himself as being instrumental in the replacement of Maddie Heath's memorial mural to garner more support when he puts himself forward to stand as a councillor in the upcoming Weatherfield by-election (March 2016)
  • "Freshcos in local jobs boost": The residents are divided as the new superstore development threatens to jeopardise local businesses (April 2016)
  • "From Zero to Hero": Hero resident Jenny Bradley after the unbelievable events that took place in Blackpool (May 2016)
  • "Local woman murdered in the Street": Kylie Platt is fatally stabbed by Clayton Hibbs (July 2016)
  • "No go bistro! Local eatery at centre of stabbing investigation": Chesney Brown is stabbed in Nick's Bistro by Robert Preston's "friend" Rich Collis (July 2017)
  • "Two brothers assaulted on New Years Day": Mechanic Luke Britton fights with Dale and Justin Parker having been subjected to their racial abuse (January 2018)
  • "Castle burns down": The 13th century Bridgehaven Castle where Steve McDonald and Tracy Barlow were due to remarry is gutted by fire, a few weeks prior to their wedding date (September 2018)
  • "Known drug dealer found dead in canal": The body of paroled drug dealer Joey Buchanan is found in East Weatherfield Canal, prompting speculation that Ronan Truman killed him in the belief that Joey had supplied his son Cormac with drugs which caused a fatal overdose (October 2018)
  • "Suspected loan shark arrested": Police have arrested loan shark Rick Neelan following a long-running investigation (June 2019)
  • "Knocked up and locked up": A heavily-pregnant Gemma Winter becomes a social media sensation and also makes the newspaper's main page after becoming trapped in the entrance turnstile at the grounds of Weatherfield County FC (October 2019)
  • "Brightwell Beatings": A couple are found unconscious in a squat on the Brightwell Estate. The news led Carla Connor to assume that Peter Barlow was responsible for beating up unscrupulous couple Jordan and Chelsey (June 2020)
  • "Brave boy buys brother more time": Space-fan Sam Blakeman sells home-made rockets on a stall in Victoria Gardens, raising £207 towards Oliver Battersby's appeal (October 2020)
  • "Police search in local woods": An official search of Beacon Woods gets underway complete with a cadaver dog, following an anonymous Crimestoppers tip-off from Sarah Barlow who gave information about a body being buried there. The news also piqued the interest of Bernie Winter who, at the suggestion of receiving a reward, went to the police station to give a statement about the watch she'd found at the same location in the summer (December 2020)
  • "There's No Stopping Steve": Steve McDonald continues to raise money for "Mito Focus", a charity he set up to provide research into mitochondrial disease, following the death of his son Oliver to the hereditary genetic condition (March 2021)
  • "Tragedy As Local Man Dies Of Heart Attack At Tram Station": Leanne Battersby learns the fate of a seriously-ill man she encountered at Weatherfield North Tram Station when returning home, having delivered drugs for Harvey Gaskell while dressed in a nurse's uniform (March 2021)
  • "Local Shop Keeper Accused Of Trolling Grieving Dad": Brian Packham, while protecting partner Cathy Matthews, is accused of posting dubious online messages to the McDonalds. As a result, The Kabin is subjected to vandalism attacks and a boycott (April 2021)
  • "Double Scammy": Daniel Osbourne's damning exposé of pyramid scheme cosmetic company Double Glammy essentially closes the business down (June 2021)
  • "The Left Behind": Fiz Stape tells her side of the story after partner Tyrone Dobbs dumps her for the much younger Alina Pop (July 2021)
  • Speed Daal is the restaurant under the spotlight in the Gazette's food review (October 2021)
  • "Weatherfield's Greatest Export": County footballer Corey Brent is set for transfer on a trial period by a German club, now recently acquitted for the murder of Seb Franklin (October 2021)
  • "New Years Wee": The newspaper's front page carries the story of Sally Metcalfe urinating in Victoria Gardens on New Year's Eve. As a result, she loses endorsements in a campaign to support new housing development, Beaver's Nook (January 2022)
  • "Police Search Continues": In the continuing investigation to find out who was responsible for the hit-and-run on deceased OAP Ted Spear, an e-fit sketch of Emma Brooker is released to the press (February 2022)
  • "Weatherfield solicitors raided by police in firearms swoop": The offices of Barlow Legal Services are raided following a false tip-off that guns are on the premises (February 2022)
  • "Local Woman Who Abandoned Baby Named": In a front page Gazette exclusive, Abi Webster is named as the woman who abandoned her newborn son at Weatherfield General (March 2022)
  • A photograph is published of the altercation between Gary Windass and Dave Burman outside St. Edmund's Church, following the funeral service of Rick Neelan (April 2022)
  • "Bin Lorry Held Hostage As Residents Rage": Following a recently-settled refuse workers' strike, Toyah Battersby organises a protest as the council plan to incinerate a backlog of recycled materials. Spider Nugent arrives unannounced to support her (July 2022)
  • "Fracking Hell!": Spider Nugent is arrested for aggravated trespassing at a Cheshire quarry during a fracking protest (July 2022)
  • "Man Named And Shamed As Convicted Murderer": In a Breaking News story online, the Gazette names chef Stu Carpenter as a man who served a 27-year prison sentence for the murder of a young waitress named Charlie Walter. As a result, Speed Daal receives several booking cancellations (August 2022)
  • "Love's Young Dream Conquers All": Maria Connor exposes the secret engagement of Aadi Alahan and Kelly Neelan after the underage couple enter the newspaper's "Win a Dream Wedding" competition (August 2022)
  • Maria Connor is unsettled as she reads disparaging comments under the Gazette's online article about her plans to rehome refugees (October 2022)
  • The Gazette begins serialising the book John Stape: Legacy of Evil, written by journalist Rory McDowd (October 2022)
  • "Local Cancellor": Maria Connor is embarrassed when her proposal to rename the Christmas market as the Winter market is rejected by the council's market committee and leaked to the press (December 2022)
  • "A Shooting Star Is Born": The Gazette's review of Mary Taylor's performance in her amateur dramatic production, Roxanna, receives high praise. Everyone but Ken Barlow are oblivious to the fact that Brian Packham submitted the review himself under a pseudonym (December 2022)
  • "Pool Body Latest - Search For Missing Car": The newspaper names businessman Rufus Donahue after a man's body was discovered in his own swimming pool. A panicked Damon Hay orders lackey Paul Foreman to dispose of the aforementioned car he stole from the driveway of the house on the same evening (April 2023)
  • A story regarding the murder of an unnamed local gangster makes the front page. When the arrested hitman is confirmed to be Niall Grainger, Adam Barlow and Nick Tilsley worry the victim could potentially be Damon Hay (July 2023)
  • "CEO Quits Newton & Ridley": Philip Newton resigns from his post at the centuries'-old brewery, intent on selling the business (September 2023)

List of newspaper contributors and staff[]

Note: In July 1976 the paper refused to employ Ernest Bishop on its staff as he was not a member of the National Union of Journalists.

Gallery[]

See also[]

Notes[]

  • The newspaper did not make its first appearance in the programme but instead in the TV Times issue of 13th to 19th August 1966 (and the following week's issue) in a mock-up of a newspaper report on the council election storyline when Annie Walker and Len Fairclough were opposing candidates. The paper first appeared in the programme later in the year and TV Times trumpeted the fact they had an invented the title in their issue of 19th to 25th November.
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