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Rovers return 2014 set

Rovers Return exterior facing onto Coronation Street, Weatherfield

The Rovers Return Inn (formerly The Rover's Return Inn; often referred to as The Rovers Return or The Rovers) is a public house in Coronation Street, Weatherfield.

The pub is located at the corner of Coronation Street and Rosamund Street and was first opened in 1902, part of a chain of Weatherfield pubs owned by brewery Newton & Ridley. The brewery sold the Rovers in 1995 and since then it has been a free house, although Newton & Ridley continue to supply the pub's ale.

The alcohol licence is currently held by Jenny Connor who has owned the pub outright since her split from husband Johnny in 2021. They had previously run it together after purchasing the pub from Peter Barlow and Toyah Battersby in 2018. Previous landlords have included Jack and Annie Walker, Bet and Alec Gilroy, Jack and Vera Duckworth, Natalie Barnes, Fred Elliott, Duggie Ferguson, Steve and Liz McDonald and Stella Price. Of the staff who didn't go on to become landlords, Betty Williams is perhaps the most notable, having worked there as a barmaid and caterer for 43 years, serving up the pub's popular hotpot dish.

In its original form, the Rovers comprised three bar areas known as the public, snug and select function room. It was modernised following a fire in 1986, removing the snug and select and expanding the public. A second fire, in 2013, led to the death of barmaid Sunita Alahan. Although classified as an inn, the house at the back of the pub was kept for the private use for many years until the Connors started a bed and breakfast service in 2019.

The Rovers is particularly popular with the residents of Coronation Street, and virtually all who live or work in the street frequent the pub. For many years, its select function room was used for variety shows and concerts, and it continues to be a focal point of the community hosting or sponsoring community events regularly, occasionally in competition with its rival, The Flying Horse.

Licensees and management history[]

1902-1918: Jim and Nellie Corbishley[]

Newton and Ridley

Newton & Ridley owned the Rovers from 1902 to 1995

The Rovers Return was built along with the houses of Coronation Street in 1902. Coronation Street was to stand adjacent to Rosamund Street, the main thoroughfare into Manchester, with the pub's location opposite Hardcastle's Mill making it an attractive investment for brewery Newton, Ridley & Oakes. The new pub was named The Rover's Return in honour of Lt. Philip Ridley, in celebration of his safe homecoming from the Boer War.

The Rover's was officially opened by brewery officials on 16th August 1902, a week after the residents had moved into the street's houses. The first pints were poured by mill owner Charles Hardcastle and Mabel Grimshaw, who inherited the street after the passing of Sir Humphrey Swinton.

Former grocery shop owner Jim Corbishley was the first licensee of the Rover's. From 1902 to 1918, Jim ran the pub with his wife Nellie, with their son Charlie taking on the position of potman. When the First World War began in 1914, Jim was considered too old to sign up and so he remained at the Rover's while Charlie left for France, and died in 1916 from injuries sustained on the Somme. After Charlie's death, the Corbishleys were a broken family and Jim eventually gave up the tenancy, fearing that the return of the men who had survived the war would be too great an emotional strain on Nellie.

1918-1937: George and Mary Diggins[]

Retired police sergeant George Diggins took over the licence and the tenancy with his wife Mary following the departure of the Corbishleys. It was around this time that Lt. Philip Ridley had the apostrophe removed from the name of the pub, feeling that the repatriation of all who had fought for the country in the Great War should be celebrated.

George and Mary had no children but Mary had a dog who lived in a basket made out of a beer barrel. When any beer was spilt on the floor, he would lap it up. The Digginses saw the Rovers through the Depression and fared much better than their out of work neighbours, although takings suffered when George enlisted as a policeman and stood against his friends during a march on Weatherfield Town Hall, resulting in a boycott of the pub. The issue was resolved when George resigned from police work and stood alongside his neighbours, thereby earning their respect.

The Digginses used to organise regular competitions between the Rovers and the Coach and Horses, including darts matches, pie-eating, fights on the Red Rec and face-pulling. One of the latter contests was won by Armistead Caldwell, who earned himself a meat and potato pie. The couple liked the pub but nevertheless moved away in 1937 to Southport.

1937-1970: Jack and Annie Walker[]

Jack and annie walker

Jack and Annie Walker became the landlords of the Rovers in 1937

Newlyweds Jack and Annie Walker bought the tenancy in 1937 and Jack became the new licensee, shortly before the birth of their son Billy. Jack came from a family of publicans and was happy to take on the Rovers and raise a family there, while Annie saw it as a stepping stone to an area with a higher class of customer.

The beginning of World War II in 1939 dashed Annie's hopes of a short stay, as when Jack received his call-up papers and signed up, Annie was left to run the Rovers herself while taking care of Billy and their second child, Joan, born in 1940. On his return, Jack settled back into civilian life, full of enthusiasm for his job, a marked contrast to Annie's weariness after six years of running the operation single-handedly or with the help of shady men who hadn't enlisted.

In 1954, Annie finally convinced Jack that they should take on a Cheshire pub, but found to her dismay that even she was considered too common by patrons there. Annie resigned herself to a life in Weatherfield and concentrated her efforts on improving the Rovers and ensuring her children received the best education. By 1961, both Billy and Joan had moved away, and the Walkers considered retiring when a rumour that Coronation Street was going to be demolished did the rounds. Annie took a step back by hiring Martha Longhurst and later Hilda Ogden as a cleaner, and occupied her free time by running for councillor in 1966 and becoming a member of the Weatherfield Ladies Licensed Victuallers. Also that year, the Rovers was granted a music licence and the Walkers hired Alf Chadwick as a regular pianist in the select.

In 1964, Jack and Annie took in fifteen-year-old Lucille Hewitt when her father Harry Hewitt and stepmother Concepta - a former barmaid at the Rovers and close friend of the Walkers - moved to Ireland. Lucille became like another daughter to the Walkers and continued to live there even after leaving school.

1970-1984: Annie Walker[]

Jack died of a heart attack while visiting Joan in Derby in 1970. Annie successfully applied for the licence and returned as the sole landlord of the Rovers.

Despite passing retirement age, Annie was more in control of the pub than ever. Her sometimes vicious snobbishness often alienated her customers and she ran the pub with class and stood no nonsense. She was supported by barmaids Betty Turpin and Bet Lynch, with Billy Walker occasionally lending a hand despite favouring a career as a car mechanic. Annie had friends in top positions within Newton & Ridley although others with the brewery expressed concern about her age and ability. In 1972, Billy was offered the pub behind Annie's back. While he declined, Annie felt betrayed that the offer had been made in the first place. The following year, she decided to retire and move in with Joan in Derby but changed her mind when the brewery told her that they had received a petition, signed by most of the regulars, which campaigned for her to stay on.

Annie 40th

1977: The brewery celebrates Annie's forty years at the Rovers. Annie held the reins longer than any other landlord

In 1975, Billy moved to Jersey, and with Lucille also having moved away, Annie was left alone at the pub. The brewery was alerted to Annie's living conditions when two thugs, Neil Foxall and Les Grimes, broke into the Rovers and raided it while Annie was in bed. Warren Coates was sent by Newton & Ridley to deliver the news to Annie that she had been given a pub in Cheshire, which would be quieter and more to her liking. At her time of life, Annie wished to remain at the Rovers, among people who were as much friends as customers. She saw Coates off by contacting Douglas Cresswell, a senior brewery official and close friend of Annie's, and having the motion cancelled. The incident persuaded her to take on a live-in potman and in 1976 she employed Fred Gee in the position.

A significant incident involving the Rovers occurred in 1979 when a lorry overturned outside the pub and its load of timber crashed through the front of the building, causing significant damage and injuring Mike Baldwin and Alf Roberts who were sitting at a table next to the window. Young Tracy Langton was thought to be buried by the pile of timber as she had been left in her pram outside the pub while Deirdre Langton spoke to Annie inside, but fortunately baby and pram had been taken away by Sally Norton moments before the crash. The brewery repaired the damage to the pub and things soon returned to normal.

1984: Billy Walker[]

In 1983, Annie took time off to visit Joan and the following year decided not to return. The brewery appointed Fred Gee as temporary manager but he was replaced by Billy Walker, who had been persuaded by Annie to take on the licence to keep the Rovers in the family. Unfortunately, Billy's heart was never in it and he had only accepted the brewery's offer for the steady income. Debt had always followed Billy and his troubles continued when he became the landlord, with him paying gambling debts with money from the till and getting into trouble with the brewery for selling supermarket ale. When he was caught by the police selling alcohol after hours, Billy realised that he would never cut it as a pub landlord and asked the brewery to buy him out. Billy left the Rovers in December 1984, thus ending the 47 year reign of the Walker family at the pub.

1985-1995: Bet and Alec Gilroy[]

Rovers fire kevin bet

Kevin Webster rescues Bet during the 1986 Rovers fire

Bet Lynch had been a barmaid at the Rovers since 1970 and was popular with the regulars. Following Billy's departure, they persuaded her to apply for the management, in competition with Gordon Lewis, who had managed the pub in 1981 while Annie was on holiday. Bet knew that the regulars liked the Rovers the way it was and that Gordon and his promise of big changes wasn't what they wanted but still didn't think she would get the job as the brewery preferred married couples and were unlikely to pick a woman to run it alone. However Bet got a massive surprise, when it was revealed by Sarah Ridley that the regulars had signed a petition demanding that she be appointed manager. The brewery officials were convinced that Bet was the best choice for the job and appointed her over Gordon.

Bet's first year-and-a-half as manager went relatively smoothly, save for an incident in September when she went on a last-minute cruise with boyfriend Frank Mills and neglected to inform the brewery. Betty Turpin was left with no other bar staff and was forced to call Newton & Ridley to send her some help. When Bet returned she found Jack Duckworth and Gloria Todd, both of whom she'd previously dismissed, working in the Rovers with Betty as the new manager. Bet apologised to George Newton, however the brewery was now beginning to doubt that Bet was cut out to be manager and he placed her on probation. Two months later, Newton visited the pub to tell Bet she was off probation but as bad luck would have it Bet had spent the previous night in a hotel and not yet returned. Following a mad dash to the hotel and back by Terry Duckworth and a lot of stalling by Gloria they managed to get Bet back before Newton became suspicious and saved her job.

In June 1986, as the regulars enjoyed a singalong around the piano, the lights began to flicker and Bet had potman Jack Duckworth go down to the cellar and replace the fuse, however Jack made the mistake of replacing it with a stronger one, causing a fire to start in the early hours of the next morning. The fire quickly spread through the pub and trapped Bet upstairs. Noticing the fire, the neighbours came to her rescue while they waited on the fire brigade. The fire was put out but the Rovers was so badly damaged that Newton & Ridley briefly decided it wasn't worth saving. Bet was later assured by brewery official George Newton that the pub would be renovated and reopened within months. The refurbishment included a significant modernisation of the pub by removing the snug and select function room. The Rovers was reopened in August, with long-serving cleaner Hilda Ogden performing the opening ceremony, and Bet remaining as manager.

Bet alec 1980s

The Rovers brought Bet Lynch and Alec Gilroy together in 1987. In 1992, it split them up

The following year, the brewery decided that they wanted to sell the tenancy at the Rovers and offered Bet first refusal. Bet was interested but knew she wouldn't be able to raise the £15,000 soon enough for Newton & Ridley and turned to club owner Alec Gilroy for a loan. Bet and Alec had dated before but Alec had broken off their relationship after realising that Bet believed his real interest to be the Rovers itself and not her, which wasn't the case. They had however remained friends and Alec agreed to loan Bet the £15,000, but even with a repayment scheme Bet struggled to stay afloat financially and, in a panic, she fled to Torremolinos, leaving Alec and the brewery in the lurch. Alec convinced the brewery to allow him to mind the Rovers in order to watch his investment but his prime interest was to track Bet down. After three months with no word, Bet finally contacted the brewery. Alec flew straight out to find her working as a waitress. When he saw how much the Rovers meant to Bet, Alec offered to marry her so that she could remain landlady, with Alec taking on the licence. Bet agreed and they were married.

When Deirdre Barlow decided to sell 1 Coronation Street in 1990, Newton & Ridley put down an offer on the house, as it was next door to the Rovers and they saw the potential of expanding the pub. Bet and Alec soon got wind of plans by Nigel Ridley to turn the Rovers into an American-style bar called Yankees and knew it wasn't for them. Neighbours petitioned the brewery to keep the Rovers the way it was but their pleas were ignored and the Gilroys, deciding to make a stand against the brewery, locked the pub and refused to leave. Their cause attracted some local publicity but eventually the brewery reclaimed the pub and evicted them. Fortunately, Alec's friend in the brewery, Cecil Newton, came out of retirement to put a stop to the plans, announcing that the Rovers would always be a working man's pub.

In 1992, Alec was offered a job as entertainments manager on a cruise ship. He persuaded Bet that they should move to Southampton and take the job; he had given Bet five years of running her own pub, now they had a chance for real success and he wasn't going to turn it down. After convincing Newton & Ridley to buy back the tenancy the couple got ready for the move but at the last minute, Bet got cold feet and was sought permission from the brewery to stay on as manager. Alec was appalled at Bet's selfishness and went to Southampton alone, declaring their marriage to be over.

The brewery agreed to allow Bet to continue as manageress and all was well until 1995 when Newton & Ridley decided to sell up again, but this time the pub itself was being sold. Bet was given first refusal for £68,000 but she knew she had no chance of raising the money. She turned to her friend Rita Sullivan asking her to be a partner, and although Rita was initially interested in the idea she quickly realised that Bet's idea of a partnership was 'you buy it, I'll run it' and turned her down. Bet then turned to her step-granddaughter Vicky McDonald for a loan, but Vicky knew that Bet would never be able to pay her back and refused. Her last chance gone, and realising that she was soon to be homeless and jobless, Bet decided to leave the pub and Weatherfield there and then. She threw everyone out of the pub, called a taxi and left the street, calling the brewery the next day to tender her resignation.

1995-1998: Jack and Vera Duckworth, with Alec Gilroy[]

Jack vera rovers

Jack and Vera Duckworth became the first couple to own the Rovers when the pub became a free house in 1995

With Bet gone, the pub was put on the market. Jim and Liz McDonald, having often dreamed of owning their own pub, put their house on the market with the intention of buying the Rovers. However another interested party were Jack and Vera Duckworth. Jack had recently come into a large inheritance and the Duckworths had already been trying to sell their house. In the end, it was a case of whichever couple could come up with the money first. With their house sold to the Malletts, the Duckworths pipped the McDonalds to the post and bought the Rovers. As Jack had a criminal record, Vera was made the licensee.

Owning her own pub was something of a dream come true for Vera, with her name going above the door one of her proudest moments, however the Duckworths were work-shy and bad at business and after a couple of years started to struggle to keep the pub going. In 1997, the Inland Revenue demanded £17,650 in back VAT. Sensing an opportunity, Alec Gilroy paid Jack £20,000 for a 50% share of the Rovers. Unsurprisingly, Alec and the Duckworths had a poor working relationship with a lack of trust on both sides. The following year, Alec decided he wanted out of the partnership and paid Jack £30,000 for the remaining 50% of the pub, with a gentleman's agreement that the Jack and Vera would be kept on as live-in staff. In the coming months, relations deteriorated further and Alec decided to fire and evict the Duckworths. When they found out what he was planning, the Duckworths barricaded themselves in the living quarters to stop Alec from removing them. While Alec pondered his next move, his granddaughter Vicky re-entered his life and he suggested they go into partnership at her new wine bar in Brighton. Alec sold the Rovers to Natalie Barnes and left her to deal with his squatters.

1998-2000: Natalie Barnes[]

Widow Natalie liked the Rovers as it reminded her of her late husband Des, who was a regular there. Unfortunately for the Duckworths, Natalie wished to live in the Rovers herself and therefore had them both quickly kicked out. Natalie was mostly known to the street's residents as the woman who had broken up Kevin and Sally Webster's previously happy marriage, however she ran the Rovers well and the residents soon warmed up to her.

After two years, Natalie found she was pregnant with former potman Vinny Sorrell's child and, as Vinny had run off with her sister Debs Brownlow, she decided to sell the Rovers and move, not wanting to be a single mother with a pub. Her intention was to sell the Rovers to the Boozy Chain, who wanted to turn it into a theme pub called The Boozy Newt, but the locals objected and local businessmen Mike Baldwin, Fred Elliott and Duggie Ferguson formed a partnership and put in an offer which Natalie accepted.

2000-2006: Fred Elliott, with Duggie Ferguson and Mike Baldwin[]

Although the three held equal shares in the Rovers, most of the day-to-day work fell to Duggie as Mike focused on his Underworld factory and Fred owned Elliott & Son butcher's shop in Victoria Street, and both saw the Rovers as a low priority. Their biggest initiative was to change the Rovers into a family pub but it quickly emerged as a failure as the children, particularly David Platt, annoyed the staff.

Duggie soon grew tired of his partners reaping the benefits of his work and decided to trick them into selling their shares to him; he convinced them to sell to Hamilton Griffiths Holdings for £18,000 each, before revealing that as the only investor of Hamilton Griffiths, he was now the 100% shareholder of the Rovers. He ran the pub until December 2001 when he decided to buy the lease on the bar at Weatherfield Rugby Club and auction the Rovers. Incumbent barmaids Shelley Unwin and Geena Gregory both fancied running the pub themselves and convinced their respective boyfriends Peter Barlow and Dev Alahan to buy it for them. At the last second however, Fred Elliott beat them both and bought the Rovers for £76,000 for his new wife Eve who took over the licence (however due to a misunderstanding with the sign painter, Betty's name went above the door for a short while).

Shelley charlie rovers

Manageress Shelley Unwin confined herself to her bedroom when she developed agorophobia

Eve's reign at the Rovers lasted only a few months as in April 2002, Fred discovered that his wife had married him bigamously. Eve tried to hold onto the pub but she had no legal claim over it as the documents were in the name of Eve Elliott. As before, Fred wanted to focus on his butcher shop, and so he appointed a manageress in the form of Lillian Spencer. Lillian turned out to be a bad choice, as she didn't get along with the regulars, had a mutual dislike of the current staff, sacked Jack Duckworth, and employed her (work-shy) children. However, just as staff morale was at an all-time low, a better job offer came up causing Lillian and her family quickly packed and left. Fred then turned to barmaid Shelley Unwin, who was happy to take on the job.

Shelley was sometimes helped by her mother Bev Unwin and in 2006 Bev and Fred fell in love and decided to marry, sell the Rovers and move away. Fred agreed to sell to Steve McDonald but Fred died of a massive stroke before the deal could be finalised. Bev didn't want Steve to have the pub but as she hadn't yet married Fred she was left nothing in his will. Legal ownership of the Rovers fell to Fred's son Ashley Peacock, who decided to honour Fred's agreement with Steve.

2006-2011: Steve and Liz McDonald[]

Liz had worked at the Rovers on and off since 1990 and in 1993 had managed The Queens. After Liz and Jim's failed attempt to buy the Rovers in 1995, Liz was thrilled to finally become the licensee, with son Steve balancing work between his Street Cars taxi firm and the Rovers.

Becky arrested

Becky is arrested on her wedding day, 2009

Liz and Steve often found it difficult to live under the same roof; in 2007 Liz married Vernon Tomlin, and they fought for space in the living quarters with Steve and his girlfriend Michelle Connor, Michelle's son Ryan and Steve's daughter Amy Barlow. By the end of 2008, Liz's marriage to Vernon was over and he had moved out. Steve's relationship with Michelle collapsed when he had an affair with Becky Granger, and Michelle and Ryan left. Liz never approved of Becky, and feared her chaotic lifestyle would ruin Steve, but he married her anyway in 2009.

When the marriage broke down in 2011, Liz saw this as her chance to at last own the pub outright. By now, she was back with Jim, who in a misguided attempt to make her happy, tried to rob a building society to raise the money to buy the Rovers. This backfired however and Jim was arrested and sent to prison. Rather than staying put and putting a brave face on it, Liz did one final shift at the pub before climbing into a taxi with her suitcase and headed off to the airport to go to fly to Spain and live with her other son, Andy.

Following Liz's departure, Steve advertised for a manager and took on Stella Price, who also became licensee and moved into the living quarters with her partner Karl Munro and her daughter Eva. As his recent troubles had left him almost penniless, Steve sold the pub to Stella and Karl and concentrated on Street Cars.

2011-2013: Stella and Gloria Price and Karl Munro[]

Soon after arriving at the Rovers, Stella revealed her true motives for taking on the job: her daughter was Leanne Barlow, who she had abandoned as a baby, to much regret. Over a few months, Leanne came to accept Stella as her mother and when her marriage to Peter Barlow broke down, Leanne also moved into the Rovers. Stella kept on Steve's staff, including Betty, who passed away aged 92 in 2012.

Stella's easygoing and friendly nature quickly won over the regulars and staff, and she proved to be a popular landlady. When she discovered that Karl was having an affair with Sunita Alahan, she kicked him out and became the sole owner of the pub. In 2013, determined to split up Stella and Jason Grimshaw and win Stella back, Karl started a fire in the cellar in an attempt to make it look like Jason's repairs had caused it. The resulting fire nearly killed Stella, who unbeknown to Karl was in the bath upstairs, and claimed the life of firefighter Toni Griffiths, as well as gutting the pub. Sunita was also caught in the fire, having been left to die there by Karl. To guarantee her silence, Karl disconnected her life-support machine in hospital.

Rovers reopening 2013

Stella and Gloria re-open the Rovers, 2013

While Owen Armstrong carried out the repairs and restoration of the Rovers, Stella found herself unable to meet the cost as the insurance company refused to pay out. She was rescued by her mother Gloria Price, who paid off Owen with Eric Babbage's inheritance money, also buying into the Rovers, and on 26th May the pub re-opened. The layout of the public area was retained but additional windows with stained glass were inserted into the building.

After Karl was found out to be behind Sunita's murder and arrested, Stella lost her enthusiasm for running the Rovers and sold up to Steve and Liz McDonald a month later.

2013-2017: Steve and Liz McDonald and Michelle Connor, with Tony Stewart[]

Liz returned to Weatherfield as part-owner of the Rovers when Steve came up short on the £150,000 asking price. Steve, now back with Michelle, surprised his girlfriend with his plans, making them joint licensees. Michelle was unimpressed when she found out Liz had invested, as Steve had led her to believe that the pub would be theirs alone. But Liz's involvement would end up saving the pub, as Steve endured a difficult few years including a long battle with depression, a long sojourn in Spain amid a crisis in his and Michelle's marriage, and, in 2015, falling victim to a plot by Tracy Barlow to get her hands on the pub. Tracy was having an affair with Liz's partner Tony Stewart, and persuaded him to trick Steve into selling his half of the Rovers, with Steve believing that he was selling to a fictitious third party in order to help Tony pay off a loan shark.

After securing Steve's share, Tony persuaded Liz to sell up and move to Spain with him, but his plans were derailed when Carla Connor agreed to buy so that Steve and Michelle could keep their jobs. The sale never went through though; as he was of no further use to her, Tracy dumped Tony and told Liz everything in order to gloat. Liz kicked Tony out, and refusing to relinquish his share he became a sleeping partner in the pub. Six months later, Liz agreed to take Tony back on the condition that he signed his half of the Rovers back to Steve, but once the deed was done Liz revealed that she had been stringing him along to get the pub back.

The McDonalds' second spell in the Rovers lasted four years, with Steve and Liz putting the pub up for sale when Michelle found out about Steve's one-night-stand with Leanne Battersby and demanded a divorce.

2017-2018: Peter Barlow and Toyah Battersby[]

Peter Barlow and Toyah Battersby became the new owners of the Rovers. While Steve and Michelle left the pub, Liz continued to work there as a barmaid until 2020.

With Peter a former bookie and Toyah a trained psychologist, neither seemed especially suited to running a pub, but with Peter being an ex-husband of Toyah's sister Leanne, their investment was mainly about showing people that they were serious about each other. In addition, Peter was a recovering alcoholic and many expected that being around alcohol would cause a relapse, but he stayed on the wagon throughout his time there.

Peter and Toyah made several attempts to improve the pub, such as introducing a bed and breakfast, however they scrapped the idea after their first guest, Chris Anderton, conned Leanne out of her life savings, and invited Leanne and Peter's son Simon to move into the Rovers. In 2018, Toyah confessed to colluding with Eva Price to lie about the parentage of her daughter Susie, passing her off to Peter as their own child through surrogate Jacqui Ainsworth. Peter finished with Toyah and put the Rovers on the market after just a year in residence.

2018-2023: Jenny and Johnny Connor[]

Jenny and johnny connor 2018

Jenny and Johnny Connor bought the Rovers in 2018

The Rovers looked set to return to the Newton & Ridley family when Henry Newton put in a bid for the pub. However, he couldn't come up with the cash after he was disinherited for breaking an engagement to be with Gemma Winter, who worked at the Rovers as a barmaid. Seeing an opportunity, Johnny Connor put in a low offer which Peter and Toyah accepted for a quick sale. He then became licensee, running the Rovers with new wife Jenny. The pub was to be a new start for the middle-aged couple after some years working at Underworld lingerie factory and the suicide of Johnny's son Aidan.

The Connors would see the Rovers through challenging times, including the COVID-19 pandemic when footfall was greatly reduced. To increase takings, the couple re-opened the bed and breakfast, taking in paying guests such as Scott Emberton, an old friend of Johnny's who exposed the landlord's criminal past, including indirectly causing the death of security guard Grant Newsome during a robbery in 1980. Deeply regretting his actions, Johnny decided that it was time to atone and confessed, serving four months in prison for robbery and ABH. During his absence Jenny had a fling with another guest, Ronnie Bailey. When Johnny found out, he left Jenny and put his half of the Rovers up for sale, though Jenny would end up buying it herself to become the pub's full owner.

When Johnny died in 2021, Jenny chose to continue running the Rovers herself with the help of stepdaughter Daisy Midgeley. Although a popular landlady with the residents, as time wore on less people were frequenting the pub following the pandemic and the downturn was exacerbated by the 2023 cost of living crisis. By July, Jenny was forced to admit that the pub was mere weeks away from going bankrupt. In desperation, she contacted Newton & Ridley in the hopes that they would be willing to buy the pub back. However after looking at the accounts, Henry Newton informed Jenny that the brewery wouldn't buy the Rovers as it was no longer profitable, suggesting that she close the pub for good and sell the building to flat developers. However Gemma took advantage of Henry's attraction to her to persuade him to convince his father to buy the Rovers. As a result, Newton & Ridley soon bought the Rovers, keeping Jenny on as manager. While it looked like the Rovers' future was secure, it soon emerged that Newton & Ridley was being bought out by pub chain LS Waterford. Although a rep initially told Jenny that everyone's jobs were safe, she was soon visited by a manager who told her that the Rovers was to close at the end of the day as it would be undergoing an extensive refurbishment to bring it in line with other Waterford pubs, and that she and staff were sacked with immediate effect (with no entitlement to redundancy as they had all be placed on zero-hours contracts following the takeover). Jenny retaliated by giving away all the Rovers' stock for free for the rest of the day, before closing down. The staff watched as the pub was boarded up for its renovation the next day.

Although they had originally intended to refurbish the pub, Waterford dithered and the pub lay empty for almost two months. Despite this, it still saw action as the location where Jenny encountered boyfriend Stephen Reid where he admitted that he had murdered, among others, her previous partner Leo Thompkins. Later, the pub was broken into and used by several youths for a party. Eventually, Waterford decided it was no longer interested in refurbishing the Rovers and instead put the pub up for sale hoping to entice property developers.

2023 to present: Jenny Connor and Daisy Midgeley[]

Jenny and stepdaughter Daisy used the money that Stephen stole from Underworld to buy the Rovers back. They jointly co-own and the pub re-opened unofficially, ready for New Year's Eve, prior to completion of the sale.

Layout[]

Exterior[]

Rovers return front

The Rovers entrance in the 1980s

The main entrance to the Rovers is in Coronation Street, on the corner of Rosamund Street. Entry is through a set of double doors in a shallow alcove, with a sign identifying the pub as The Rovers Return on the wall to the immediate right of the doors. Above the door is the licensee sign, containing the full name of the current holder of the drinks licence, although one exception occurred in 2002: due to a misunderstanding, a signwriter put Betty Williams on the new sign, when it should have been Eve Elliott's name above the door.

To the left of the doors are two sets of bay windows with frosted glass. Above them is a large sign bearing the name Rovers Return Inn and the name of brewery Newton & Ridley on the left and right sides of the sign. The colour scheme of the pub has always been green, with the overhead sign, the window frames and doors all bearing the colour.

The entrance of the pub has remained virtually unchanged since 1960, even after incidents including Stuart Draper crashing his car into the Rovers and smashing the door in 1974 and the lorry crash of 1979 which saw piles of timber penetrate the interior of the pub. The entrance retained its original design even after the renovation of the Rovers following the June 1986 fire.

The area immediately in front of the pub was usually always kept clear but for a short time in 1969 tables and chairs were put there by landlady Annie Walker, in an attempt to give the Rovers a Parisian feel.

The 2002 title sequence also showed a freestanding sign outside the Rovers.

Another entrance, usually used by tenants or private guests, lies behind the pub, with a door opening into the private quarters.

Some early episodes imply another entrance through the snug, while others refer to the usual entrance as the back door. For the purposes of this Wiki, these instances are treated as apocryphal, as later episodes firmly establish the usual entrance as being the main entrance to the pub, and the only one used by drinkers.

Public[]

Pre-1986 fire[]

Rovers decor 1969

The Public: 1969-1973

The public was the largest of the three bars, and was where most patrons drank. The bar itself was located in the public and all other areas of the establishment could be accessed from there. Until the First World War, only men could be served in the public but landlady Nellie Corbishley changed the rules and opened it to women as most of the men had signed up and Nellie saw no point in having the public empty when the snug was full.

The room contained individual iron tables and wooden chairs for seating and, until the 1950s, spittoons on the floor, which were removed at the behest of landlady Annie Walker, who also oversaw the replacement of the sawdust with floor tiles. From the wall immediately on the right as one entered the pub, which contained doors to the gents and ladies lavatories (and access to the cellar through the door to the gents), the area for public access formed an L-shape, with the bar taking up the rest of the room. The snug and select bars were accessed through doors on the left wall. There was also a dart board on the wall adjacent to the right wall, at the rear of the bar, and a piano which was used on special occasions.

Rovers public on fire

The fire spreads, 1986

Another early episode anachronism was the existence of a fireplace facing the bar.

The bar itself was accessed through a bar flap or from the private quarters to the rear. Until 1964, a cupboard stood in the middle of the floor behind the bar, making it difficult for staff to move around. Even as late as 1961, a sign at the bar instructed women not to remain at the bar after being served, a rule which Annie Walker even enforced on occasion.

Annie was keen for the Rovers to be regularly redecorated and in 1968 paid for the decorations, which included removing the bar pumps (new bar pumps would not be installed until 1993). Further decorating work was carried out in 1969, 1973, 1977 and 1983.

Post-1986 fire[]

Rovers decor 1986

1986-2008

After the damage sustained in the 1986 fire, the interior of the pub received major renovation work, with the biggest change being the removal of the snug and select, the three bars knocked into one large one. Annie had proposed such an idea in 1961 but backed down when Jack voiced his opposition.

The new layout was effectively a larger version of the old public, with the main difference being the introduction of three upholstered seating areas and a greater number of tables and chairs. The bar remained in the same place as before while additions included a snack counter in the spot formerly occupied by the dart board, with darts now played on the opposite corner of the pub. Another addition was a fruit machine, a typical feature of most pubs of the time. For the first few years after 1986, a piano was also a regular fixture of the new saloon bar, and larger partitions between the seating areas which were later removed.

A consequence of the loss of the select function room was that any events which were held in the Rovers had to take place in the cramped space of the new bar. While there was usually enough room to accommodate parties such as a drag night in 2001 (with a pop music theme), the pub was only just big enough to play host to larger scale events including Ivy and Don Brennan's wedding reception in 1988 and a performance of pantomime Cinderella at Christmas 2009.

The Rovers was infrequently decorated during this period, with the 1986 decor remaining until 2008 when Vernon Tomlin, husband of licensee Liz McDonald, initiated minor redesign work, including new wallpaper, re-upholstered seating, new flooring and new light fittings. A smoking shelter was also built in the yard, with the wall to the right of the bar knocked down so that patrons could access it through a door, as smoking had been outlawed in public places in England in 2007. The wallpaper was changed again later that year.

The January 2008 redecorating work was seen prominently in the programme but the new wallpaper first seen in October 2008 was introduced with no publicity and no on-screen reference was made to the change.

Another re-decoration followed the 2013 fire. This re-decoration kept the previous layout and colour scheme, with only minor changes. Additional windows with stained glass were inserted into the building at the same time.

Snug[]

Minnie snug

Ena, Minnie and Martha in the Snug

The snug was a small rectangular room with access to the bar. In the early years it was the only area of the pub where women could be served, and even after the rule was changed women, especially older ones, continued to drink there. When the Rovers opened, drinks in the snug were a halfpenny cheaper than in the public.

For many years, the table closest to the bar was the domain of pensioners Ena Sharples, Minnie Caldwell and Martha Longhurst, who enjoyed gossiping in their own private sanctuary. Each even had their own preferred seating position: Ena facing away from the bar, with Martha on her left and Minnie in the other chair.

In 1964, Martha had a heart attack in the snug and died, her head slumped on the table at which she had consumed so much milk stout over the years. Her death occurred during a party celebrating Frank Barlow's win on Premium Bonds. Eleven years later, Ena convinced Betty Turpin that she had seen Martha's ghost when she heard a strange voice coming from the snug and found a pair of glasses which were the same as the style Martha wore, but the mystery was apparently solved when a customer claimed them.

The snug was removed in the renovation following the 1986 fire.

Select[]

Select 1969

The variety show at Christmas 1969 was held in the Select. Here, Albert Tatlock performs The Girl I Kissed on the Stairs, with Ernest Bishop providing accompaniment

The Select bar was a large room accessed through a hallway leading from the public. It was originally intended as a place where more distinguished clientele could drink. Beverages were served by waiters and drinks were a halfpenny more expensive than in the public. The select was barely used until landlords George and Mary Diggins put a stage in it and organised monthly attractions for entertainment. For a time in the 1920s, the Rovers was known for putting on a good show, with a particular highlight being a concert celebrating the birth of the future Queen Elizabeth II in April 1926.

By the 1960s, the select was generally used as a function room for parties and wedding receptions. Annie Walker went to great lengths to make the Rovers a desirable place for newlyweds of the street to hold receptions and was affronted whenever regulars chose to hold them somewhere else. Other events celebrated there included Stan and Hilda Ogden's 25th and later 40th wedding anniversaries, a Christmas concert in 1969, a '40s show on Christmas Day 1972 and a cabaret in 1973, with the women performing in drag. In 1973, relief manager Glyn Thomas tried to draw customers into the select by hiring a regular organist, Renee Delafonte, and a pop band to sing, as he had designs on the Rovers and was out to impress the brewery.

Toilets[]

Jack in rovers toilets

Jack Duckworth in the gents

A door in the public bar leads off to the gents and ladies lavatories. Before the 1986 renovation, they were accessed through different doors, with the door to the gents opening to a corridor containing the door to the cellar.

In 1968, Albert Tatlock climbed out of the window in the lavatory to escape from the attentions of Alice Pickins.

Cellar[]

Dan in rovers cellar

2008: Steve McDonald locks Dan Mason in the cellar, unaware that Dan has just ruptured his spleen in a fight

The cellar is where the beer barrels and crates are kept. It is the potman's responsibility to organise the cellar and keep the bar topped up. It is usually accessed through a door in the public but a rarely-used trapdoor behind the bar also leads to the cellar.

Cellar duties were usually carried out by the landlord but following Jack Walker's death, Annie didn't hire a regular potman until an incident in March 1976, where Albert Tatlock and Stan Ogden were locked in the cellar overnight and helped themselves to free drinks, getting blind drunk in the process. Fred Gee was given a job shortly thereafter although he often complained that the steps in the cellar weren't well maintained, and in 1982 he fell down them and was rendered unconscious.

Jack Duckworth was potman at the Rovers from 1985 until he and Vera lost the pub in 1998. His biggest blunder came in 1986 when he replaced the fuse with a much stronger fuse, starting the fire which gutted the pub. Fortunately, as it started in the cellar it took longer to spread. In 2013, the second Rovers fire was also started in the cellar, this time deliberately by Karl Munro.

In 2008, Dan Mason was locked in the cellar after falling and rupturing his spleen during a fight with landlord Steve McDonald. Steve locked Dan in the cellar for a laugh but didn't realise he had hurt himself. Dan was rushed to hospital the next day and Steve was arrested for attempted murder and unlawful imprisonment, but Dan agreed to drop the charges after a talk with Steve. In 2018, barman Henry Newton staged a fall in the cellar and demanded compensation from Johnny and Jenny Connor, but Gemma Winter warned the landlords what he was up to.

Perhaps the biggest discovery in the cellar was Annie's finding of a framed oil painting in 1966. Annie became obsessed with the painting and thought about changing the name of the pub to The Masked Lady (as a mask was found with the painting) but was talked out of it by the regulars, who were bored with her talking about it. Eventually Jack threw it away and Annie soon forgot about it, little realising that the painting was a key part of the area's past, having hung over the fireplace of the White Mare, a coach house which stood on the grounds occupied by the Rovers hundreds of years ago.

Accommodation[]

Downstairs[]

Dont fall into the masons arms

2008: Vernon Tomlin sings "(Don't Fall Into) The Mason's Arms" to Liz McDonald in the back room before leaving Weatherfield

The area behind the bar for use by staff and visitors contained a hallway with stairs to the upper floor, the back door, a living room and a kitchen. The living room was usually used as a staff rest room or for private parties which ran until after closing time, with the Walkers 25th wedding anniversary party being held there in 1962. In September 1977, Annie Walker held a party held for her friends to show off the new carpet, which was embroidered with her own initials. It was only moments before the party that she realised that the carpet came from the Alhambra Weatherfield Bingo Hall, which caused great embarrassment for her when it was recognised by a guest.

Since the post 1986 fire the living room has been redecorated in 1994, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2013 and 2018.

Rovers kitchen inspector

1992: John Steele, the health inspector, checks out the Rovers new kitchen, while a Mexican mouse-eating spider is on the loose!

The kitchen is used for cooking the pub's meals. A new kitchen was fitted in 1992 when an Environmental Health Officer inspected it and found cracked wall tiles and flaking paint work. Alec Gilroy reluctantly paid £7,000 for refurbishments. Long-serving barmaid Betty Williams took charge of the catering, with her famed hotpot being the most requested item on the menu. Sean Tully has taken over the catering since Betty's death.

The Rovers was the first house in the street to have a phone installed. For a few years in the 1960s people were allowed through to the back to use the phone, at the landlord's discretion. Dennis Tanner in particular would exploit this, and regularly gave the Rovers' number to his business associates in his career as a talent scout in the entertainment industry.

After the 1986 fire, the staircase was moved to the opposite side of the hall. The stairs were replaced again in 1998 when Vera Duckworth put her foot through a rotten step and decided that the entire staircase was rotten. However, the builders hired to do the work, Jim McDonald and Gary Mallett, removed the staircase when Jack Duckworth and Alec Gilroy refused to pay them due to a dispute between the landlords over which parts of the house each of them owned. Vera was trapped upstairs for several days before she was rescued by the fire brigade and settled the bill with the builders herself.

Upstairs[]

Episode129

1962: Dennis Tanner puts sealions in the upstairs bathroom

Rovers hall and bedroom

1998: Alec Gilroy deals with the squatting Duckworths. Shown are the hallway (left) and master bedroom (right)

Although technically graded as an Inn, the spare Rovers bedroom wasn't regularly let out until 2019 (although Ena Sharples used the technicality to force Annie to let her a room when no one else would let her stay with them in 1975). As originally laid out, the upper level of the Rovers contained four bedrooms and a laundry room, which was converted into a bathroom in 1910. As no other houses in the street contained a plumbed-in bath at the time, the public was charged a fee to use it. In 1962, Dennis Tanner borrowed the Rovers keys from Concepta Hewitt and put two sealions in the bath and let three women performers sleep in their bed, as he had to get them out of the way for the night and knew the Walkers were away. Jack and Annie were surprised to discover the troupe when they returned home early.

A notable incident in the bedrooms occurred in September 2001 when landlord Duggie Ferguson retired to bed for an afternoon rest only to find cleaner Edna Miller dead in his bed.

In 2008, the upper level contained a living room and a kitchen.

The upstairs flat first appeared in Episode 6883 (15th August 2008), having never been seen or referenced before. It was dropped early in 2010 and the old layout has been in use since. Again, no on-screen reference was made to any changes at the pub.

Pub regulars and community[]

Episode2429

Kevin, Terry and Curly's band performs on the Rovers team against The Flying Horse, 1984

The sphere of influence of the Rovers is primarily residents and workers in Coronation Street, Rosamund Street and Victoria Street, and other nearby streets in Weatherfield. Many of them have given the pub years of patronship - in 1978, Ena Sharples and Albert Tatlock argued over who had frequented the Rovers the longest, with Ena winning after producing a friend, Lizzie Hinchcliffe, who had shared her first drink with Ena there in 1918, sixty years prior. While not as longstanding a punter, Stan Ogden was photographed by the Weatherfield Gazette in 1975 as his attendance and volume of alcohol consumed at the Rovers was a record. Other notable drinkers at the Rovers include pop band Status Quo in 2005, who popped in for a drink when their van broke down.

Particularly in the years when the pub was owned by Newton & Ridley, the Rovers staff and regulars enjoyed a friendly rivalry with other local pubs, mainly The Flying Horse. They often competed in contests, including several Pub Olympics, a tug-of-war on Christmas Day 1967, a football game in 1969, a barbershop quartet competition in 1980, a talent contest in 1984, a cricket match in 2014, and another football match in 2022. The Rovers team usually won, only losing out to The Flying Horse in the tug-of-war. Regulars from the Rovers also formed the all-woman bowling team The Rovers Ravers in 2004, winning the tournament thanks to Jack Duckworth (competing in drag).

Staff[]

See: List of Rovers staff

Residents[]

Background information[]

RoversReturn
  • The Rovers was part of Tony Warren's original pitch for Coronation Street. The name was chosen because of the historic "Rover's Return" in Withy Grove, Manchester, which occupied a 14th-century building (pictured right in 1877). At some period it became a licensed house but ceased to be so in 1924. The building stood until 1958 when the City Council had it demolished.
  • As with most interior sets, scenes in the Rovers were recorded in studio, with a backdrop of the outdoor street behind the doors (although in modern episodes, characters are only seen entering the Rovers side-on, to avoid having to show a backdrop). Only on one occasion was the inside of the Rovers building on the 1982 Outdoor Set used for recording - in the climax of the 40th anniversary live episode in 2000, as the characters had to be able to move immediately from the Rovers to the street for the next scene. To avoid giving away the fact that it was a different set, the characters were positioned close to the doors and only close-ups were used.
  • Before the Grape Street set was built, when more complicated shots of the Rovers exterior were required, filming took place on location with a real pub standing in for the Rovers. The pub used was "The Amalgamated Inn" which stood on the corner of Clifton Street and Gloucester Street in Ordsall about half a mile north of Archie Street which was originally used by Denis Parkin as the template for Coronation Street. Though it bore little resemblance to the Rovers, the Amalgamated Inn was used twice in the programme. The first was in Episode 389 (2nd September 1964), in which Stan Ogden, recently taken on by Amalgamated Steel as a chauffeur, took family and friends out for a ride in the company Rolls Royce. The second was in Episode 690 (26th July 1967), when Annie Walker set off Paris in a chauffeur-driven limousine after winning a competition. The pub was closed in 1970 and was demolished in 1971.
  • As noted in the individual sections above, the layout and locations of the entrances to the Rovers was inconsistently portrayed in some early episodes. The end credits of several 1960 episodes show the front entrance of the Rovers with a slightly different look to the one used in the programme. Also, the exit used by the wedding party in Episode 26 (13th March 1961), apparently the back door, is much grander than how it would later appear.
  • In a similar vein, the Rovers toilets being on the right hand side of the bar seems impossible as No.1 Coronation Street should be on the other side of the wall, in accordance with the geography of the street. 1970s and 1980s Producer Bill Podmore commented on this in his 1990 memoirs Coronation Street: The Inside Story, joking that it was the prime cause of No.1 owner Albert Tatlock's grumpiness. When the new outdoor set was built in 1982, a wall between the Rovers and No.1 was built between the houses but, while the Rovers toilets are not seen often, they were much larger than the addition to the set.
  • Upon the move from Quay Street studios to MediaCity studios, the Rovers was expanded (as was the entire set to cope with the demands of high-definition filming) with an extra window being added to the front of the pub. The sudden appearance of this window was not explained in-show.
  • While all of the houses in the street are built to a scale, the interior dimensions of the time stretch credibility somewhat in relation to the size of the pub outside, particularly before the 1986 fire when the three-bar system was in place. Tellingly, the renovation following the fire only expanded the public as far as the snug, resulting in a much smaller interior (although the dimensions of the private accommodation has remained the same).

External links[]

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