I don't know if I've ever mentioned on my blog before that I'm obsessed with Coronation Street... but I am. I absolutely love it. For a while now I've wanted to go on the Corrie tour but I never got round to it! With the tour coming to an end this December I knew I had to get round to going - so me and Gaz quickly booked it and went a few weeks back!
The tour is very thorough to say the least. The inside tour that shows you around the sets and the filming studio lasts around an hour/ hour and a half. The tour guide knew her stuff and took her time going through everything. She gave us a good amount of time to look round and absorb everything. Sadly you can't take photos inside the indoor set but you are free to take as many photos as you want of the outside set. You can also get a photo taken of yourself behind the Rovers bar! The only thing I didn't like about that was you had to stand up one by one or in groups and have your photo taken in front of everyone in the Rovers. For someone with social anxiety like myself this really wasn't ideal... but I managed!
Forgive the poor quality of the above photo - I took a photo of the printed photo we bought from the set with my phone. We paid £7 I believe for this photo in a Coronation Street styled paper frame. Okay it's expensive for a photo but it was a great day and I'm a sucker for mementos!
One thing I will say is that both the indoor and the outdoor set are a lot smaller than you would imagine! The tour guide said the reason for this is that they film the soap with a wide angled fish lens. This makes everything appear much bigger than it is.
Luckily on the day we went on the tour it was very sunny. We travelled down to the tour via train early in the morning. We came dressed for the cold morning weather and ended up boiling!
Here is me knocking at Gail's... can you tell I'm imaginative when posing for photos?
Here is me outside of Underworld - far too overdressed for the heat that turned up shortly after!
One thing I found particularly interesting was actually making a map of the set in my head. Despite watching the show for years I only had a rough layout of locations of different buildings in my head. My sense of direction is absolutely awful. So this tour really helped with my immersion - since the tour I've enjoyed the show even more!
Here is Gaz in the famous Coronation Street Ginel. Again a lot smaller than you'd imagine! You can take a look in the various back gardens however some are there for decoration.
Another area I was shocked at how small it was is the back of the Rovers. You'd think it was massive!
On top of having the indoor tour there are also outdoor tours held regularly. We of course jumped on this tour too as it gives you greater information on the building themselves, the history and who has lived and run various different buildings.
Here I am looking very happy! I really enjoyed the tour and fully took in everything! The great thing about the outdoor sets is that you are free to walk around for as long as you like. There is a gift shop that you can buy from - we got our picture, a guide book, some shot glasses and a magnet of Roy and Hayley because... well they are #RelationshipGoals. There is also a little van where you can pick up some quick food.
At the very end of the street is actually a massive picture of a longer street. When you're walking up and down the street and look down it looks so real!
Here are a few photos of me and Gaz outside of Roy's !
Audrey's was A LOT smaller than I thought it would be. It was a lot closer to the famous Coronation Street tree and bench than I thought it would be too!
Barlow's Buys... anyone for a cheap, cheeky deal?
Ah we are back to the staged photos! Here is Gaz waiting for his bus home!
Here is me calling the bus... oh I'm clearly a natural at staged photos!
Of course we had to go to Roy's. Out of all the Coronation Street characters Roy and Hayley are definitely mine and Gaz's favourite characters. We were distraught when Hayley died, particularly because the storyline hit close to home for the both of us.
Here is Gaz with his posed photo outside the Rovers!
I think this was my favourite place to see in the flesh! I stood and fully took it in. Sad I know!
Anyone fancy a kebab! Another building that I couldn't believe was so small! You could actually go into this building and have a look around!
Here is another small building, Street Cars! It was very tucked away and had a car on display that they used to use.
Due to me wearing a lace skirt I couldn't, of course, lie on the cobbles to re-enact Tina's infamous death pose so, sadly, I had to kill of Gareth temporarily.
He got a lot of praise from passers by on his dedication to his pose until we got a good photo! RIP Gaz!
Here we are at Victoria Court - the apartments. Again another really small building that was actually only the front of the building. Of course this set was before the fire took place hence why it is still standing! The community centre is also another set that isn't in the tour as it wasn't yet there during filming!
Hats off to Gaz. I think he won the prize for most effort on the day for posed photos!
I enjoyed the name of the Coronation Street chippy far too much. Got to love a good pun!
Here is Sally's house and of course Gaz had to get in and pose some more...
Here he is kicking in the door...
and here he is trying to get in!
Here is a close up of Maxine's bench on the cobbles.
Of course I had to take a photo of the famous cobbles themselves! I can't express how much I enjoyed the day. All in all myself and Gaz were there for a good three hours including the tour. We enjoyed just wandering round and taking it all in. I'm so glad I managed to go before it stops running. If you're considering going, go! It is a great little thing to say you've been and done and the photo of me and Gaz behind the bar is proudly sat on our memory shelf in the living room - it always makes me smile when I glance at it!
It is very detailed and you may even learn something about the show and set that you didn't know. Besides visiting the Rovers and Roy's my favourite place to see was the costume department!
Have you been to the Coronation Street tour? Are you planning to go? Who else is a massive fan! Let me know in the comments below!
