I’m standing with a crowd of excited fans about to head into Manchester's real-life Coronation Street set on the official tour of the ITV soap. But before we are allowed to set foot on to the famous street, our tour guide is taking us through some important ground rules.
“No stilettos have we?" She says, peering at all of our footwear choices. "Because you might struggle on the cobbles, we had a lady had to be helped off them when she arrived in sky-high heels last week," she laughs.
And that's not the only thing we are all warned about. Our guide swiftly informs us: "Continuity is really important as this is a working set, so no writing any rude messages in the dust on the windows or on the cars - because believe me we’ve had that before now as well.”
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This is life on the Coronation Street official public tour - which has just reopened to fans for the first time in two years after the easing of lockdown restrictions. Fans can now book on a series of weekend dates to visit the real-life setting for the world's longest-running soap.
And while you're not allowed to put your mucky paw prints on the windows, you can certainly get up close and personal with all the fascinating features of this most famous faux terraced street. You can even peer inside the letter boxes if you fancy.
Indeed, doing just that reveals one of the many secrets of the soap. For while you will see wallpaper on the immediate wall through the postbox, if you peep a little further you'll see pretty much empty rooms, save the occasional chair or prop.
As you learn on the tour, the majority of the Coronation Street set here at Trafford Wharf Road in Manchester is in fact a facade. That means only the exteriors (and hallways) of the properties and shops here are used for the real-life filming for the TV show.
However, as fans also learn, there are THREE units on this set that have fully-operational interiors. They are the Prima Doner kebab shop, Preston's Petals selling the street's blooms, and the Victoria Street Community Centre a little further up the set.
If you look inside the windows of these three shops, you'll be able to see exactly the same interiors that you see on screen three times a week on the ITV soap. And peek plenty of people do - the doner kebab shop is a particular favourite with fans and it's good to see the 5 Star hygiene rating so proudly displayed in the window!
The set we get to walk around today, on the Trafford side of the MediaCityUK developments, is actually the fourth version of Coronation Street created since the show first aired back in 1960, all the idea of Salford's very own Tony Warren. Back then, of course, the famous cobbles were painted on to an entirely indoor set at Manchester's legendary Granada Studios.
In 1982 the first almost full-sized exterior was created in the backlot of Granada's studios in Manchester city centre. But back in 2011 ITV bosses made the historic decision to start building a huge new site for Coronation Street - moving lock, stock and barrel to Trafford Wharf Road in Trafford Park.
The outdoor set that fans can now visit was painstakingly recreated from the original to cater for the rigours of modern filming, and first welcomed its famous cast and crew in 2013. And, as our tour guide informs us, it is now the largest static lot production in the whole world.
During the tour we are reminded of many of the famous storylines that have taken place on Corrie over the years - including the tram crash that killed Molly Dobbs and Ashley Peacock back in 2010. We are reminded of hairdresser Maxine Peacock's grisly demise at the hands of serial killer Richard Hillman - and the bench that still remains in her memory outside Audrey's Salon opposite the Rovers Return.
You can poke around The Kabin, and if you're anything like me, be rather aghast at the very dated, faded array of goods on display there. There's also the famous paper boy model that cheeky Norris Cole reckoned contained a secret before he passed away.
Naturally, it's the Rovers that remains the most popular spot on the street for fans to get a photo. The most famous pub in the world, as we are reminded by our tour guide.
You can get as many of your own photos as you like while on the tour, but at the Rovers there's also an "official tour photographer" capturing an image of you and whoever you're with. We rather regretted on relying on this for our mum-and-son image on our tour, as when we arrived at the gift shop at the end it turned out the technology had conked out that morning and our picture wasn't available.
I'm sure that was just an opening glitch, and for those who do want to purchase a souvenir photo, prices start from £10 in the gift shop. There's also the likes of Corrie biscuits (£4.95), fudge (£2), jam (£2.95), magnets (£2.50), and some rather fabulous leopard print mugs emblazoned with one of Bet Gilroy's most famous quotes: "This isn't a smile, it's a lid on a scream."
Or, you can snap up one dedicated to the soap's iconic Ken Barlow for £12. His famous quote? "I happen to think that I'm a great guy".
For those hoping to bump into an actual Coronation Street star while on the set visit, I'm afraid that's highly unlikely to happen. The tours are only booked on days when filming isn't taking place on the set, so the only chance you've got of seeing a famous face is if they happen to be at the studios to pick up a forgotten lunchbox or whatever.
You do, however, get to find out plenty of little soap secrets - and, new for the return of the tour in 2022 are some of the latest shops and additions to the street, like the Shuttleworth funeral parlour on Victoria Street and the new EE shop (replacing the former Costa coffee shop). I did try and badger out of the guides where the exciting new addition to the set is going to be - the new shopping mall - but everyone's lips were sealed.
But you do get to discover where the Weatherfield Police Station is hidden away, and whether the cars are "real" or not on the street. And, in case you're wondering, all the number plates are registered to Coronation Street.
And, as for the random doorways we stroll past on our visit? Well apparently they're secreted about the set to be used as the doorsteps of characters that occasionally crop up - even if they supposedly live 30 miles away from Weatherfield.
How much are tickets?
Tickets (including booking fee) cost £35 per person and £32.50 for under 8s, while carers go free. Tickets are available to purchase now at www.coronationstreettour.co.uk.
Is it worth it?
If you're a massive fan of Coronation Street, it's worth every penny, pretty much - particularly if you never been on previous tours or to the old Granada Studios.
You can take as many photos of you like of all the exterior sets, and heck, even play act your own scene at a favourite spot (like outside Underworld) if you fancy.
However, I went with my six-year-old son George who is obviously a little too young to appreciate Corrie just yet. And, aside from enjoying peeking in the letterboxes, he was dragging his feet and moaning: "Can we go home now?" from about 15 minutes into the tour.
It also does work out quite expensive if you're planning on taking children along, as it's only discounted for under-8s, and even that is a pricey £32.50 compared to the adult £35.
So my advice would be to make sure you're going with people who have a similar passion for Corrie as you do.
And be prepared for all eventualities with the weather - as the tour is ALL outdoors on the Trafford Wharf Road site. It takes around 90 minutes so comfy shoes are a must.
When can you go?
General public tours on the Corrie set are operating during daytime hours on select Saturdays, Sundays and occasional Bank Holidays.
The dates currently released are for Saturday 2nd April 2022, Sunday 3rd April 2022, Saturday 9th April 2022, Sunday 10th April 2022, Saturday 16th April 2022, Sunday 17th April 2022, Saturday 23rd April 2022, Sunday 24th April 2022, Saturday 30th April 2022, Sunday 1st May 2022 & Monday 2nd May 2022.
Tour bosses say more dates for Summer will be "announced soon".
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