It’s the end of an era for a Manchester institution as after 53 years at its home at the Granada Studios, Coronation Street packs up its cobbles, costumes and pint glasses and moves across town to its new home at MediaCityUK.
Two years in the making to design and construct the new Weatherfield set, what was once just an empty field has now been transformed into a replica of the UK’s most famous street.
No less than 400,000 bricks made up of nineteen different types, seven different varieties of mortar and 54,000 cobbles were used to recreate ‘the look’ and make the new Coronation Street set a ‘seamless’ transition from the old one.
Only the most observant of fans will notice the changes to the new set. The new street is 2.5ft wider than the old one to allow cars to pass for the first time in scenes. There is also a second bedroom window installed in the Rovers Return and the set also includes new streets that bosses say will allow for new story lines to be explored in the future.
Unveiled for the first time this week, some of the street’s famous residents posed for a photo call at their new home but the show’s 500 cast and crew won’t actually start filming there until early next year.