Bet and Alec spent the next few years running the pub together but they split up in and Alec left for Brighton. In , Bet hired Tanya Pooley as a barmaid but Tanya soon proved to be trouble. Bet saw herself as a mother figure to Raquel Wolstenhulme , her barmaid. In , the brewery decided to put some of their pubs on the market and Bet wanted to buy the pub.
She asked if best friend Rita Sullivan would invest. Rita said she would think about it. Bet jumped the gun and assumed that Rita was going to go into business with her. One was that Bet and Rita both like to run their own shows and make their own decisions so a partnership may cause arguments, and the second reason was what if they did had a row it would end their long standing friendship and they would both be stuck running a pub.
Also the third reason was the fact that Bet had never made any profit during her 10 years running the tenancy, and never offered a percentage to Rita. Rita decided not to accepts Bet's proposition. Bet waltzed into The Kabin with champagne. Rita said Bet is jumping the gun. Rita said that she is dropping out. Bet's happiness soon turned to dismay. She said Rita is only rich because she married Len Fairclough. Bet accused Rita of only being a pal when Bet had no problems. Bet also said to Rita that she does not know the meaning of the word pals.
Rita says she is sorry. Bet asks her that she wont change her mind. Rita says she will not change her mind. Bet says she is sorry, sorry she ever asked. She then turns round and quietly walks out of the shop.
Her friendship with Rita was over. For the next few days until Bet left, she kept well clear of Rita. Bet even tried to throw one more roll of the dice by asking step-granddaughter Vicky if she will lend her the money. Vicky refused, and Bet was not happy. So Bet surrendered her tenancy and decided to make a fresh start away from Weatherfield. On the 16th October , She packed all her suitcases and took a look at herself in the Rovers bar mirror. The taxi pulled up outside.
Bet got into a taxi and the taxi drove out of Coronation Street. Bet put Weatherfield and The Rovers behind her. In mid October , now that Bet was gone, the pub was still up for sale as the brewery wanted to sell it.
The brewery swiftly shut the pub and they said Bet is not returning. Rodney Bostock was bought in as temporary manager until a buyer could be found. Jack had a criminal record for minor driving offences so was not allowed to be licensee so Vera took the license. Jack sulked due to this, as he thought his wifes name over the door and not his name there as well was total proof that he was a henpecked man, dominated by his wife. Vera enjoyed being the landlady and loved wielding power over Betty and Raquel.
In , Alec Gilroy returned to help a struggling Jack and Vera out. Jack even sold some shares to Alec to raise money. Vera was furious but Jack said that Alec would be more of a sleeping partner.
Alec owned half the pub with the Duckworths but gradually wanted to take full control of the Rovers. This arrangement didn't work out, and when Jack and Vera wanted to spend Christmas in Blackpool, Alec refused. They ignored him and still went, causing Alec to change the locks. The Diggins liked the pub but nevertheless moved away in to Southport. Jack and Annie Walker became the landlords of the Rovers in Newlyweds Jack and Annie Walker bought the tenancy in 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 more enlightened clientele. The beginning of World War II in 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 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 , Annie finally persuaded 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 , 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 and becoming a member of the Licensed Victuallers Association.
Also that year, the Rovers was granted a music licence and the Walkers hired Alf Chadwick as a regular pianist in the Select. In , Jack and Annie took in fifteen-year-old Lucille Hewitt when her father Harry Hewitt and stepmother Concepta moved to Ireland , as the Walkers and Hewitts were close friends and Lucille wanted to finish her schooling in Weatherfield. Lucille became like another daughter to the Walkers and continued to live there even after leaving school.
Jack died of a heart attack while visiting Joan in Derby in 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. In , 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 held the reins longer than any other landlord. In , 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. Annie 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 she employed Fred Gee in the position. A significant incident involving the Rovers occurred in 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. In , 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 money. Debt had always followed Billy and his troubles continued when he became the landlord, with him paying gamblings 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 , thus ending the forty-seven year reign of the Walker family at the pub. Kevin Webster rescues Bet during the Rovers fire. Bet Lynch had been a barmaid at the Rovers since 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 while Annie was on holiday and replaced the entire staff. 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 herself 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 as manager 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 a new boyfriend and neglected to inform the brewery.
George Newton was annoyed that Bet had left the brewery in the lurch and placed Betty in charge. 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 one morning 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 , 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. 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. In , 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 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.
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. 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 , 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.
Alec was appalled at Bet's selfishness and went to Southampton alone, declaring their marriage to be over. 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.
Facebook Twitter. The bar in The pub was originally divided into three areas the public, the snug and the select and women were not allowed to stay at the bar after being served.
Jack and Annie Walker in Denise Welch's savvy Natalie got the thumbs-up from locals for running the pub well. They were less impressed when she tried to flog it to a firm who wanted to call it the Boozy Newt. Michelle Collins' Stella wrestled ex Karl's half of the Rovers from him in - but he got revenge by starting a fire in the cellar that killed poor Sunita.
The glamour girls kept coming at the Rovers, with Bev Callard taking over as stylish Liz after helping son Steve gain control of the pub. Jump directly to the content. Sign in.
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