It's Soap Week, and There's No Better Time to Celebrate Corrie
8th Jul 2026
How Well Do You Really Remember These Corrie Classics?
Every Corrie fan has that moment - the one you still bring up at family gatherings, the one that made you gasp, laugh, or reach for a tissue. Elsie and Ena squaring up in the street. Les and Cilla's bath going through the ceiling. Roy and Hayley's day out in Blackpool.
We've gone back through the archive to bring you the full story behind three of them - what actually happened, what you might have missed, and why they still hit the way they do.
Elsie & Ena's showdown in the street (1961)
One of the greatest rows the Cobbles have ever seen.
It's the moment Coronation Street proved it could do soap opera warfare better than anyone. Elsie Tanner had received an anonymous poison-pen letter needling her about an unfinished divorce. She marched first on Annie Walker, then set her sights on Ena Sharples - Weatherfield's self-appointed moral guardian and Elsie's oldest adversary. When Elsie couldn't find Ena at the Mission Hall, the pair finally collided in the street, with Dennis Tanner having to physically hold his mother back. Ena's comeback landed harder than any punch: she told Elsie that if she'd written it, she'd have signed her name in big black letters rather than sending it anonymously. Elsie only discovered days later that the real culprit was neighbour Norah Dawson.
Fun fact: Off-screen, Violet Carson and Pat Phoenix - the actresses playing these "mortal enemies" - were actually the best of friends!
Les and Cilla take a dip (2004)
Pure, unfiltered Battersby chaos. Les splashed out on a hot tub for the bathroom as a treat for himself and Cilla - but when they tried to have a romantic evening in it, Chesney's Great Dane Schmeichel jumped in for a share of the action, and the extra weight sent the whole thing crashing through the ceiling into the room below. Next-door neighbour Norris Cole threatened to complain to the council, only for Les and Cilla to catch him snooping in their garden gathering evidence and threaten to call the police on him instead.
Fun Fact: Schmeichel lived to cause plenty more chaos - he was later hit by a bus and survived after a life-saving operation.
Roy and Hayley visit Blackpool (2013)
The one that still gets people reaching for tissues. Weeks after Hayley's terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Roy planned a trip to Blackpool with what he believed was meticulous precision - only to discover the Tower Ballroom, the one place Hayley had always dreamed of dancing, was shut for two days' maintenance. Disappointed, the pair wandered the seafront and stumbled on a tarot reading - a bit of fun that unexpectedly nudged them back toward the Ballroom. And there it was, opened specially for them for one hour by the manager, with their song playing as they finally got their dance.
Fun fact: Roy had secretly learned to ballroom dance for the occasion with Norris Cole's help - Hayley had no idea until they were on the dance floor.
That's the magic of Coronation Street.
If that's got you feeling nostalgic, there's only one place to go next. Discover stories you won't hear anywhere but from our guides, and find out which of your own favourite Corrie moments happened right where you're standing.
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