Alan Bradley meets his end

After an enjoyable day in Lytham (I had gone there to release my goldfish into the pond in Lowther Gardens) I drove north of Blackpool Tower, parked up and walked down onto the beach. The vast beaches are often empty and I could see Morecambe and The Lake District on the distant horizon. From the beach I kept looking through my binoculars at the row of hotels. I was looking for The Rutland and The Strand hotels and knew they were north of the tower. I soon spotted them and walked up to them. It was in front of these hotels a famous scenes was filmed for Coronation Street in 1989. This is where bullyboy Alan Bradley was chasing a petrified Rita Fairclough and was fatally hit by a tram.

Scheming plotting Alan Bradley was one of the most infamous villains on British television. He was courting both Rita Fairclough and Rover’s Return barmaid Gloria. He soon favoured Rita when he learnt she had a money mountain stashed. His business was suffering and he dished out wicked deeds to prop it up, stealing the deeds to Rita's house then impersonating her dead husband (Len Fairclough) to acquire a mortgage.

When Rita discovered Alan's deception he beat her up almost killing her. The case went to court but Alan’s plea bargaining in court set him free. He soon returned to the Street haunting and harassing Rita until she was had a breakdown, paralysed by fear. She lost her memory and moved to Blackpool. Soon the worst happened - Alan Bradley tracked her down and caught up with her outside The Strand Hotel. He was forcing her into his car but she escaped and fled. Chasing her he was struck by a tram and died on the promenade. 26.93 million folk watched this episode. I can remember watching myself, lying on the fluffy rug in front of the fire.

I tried to stand at the spot where the filming was done. Some holidaymaker outside the front door of The Strand looked at me quizzically but I’m used to this. The front facades of The Rutland and The Strand hotels have altered since filming in 1989. Someone told me there’s a plaque at the tram stop where the above happened but I didn’t see it.

As dusk fell I returned to Fairhaven Lake at Lytham to throw a loaf to the Canada geese. A few cars were lined up and people with telescopes and binoculars on tripods. I got chatting with some and they were remaining there until 2am when the lunar eclipse would turn the moon a subtle shade of puce.

Outside The Strand where the scenes were filmed…

I took this photo standing where Rita stood as she looked onto Alan’s dead body after he was knocked over by a tram. I was nearly knocked over by a cool dude on a skateboard…

Taken in Sep 2017…