BET LYNCH  -- JULIE GOODYEAR

In early 1979, I was running  a 43 bedroomed hotel in Blackpool, which closed from January to late March for repairs, decorating etc. One day my friend Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear) Coronation Street, telephoned me. She was staying at the Imperial Hotel on the Queen`s Promenade Blackpool, which were the rich and famous stayed when in Blackpool.  She asked me to join her in her room, as I was only about 1 mile away in my house,  I went there right away. Julie was rather upset, her same sex partner Janet had told Julie, that she wanted to move on after several years together. I knew Janet of course, and liked her very much. Janet had some very good qualities, she was quiet, in the background, always there to help and totally reliable. Julie said that she did not want to stay at home on her own, so she came to Blackpool. I sat and comforted her and held her hand until she eventually fell asleep, then left the room. Later than year, Julie telephoned me again, by this time I knew about the articles in the newspapers and on TV, how she was lucky with what was a routine health check, they found Julie had a form of cervical cancer and had to have an Hysterectomy. Julie had offers of recuperation from several friends, but preferred to stay nearer home. Julie asked me if it would be possible to come and stay with me in the hotel. I drove down to pick her up from her farm in Heywood, Lancashire.  Julie was staying in the hotel for most of the week and knew me very well. Staying at the hotel meant that she would not have to put her make-up on if she did not feel like it.  Julie stayed in bed and did not rise until later in the day. While she stayed at the hotel, I would take Julie a tray up for her late breakfast, a tray of toast and pots of fresh Coffee, Julie liked lots of coffee. She would rise later and read the national newspapers and sometimes watch the TV for a while. On entering her room, you could hardly see for the smoke, it was so thick. After a few days Julie said she would like to go out for a while, of course, she could not walk around Blackpool, she would be mobbed and at this particular time she would not be able to cope enough to see anyone. I took her to Thornton-Cleveleys where we pottered about and she liked being out in the fresh air. Julie just mentioned to me that she had to buy a glitzy dress as later in the year she had to attend the 25th anniversary of Coronation Street at the Grosvenor House Hotel Mayfair, Park Lane London, W1K 7TN. So I drove Julie up to Cleveleys in Lancashire, around 4 miles from Blackpool to see if she could find a dress to suit, after a while, she was giving up, when I suddenly mentioned that I had  just thought of a shop back in Queen Street Blackpool. I took Julie to a shop in Queen Street , there were two senior, charming ladies who asked Julie what she wanted, after she explained to the ladies what she was looking for, then the ladies showed Julie which dresses may be suitable and said to her, just look around yourself and if you find anything suitable please call us. Well Julie really enjoyed not being pestered by anyone and just left alone to browse, I went and chatted to the ladies. The ladies were as good as their word, and left Julie to browse alone. After a while, ( you cant hurry ladies with dresses) my friend Julie was very pleased, as she had found a stunning dress for the occasion. On the way back to the hotel along Blackpool Promenade, I turned into a side road to save us time instead of going all the way around the block, this street led to Albert Road, which was a small distance from the hotel. This particular road was used for Busses and Taxis only but I had used the road often and had never been stopped. However on this one occasion, a very young Police constable, who looked about 15 years old, suddenly  stepped out into the road , held his hand up, and stopped us.  He approached our car and said to me," Don`t you know that this street is for buses and taxi`s only?  you can hardly miss the signs". I told him "that I was sorry but my friend is really not well at all and I took this street to get her to her hotel as soon as I could". At this point, he bent down to look at my passenger and saw Bet Lynch sitting there. When he saw who it was he could not believe it was Bet Lynch from Coronation Street. The poor lad, his jaw dropped and he just stood there with his mouth wide open, and said nothing at all. Seeing that the lad was absolutely gob-smacked, Julie leaned over and said to him, "Were sorry for taking this road, but I am really not well, would you be so kind as to let us off this time" Well, he looked at me, then looked at Julie and without saying a word, he stepped back out into the road and stopped the traffic. He then waved us onwards and as we were pulling away, Julie gave him a smile and a wave. His face just lit up, if he remembers us, we thank you. The as we drove away, Julie said to me with a smile,  If you get stuck again, just send for me. The day after that, I drove Julie back to her farm in Heywood. We lost touch as you do sometimes as Julie retired from Coronation Street. She was married to Mr Scot Brand, and believe she still is, although now she suffers from Dementia and just hope she is as happy as she can be.