This week in Corrie history

A quick round-up of what was going on in Coronation Street between 3 and 9 December in days gone by.

If he's still alive, Leonard Swindley will be 91 this week, as he was born on 9 December 1916. He was Emily Nugent's boss at Gamma Garments, and almost married her - but she jilted him. Arthur Lowe, who played him, went on to become a household name as Captain Mainwaring in Dad's Army. Sadly he died in 1982.

Two weddings to tell you about this week, one of them the start of a fleeting marriage, and the other the kind of bond that only death can part...

Raquel and Curly Watts married on 8 December 1995, but she was on the rebound from Des Barnes, and she never really loved Curly as much as he loved her, so a year later they split up.

On 4 December 1943, one Hilda Alice Crabtree was united in marriage with Mr Stanley Ogden, to form one of the greatest Street partnerships of all time.

Another Corrie partnership, that of Rita and Len Fairclough, came to a tragic end on 7 December 1983, when Len died in a car crash on the way back from visiting his "other woman." Rita was singing for Stan and Hilda's 40th wedding anniversary in the Rovers when she got the news.

Six years later, Rita was living in Blackpool, having had a breakdown due to being terrorised by Alan Bradley. On 8 December 1989, Alan Bradley discovered that she was there and turned up in Blackpool to get her to return to Weatherfield and clear his name - it was widely thought that Rita was dead, and Alan had killed her. She ran away from him, and as he chased her, Alan was run over by a tram and killed.

Dates from Corrie.net and The Coronation Street Story by Daran Little.

More Corrie history