Ghost town: urban explorer photographs the old Coronation Street set as bulldozers move in
Bulldozers are crashing through the Rovers Return, Jack and Vera’s cladded house and Rita’s Kabin shop as the iconic landmarks of the old Coronation Street set are demolished.
The TV soap’s former set in Manchester city centre had film crews there for the final time in 2013 and is being knocked down to make way for redevelopment.
Heavy plant machinery has now arrived on the site where scenes were shot for 30 years.
Pictures taken by an urban explorer, known only as Ben, are among the very last to be snapped before the famous sites are gone forever.
He got into the derelict set on Thursday and shared his photographs with the M.E.N.
“They have also started on the Kabin and have completely stripped everywhere. The site already looked apocalyptic but it does even more now there are bulldozers there.”
The set is currently being demolished ahead of flats, offices and restaurants being built.
It had been a tourist attraction after closing but recently there are signs of squatters with rubbish - as well as building rubble - strewn inside many of the buildings.
There is graffiti in the Rovers Return toilet, and cobbles overgrown with grass.
Ben is not the first urban explorer to be attracted to the former set, at Quay Street, since filming moved to Trafford Wharf.
Karim Miah, 32, travelled from Hertfordshire to do a similar thing in February prior to bulldozers arriving.
Ben said: “Urban exploring is something I enjoy; everyone has their own hobby. People sometimes think it is a bit weird and dodgy but it is fun and exciting exploring nooks and crannies.”