10. Betty Williams (known as Turpin) 1969-2011 (117 votes)
Scraping
into the top ten is matronly Rovers barmaid Betty Turpin. Betty holds two
records: the longest serving soap barmaid (43 years) and the oldest soap
barmaid (92 years old). For over forty years, she was a fixture behind the bar
like the beer pumps. Not one to suffer fools like her female counterparts,
Betty was married twice. First husband Cyril Turpin was a bobby and Betty suffered
a breakdown when he died of a heart attack in 1974. The same year she was
discovered as the mother of ‘nephew’ Gordon Clegg who’d been adopted by her
sister Maggie. It would be 21 years before Betty, now 75, would walk down the
aisle again. Second hubby Billy Williams was an old flame from the war and they
reunited on the 50th anniversary of VE Day in 1995 and married that
year. He died in 1997 of the same fate as Cyril. Betty is known for her famous
dish – the Lancashire hotpot. It has been under scrutiny for many years
including Alec Gilroy and Vernon Tomlin but Betty has undermined them. No-nonsense
Betty was a favourite among the punters and was a shoulder to cry on to many
and a maternal figure to fellow barmaids Bet Lynch and Raquel Wolstenhulme.
Betty and Bet were best friends for many years and worked alongside each other
for 25 years and although they often clashed, Betty respected her boss of 14
years – the formidable Mrs Walker! Although she dedicated her life to the
Rovers, she was sacked and also walked out many times, be it under Annie
Walker, Alec Gilroy, The Duckworths or Steve McDonald. Although she only made sporadic
appearances in her later years, her recent passing has left a huge gap behind
the bar and on the cobbles.
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2 comments:
I'm delighted Betty made the Top Ten. In a sense it wasn't necessary for her to be on screen much in her latter years, as you seemed to sense her presence even when she was in the back getting the hotpots ready. She embodied the spirit of the show.
... And you won't believe this, but as I was leaving the above post, the security word I had to decipher was 'TOPHOT', an anagram of 'hotpot'. Now THAT is spooky ...!
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