TV’s Amanda tells of sad pilgrimage to moors

Photo: Words by Amanda Barrie picture by KEN BENNETT

AMANDA BARRIE: sad trip

A former “Coronation Street” star has made a sad pilgrimage to the scene of the Moors Murders.

Amanda Barrie, appeared on BBC TV’s “The One Show” striding across wind-swept Saddleworth moor in the wake of the hunt for the last remaining child murdered by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley being suspended.

She travelled from London with a film crew from the show to record a heartbreak interview with Winnie Johnson, whose son Keith Bennett has never been found, and the police officer who arrested the notorious pair.

Then she visited the White Hart at Lydgate to gauge the reaction of locals who still recall the horror of the bodies being discovered and the impact it had on the community.

Amanda, who was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, said: “Returning home has been a real roller-coaster of emotions.

“And coming from Ashton, where John Kirkbride, one of the child victims, lived has added to the experience.

“I used to walk the moors as a child with my grandfather. He loved them and at every given opportunity he took me up there as a treat.

“However, as a small child, I remember it seemed to always be raining. Great feathered grouse and other birds would leap up in front of me — it was quite scary.

“But I believe we had some relatives who came from Saddleworth.

“Returning now, in bright sunshine, it all seemed quite different.

“The moors themselves are truly spectacular with vivid, changing colours.

“It is just so heartbreaking to know they were the scene of such terribly happenings.

“Talking to Winnie was really upsetting. She just wants to find her little boy. Everyone wants closure on this terrible case. My heart goes out to her.”

Amanda, who now lives in Somerset and London, said she still loves coming North.

“People are so warm and friendly,” she said. “Everyone wants to talk to you. And its wonderful to see how the villages have developed and still continue to create their own proud identities, yet remain very staunch to Saddleworth itself.

Amanda, who was born Shirley Anne Broadbent, acted in a number of TV and film roles in the 1960s and 1970s, starred in two “Carry On” films.

But she was best known for her role as a cafe proprietor’s wife, Alma Sedgewick (later Baldwin), in “Coronation Street” a role she played from 1988 until she retired in 2001.

She has since appeared in a number of TV shows, including ITV’s “Bad Girls”, and has also featured in pantomimes.