Sylvia Goodwin Sylvia Goodwin ( formerly Cropper ) is the mother of Roy Cropper . She previously resided at 16a Victoria Street , the flat above Roy ' s Rolls , with Roy and wife Hayley . The relationship between the outspoken and harridan - like Sylvia and Roy , whom she labelled a " disappointment " , was fraught from the start . Her marriage to second husband Roger Goodwin further soured relations between the two , leading to Roy ' s departure from the family home aged sixteen . Roy had very little contact with Sylvia until April 2011 , when Roger died . Prior to moving to Weatherfield , Sylvia was a resident at the Twelve Oaks Care Home , which she despised . Roy received an invitation to the funeral but did not attend , believing it would bring back painful memories . However , Sylvia turned up at Roy ' s Rolls after the funeral , enquiring about Roy ' s ' lack of support ' . She was hurt to find out Roy had married without telling her . Roger ' s death had left Sylvia financially ruined ( he had died with numerous debts to his name ) , and she ended up selling the house and moving into a retirement home . Hayley could sense that Sylvia was uncomfortable at the home , and persuaded her to move into the flat above Roy ' s Rolls with herself and Roy - much to Roy ' s annoyance . Sylvia began helping out behind the cafe counter shortly afterwards , often bemusing customers with her blunt speech and insistence on manners . After some months , Hayley realised that she would have to admit that she was a transsexual woman before anybody else informed Sylvia . Tracy Barlow managed to spill the beans before either Roy or Hayley had a chance to . Though Sylvia was shocked at the revelation , Roy insisted that she would have to accept Hayley or move out of the flat . Sylvia grudgingly put the revelation behind her . Roy was angry that Sylvia had re - entered his life at this stage , thinking her an unwanted reminder of an unhappy past . Sylvia revealed that no matter the difficulties she encountered in raising him , she was proud that he had built up an entire business and found a wife all on his own . In August 2011 , Sylvia decided to become more involved in the business of running Roy ' s Rolls , and promptly decided that offering customers free condiments at the table was nonsensical . Buying all the necessary sachets , Sylvia decided that all condiments and other extras - including sugar and milk - would be sold at the counter for 10p . Roy felt unable to act , despite Sylvia ' s actions alienating customers . Following yet another unnecessary charge - this time on the lavatory after Karl Munro entered the cafe solely to use the facility - Norris Cole decided enough was enough . After he managed to slip unnoticed into the lavatory , Sylvia insisted he pay the 20p charge or spend all night in the closet . Norris stuck to his guns and was promptly locked in until the next morning . After Sylvia ' s actions were revealed to Roy , Mary Taylor , Emily Bishop and Dennis Tanner , her punishment was to wait on the four of them during a specially prepared after - hours meal . In October 2011 , after retrieving a discarded magazine competition entry written by Norris and Mary , Sylvia submitted the entry and promptly won the prize of a Caribbean cruise . Upon her return on Christmas Day , she informed the regulars of her spontaneous romance with businessman Milton Fanshaw and " entertained " the cafe - goers with her renditions on the uke - banjo , which had been given to her by Milton . Keeping in touch with him , Sylvia took Skype lessons from Sophie Webster in order to avoid the hefty transatlantic phone costs . Mary , who was still aghast at Sylvia having won the cruise with his entry , entered an unwilling Norris into a music competition with Sylvia . The competition took place in the Rovers in January 2012 in front of the regulars . Milton made a surprise appearance at the show , and immediately rekindled his romance with Sylvia . Milton noticed the empty unit next to Roy ' s Rolls - previously occupied by Elliott & Son - and suggested that Roy purchase it , expanding the cafe into an American - style diner . Though Sylvia thought the plan was an excellent business venture , Roy was firmly against it . Eventually , Milton decided to return to California and insisted that Sylvia join him . She initially jumped at the chance , bidding Roy and Hayley goodbye and travelling to the airport with him . However , deciding that she couldn ' t turn her back on her son , she decided not to step onto the plane and concocted a suitable cover story for her return . In February 2013 Sylvia ' s behaviour changed and she started going out without telling Roy where . One night Roy followed her and was amazed to find her going into a casino . Sylvia eventually told Roy about her addiction and how she lost £3 , 000 . Roy decided to get the money back by using using his mathematical skills along with Sylvia , Dennis Tanner and Ken Barlow . He ended up winning back the money and although Sylvia tried persuade him to gamble more , Roy refused . In March , Sylvia started attending the One o ' clock Club with other elderly people . Later in the month she brought Dennis and a man called Stan Whitmore to Roy ' s Rolls for a meal . While talking , Stan noticed Sylvia ' s arthritis in her wrist and offered her a brownie - which Sylvia loved , however Dennis told her that the brownies contained cannabis . When Stan could not make her any brownies Sylvia made her own . Later on Dennis had some back pain so Sylvia gave him one to help . A few days later , Dennis ' s wife Rita noticed how odd Dennis was being and eventually found out about the cannabis brownies and told Roy what Sylvia had been doing . She was later advised by Doctor Carter about the danger of marijuana and other drugs . Sylvia stopped having the brownies after what she ' d heard and also left the One o ' clock Club . Later in the year when Milton suffered a fall at his home , Sylvia went over to look after him . When Roy and Hayley went to visit , Sylvia also had an accident . When Roy returned to Weatherfield to check up on his business , Hayley remained with Sylvia and Milton to take care of them . In August 2013 , Sylvia went to stay with her sister Jean in Hastings to get away from the problems at home with Roy and Hayley . Following Hayley ' s death in January 2014 , Roy left a note saying he was visiting Jean and Sylvia , however a couple of weeks later Fiz discovered that Roy didn ' t go to Jean ' s house and that Sylvia was away in Tenerife . Her sister Jean was in contact again during January 2016 and subsequently left a message with Cathy Matthews , asking Roy to get in touch with her regarding Sylvia . After a few days of putting this off , Roy eventually phoned Jean and learned that his mother had broken both wrists while line dancing . Although Roy ' s relationship with Sylvia had been strained ever since she took off after Hayley ' s diagnosis , he decided to do the right thing and booked an impromptu trip to Hastings . Quotes . " I knew this was a bad idea . " ( First line ) " A clockwise tour of cathedrals , you need your head read . " ( Final line )