Valerie Barlow Valerie Barlow ( née Tatlock ) was Ken Barlow ' s first wife and mother of Peter and Susan . Valerie moved to Coronation Street in 1961 to live with her uncle Albert Tatlock when her parents moved to Glasgow . It was then that she started dating Ken and , despite their different educational backgrounds and outlooks on life , they fell in love and got married in 1962 . Peter and Susan were born three years later . Valerie was a trained hairdresser and before the twins were born , she ran a salon in No . 9 ' s front room . She gave up work to be a full - time mother and housewife , but once the twins were a little older , took jobs at the Corner Shop and Alan Howard ' s salon , where she was head hairdresser . Her marriage to Ken was mostly close and loving , but whenever Ken was caught up in his intellectual interests , he would often ignore Val and the children . In 1971 , the Barlows decided to emigrate to Jamaica as Ken had accepted a teaching job there . On the night before they left , Valerie died from an electric shock when using a faulty electrical outlet in her home . Biography . 1942 - 1962 : Early life . Valerie Tatlock was born on 26th November 1942 to Alfred and Edith Tatlock . In the early 1960s , she was close to her uncle Albert Tatlock and sometimes visited him at his home in Coronation Street in Weatherfield . In 1961 , Valerie moved into Albert ' s house for a few months and immediately caught the eye of Ken Barlow , who lived next door to Albert . They had a date , but Val wasn ' t as keen as Ken , as she felt that Ken would not be happy with her because he was university - educated and aspired to live above the working - class values which Valerie was comfortable with . When Ken ' s mother Ida was killed in September 1961 , Val became closer to Ken and they began a relationship . As the pair grew closer , Valerie had to choose between staying in Weatherfield or moving to Glasgow , where her parents had moved so that Alfred could take a job as Station Master . Valerie initially decided to stay in Weatherfield , but left for Glasgow in November of that year , letting Ken down . The following year , Ken looked Valerie up while in Scotland with the school . He immediately proposed to her and she accepted , with Ken doing his best to alleviate her worry that he was looking for a mother figure to replace Ida . They got married at St . Mary ' s Parish Church on 4th August 1962 , and took their honeymoon in London , which Ken paid for by selling his motorcycle . 1962 - 1967 : Marriage to Ken . The Barlows bought 9 Coronation Street and moved in when they returned from their honeymoon . While Ken taught at Bessie Street School , Val , who had trained as a hairdresser , converted the front room of the house into a salon to earn extra income for the couple . Married life was not always easy for Valerie . Ken was ambitious and politically minded . He preferred to let Val handle all household chores and their conversations together often concerned subjects which didn ' t interest her . While Val worried about maintaining the house and their marriage , Ken sometimes made decisions which would make things more difficult but would benefit him - later in 1962 , he considered giving up teaching to focus on writing , so that the pair would rely on the money Val was bringing in from the salon . Fortunately he had a change of heart and stayed in teaching . In 1963 , one of Ken ' s teaching friends , Dave Robbins , became the Barlows ' lodger . Ken and Dave put their careers in jeopardy by agreeing to give a TV interview arguing for a school crossing after a pupil was knocked down in Bessie Street . Dave pulled out , leaving Ken to carry the interview alone , leading to Ken losing out on a promotion at the school . Dave , who blamed himself for the child being hit , was comforted by Valerie . As Ken despaired about losing the promotion , he told Valerie that they shouldn ' t have got married as she didn ' t really understand him and how much his values meant to him . Valerie decided to leave Ken for Dave but Dave wasn ' t that interested in Valerie so she ended up begging Ken to take her back , which he did . To help things get back to normal , the pair went on holiday . In July 1964 , Valerie found out she was pregnant . Ken was upset , but later decided he was thrilled by the news . To prepare for the birth , Val closed down the salon and converted it into a nursery . On 5th April 1965 , Valerie went into labour and was driven to hospital in Len Fairclough ' s van . She gave birth to twins - a girl and a boy . The babies were christened at the same church Ken and Val got married in and were named Peter and Susan . Valerie ' s life changed completely as all her time was spent looking after the twins , while Ken continued with his intellectual pursuits . The Barlows had many friends in the Street and could easily find babysitters , allowing Valerie to attend evening classes in Sociology . In November 1965 , while Val was at a class , Ken was looking after the twins but went to the Rovers Return briefly , a piece of coal fell from the fire , filling the house with smoke . Val returned home before Ken and put the fire out , but was outraged that he had left the babies alone while he went out for cigarettes . Val told Ken she would leave him if he ever smoked again . From then on , Ken took on greater responsibility for Valerie and the kids . 1968 - 1971 : Going back to work . In 1968 , Val was keen to get a job and thought about reopening the salon , now that the twins were older . Instead , she started working in the Corner Shop for Maggie Clegg . That year also saw a change of address for the Barlows ; the Glad Tidings Mission Hall and Elliston ' s Raincoat Factory across the Street were demolished to make way for a block of Maisonettes . After seeing an artist ' s impression of the Maisonettes , Valerie told Ken she wanted to move into one , as it had modern conveniences the 66 - year - old Number 9 lacked . Ken didn ' t want to move , and when Valerie responded by making his life a little less comfortable , he accused her of having an affair with builder Ray Langton . Val was innocent , and made him feel guilty by reminding him of an affair he had with Jackie Marsh in 1966 . Ken relented and the Barlows moved into No . 14 , a two - storey flat . Shortly after the family moved in , convict Frank Riley held Val at gunpoint while Ken was away . Valerie called for help by tapping an SOS on the pipes under the sink in the kitchen , with it fortunately being overheard by Ena Sharples , who found help . Riley , a convicted rapist , had demanded money and sex from Valerie , but was caught by the police before he got the chance . After it was over , Valerie told the police and Ken that Riley hadn ' t touched her , but Ken refused to believe her . The couple almost separated over it . In 1969 , Val ' s mother Edith stayed with the Barlows , and tried to convince them to leave Weatherfield . When Edith took the twins out to the fair , she lost them , but they were found by an elderly woman who had taken them in and not contacted the family . Later that year , Alan Howard offered Valerie a job as head hairdresser at a new salon , at £14 a week . Ken was against Valerie working full - time as he earned enough money for them but he didn ' t stand in the way of her accepting the job . At the salon , Val fought for superiority with manageress Elsie Tanner , but their working relationship was eased by the fact that they were friends . In 1970 , the salon was bought by Dave Smith , who initiated a wave of changes at the salon , offering Valerie a pay rise but sacking other staff . Val walked out along with the remaining staff members , convincing Smith to reinstate everybody Later that year , Ray Langton taught Valerie to drive while Ken was away on holiday . When he returned , he received a letter warning him about Val and Ray . It transpired that Emily Nugent had written it , but she realised she was wrong and apologised . In the new year , Ken was offered a teaching position in Jamaica and Val agreed to emigrate . The residents of Coronation Street threw the pair a going - away party in the Rovers . Val was late getting ready , so while the party went on in the Rovers , Valerie tried to hurriedly get her hair dried . She tried to fix the plug to her hairdryer by tightening it with a screwdriver . Knowing it was still shoddy , she attempted to use it anyway . Val plugged it in and was given a severe electric shock which killed her instantly . As she fell to the floor , she knocked a portable heater into a packing crate and started a blaze . By the time rescue came , it was too late for Valerie . The street watched in horror as the maisonette burned . Personality . Valerie was a popular member of the community ; she was friendly , reliable , caring , and unlike some of her neighbours , respectful of other people ' s privacy and didn ' t engage in gossiping . After marrying , Valerie settled into a housewife role but while she had dreams and ambitions she always considered the practicalities first , even though it usually meant ruling out whatever she had in mind as the task of bringing up two children was massive . In her relationships , Valerie was patient and slow to anger , usually lashing out only when hurt . Most of the time , the limit of Val ' s anger was a sarcastic comment to bring her opponent down to size . Relationships . Tatlock family . Valerie was an only child . Her parents , Alfred and Edith Tatlock , did not visit Weatherfield often even though Alfred used to live there with his brother Albert . When Ken and Val married in 1962 , Val ' s parents didn ' t attend as Edith was ill . In 1969 , Edith paid an extended visit to the town and stayed with the Barlows . Val found it difficult to cope with Edith ' s interference with the house and the twins - Edith thought they were too misbehaved and tried to convince Ken and Val to move . After Val ' s death in 1971 , Edith seriously considered applying for custody of Peter and Susan but decided not to for Ken ' s sake . Eventually , Ken sent them to live with Edith in Scotland anyway , and Edith and Alfred were most responsible for raising them . A more regular presence in Val ' s life was her uncle Albert Tatlock . Although Val bore the brunt of Albert ' s grumbling , he had a soft spot for her and enjoyed being part of a close - knit family . When he stayed with the Barlows in 1967 , Valerie grew exhausted tending to the twins and Albert , and was on the verge of telling Albert to leave when she discovered that he ' d already left of his own free will and bought her flowers - a massive gesture from the old curmudgeon . After Val ' s death , Albert took an interest in Ken ' s love life , although Ken ended up accusing him of screening his girlfriends as only " another Valerie Tatlock " would be good enough for him , an accusation Albert didn ' t deny . Albert was such a fixture in the Barlows ' lives that even Ken started referring to him as " Uncle Albert " after a while . Ken Barlow . Val met Ken when he was a recent University graduate . At that time , his future in Coronation Street was uncertain ; on the day he met Val , Ken had applied for for a teaching job in Surrey , which he was subsequently offered , but he turned it down to remain with his dad after his mother Ida ' s death . He was immediately drawn to Val , and took her on their first date to a Tchaikovsky concert . Although Val wasn ' t academic like Ken ' s previous girlfriends , she was intelligent , practical , and - essential for a successful relationship with Ken - a good listener . In fact , she possessed these qualities more than Ken , who , once they were married , was forever pondering intellectual and political issues while being ignorant of troubles closer to home . Val always soldiered on , waiting for Ken to come off his high horse , although there were occasions where things became too much for her , such as when she left Ken for Dave Robbins in 1964 . In 1966 , Ken had a fling with reporter Jackie Marsh and was ready to leave Val for her , until he realised how lucky he was to have a stay - at - home mother and housewife who afforded him so much independence . Val briefly left him and returned to Glasgow with the kids , but returned when he phoned her and convinced her to return , intending to be a more devoted husband from then on . The following year , Ken was arrested for attending an anti - Vietnam demonstration and chose to go to prison rather than admitting he was wrong by paying a £5 fine . Ken ' s principles were very important to him , but Valerie was disappointed that he chose his principles over his family , leaving Val to take care of the kids herself for a week . Valerie had considered paying the fine behind Ken ' s back , but couldn ' t bring herself to betray him . However , these incidents were the exception and most of the time Ken and Val were a very close and loving young couple . After Val ' s death , Ken couldn ' t cope with raising Peter and Susan by himself and for a short time tried to find a new mother for them . Less than a year later , he sent them to live with Val ' s parents in Glasgow . Friends . Valerie ' s closest friend on the Street was Elsie Tanner , who she would often go to vent her frustrations with Ken . Elsie was more worldly than Val , and more clued up on how " fellas " behaved , so they got on well . In 1963 , Elsie thought Val had reported her for taking in Christine Hardman as a lodger , but Valerie was innocent ( in fact it was Christine herself who had made the inquiry ) . When Elsie was getting married to Steve Tanner in 1967 , Valerie warned him about messing Elsie about . When Steve was murdered the following year , Elsie used Val as her alibi - the police found out she had lied , and Elsie apologised for using Valerie . When Val died in 1971 , Elsie was ill with the flu and had to miss the funeral . Valerie was also friends with Irma Barlow , Ken ' s brother David ' s wife . Being married to the Barlow brothers gave them a sort of kindship , even though they weren ' t very alike . In 1967 , they swapped places for a week , with Irma looking after the children and Valerie tending to the Corner Shop . Both were annoyed that their husbands had been unusually helpful that week while they were away . Background information . Anne Reid was a RADA - trained actress with a growing list of theatre and television credits when she joined the cast of " Coronation Street " in summer 1961 . Although she had never met William Roache , Reid knew of him from their days at brother and sister schools in North Wales . She made her on - screen debut as Valerie in Episode 68 on 7th August 1961 . In October of that year , Valerie announced her intention to stay in Weatherfield rather than move with her parents to Glasgow but on 1st November Equity came out on strike against ITV , preventing any appearances by Anne Reid in " Coronation Street " until further notice . As she had come to the end of her contract , Reid departed immediately and scripts were rewritten with the effect that Valerie had gone to Glasgow after all . When the strike ended in April the following year , a wedding between Ken and Val was planned , and Anne Reid returned to the programme with Episode 164 on 9th July 1962 , now a full - time character . Having enjoyed her previous stint , Reid was happy to return : " It was wonderful , I was just thrilled to pieces . It was security and a lovely part and Bill and I got on terribly well . " " ( The Coronation Street Story , Boxtree Ltd , 1995 ) " In 1964 , Ken and Val were set to emigrate to Australia , a decision taken by producer Tim Aspinall as part of his controversial cast shake - up , however they were saved when Aspinall ' s replacement , H . V . Kershaw , gave them a reprieve . After nine years playing Valerie , Anne Reid quit the role in 1970 , and asked that Val be killed off as she had no intention of ever returning . The end credits of Val ' s final episode roll are displayed against a video sequence of the flames licking at a teddy bear , but the original intention was for Val ' s lifeless body to be shown as flames engulfed the Maisonette . Of the change , Anne Reid recalled : " They put this newspaper round me and they set fire to it . And I lay there and kept thinking keep your eyes closed . They I got nervous and I got up as I could feel my arm getting hot . It was probably quite safe but I couldn ' t lay there with all those flames . " " ( The Coronation Street Story ) " Quotes . " Look , give me about half an hour . Well , twenty minutes , I ' ll be fit to be seen . Yes well you ' re my husband so it ' s a bit different . That ' s a bit cheeky even for you . Soon as I can , bye . " ( Final line , on the phone to Ken )