'I FEED OUR PET CHICKEN IN JIMMY CHOOS!'

CORRIE LEGEND BEVERLEY CALLARD AND HUSBAND JON MCEWAN INVITE OK! INTO THEIR NEW HOME IN RURAL NORFOLK AND REFLECT ON THE HUGE CHANGES THEY'VE MADE SINCE DITCHING CITY LIFE

- KIRSTY NUTKINS

When Beverley Callard opens the door to her new home – a barn conversion in Norfolk, on the Suffolk border – she looks relaxed and happy. It seems life there has done the actress, beloved by the nation as Liz McDonald in Coronation Street, the world of good and she can’t wait to show off her new country residence.

As she gives us a tour of the four-bed house, she tells us she and husband of 11 years Jon McEwan are embracing rural life. They have two black Russian terriers, called Arthur and Elsie, they have “adopted” a wild chicken nicknamed Giblet and they are frequently visited by baby ducklings and moorhens on their own lake.

Their sprawling garden has apple and plum trees, and their kitchen boasts a double cooker range and wooden island. Beverley also has a walk-in wardrobe packed with silk shirts, ballgowns and a huge collection of designer handbags and shoes.

“I need a bigger room,” she laughs, before admitting, “I have all of these clothes and I spend my life in trackie bottoms!”

After years as the popular Rovers Return’s landlady, Beverley also has her own bar, complete with disco lights, a Buddha sculpture “for good vibes” and a picture of Jon as Donald Trump. “This is where we party,” she says. “It’s our favourite room.”

In a corner of the bar hangs a chain mail dress Beverley wore for a Corrie party. “I love this dress,” she says. “I wore it with a silver bra and silver knickers. Bill Tarmey [who played Jack Duckworth] said, ‘Callard, I wish I had a tin opener!’”