As today would have been Maggie Jones' birthday, here's a little tale about a truly bizarre evening we spent together at the Victoria and Albert Hotel in Manchester. Maggie lived there whilst she was filming Coronation Street and had become part of the furniture. /1

I was working as a part-time PA to an actress at the time who had a reputation for complaining & rambling in equal measure. Boy could this woman talk. On this particular day, she was doing a job for ITV and so they put us up at the V&A where we found Maggie sitting in the bar. /2

You could hardly see Maggie for the cloud of smoke as she sat quietly in a corner going through her scripts. The actress I was with made a bee line of course and poor Maggie didn't stand a chance. For the next FOUR HOURS she was forced to sit there and be talked "at". /3

The smoking was an issue. The actress hated it. She often accosted smokers in the street shouting "SLOW SUICIDE". Maggie explained; "I had to smoke in a play, the director said it didn't look real. So I had to learn, now I'm an addict". The actress continued to feign coughing /4

Maggie was charm itself. I kept the table topped up with red wine, the actress kept talking and Maggie kept smiling. She couldn't get a word in but by the third hour, she was resigned to the situation and generously listened to the actress complain about EVERYTHING. /4

Finally the actress decided it was time for bed and sailed off to her room. I was settling the bar tab as Maggie returned her glass and said how nice it had been to meet me. I hadn't spoken all night. I was embarrassed so I apologised if she had been disturbed at all. /5

Maggie smiled. "My pleasure. It was a lovely evening". Then she walked off, turned back briefly and in full Blanche Hunt hauteur said; "I should get a new job if I were you love. One day you'll snap and batter her to death with the Yellow Pages". Happy Birthday Maggie. /End