Caldwell was a diminutive figure, with a distracted manner and often appeared drinking milk stout in the snug of the soap's public house, the Rovers Return Inn.

"[3] Bryant suffered severe memory loss in March 1976 and was unable to continue in the role; her penultimate episode involved her reading her lines off prompts and on props such as her handbag.

Her final episode was broadcast in April 1976, with Minnie leaving the street to live with an old friend, Handel Gartside (played by Harry Markham), in Derbyshire.

After Bryant had left Coronation Street and retired from acting, she went to live in a nursing home, where she was "often visited" by Driver and her sister Freda.

[4] Bryant was later diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and admitted to Cheadle Royal Hospital in Heald Green, where she remained as an in-patient until her death on New Year's Day 1988.

[2] Bryant's funeral was held at Manchester Crematorium on 11 January 1988, attended by members of the Coronation Street cast, including Thelma Barlow, Eileen Derbyshire, Julie Goodyear, Barbara Knox and William Roache.