Life
Owd Grandad Piggott was born and bred in Longton, one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent famous for its many pot banks. Also famous for its immense poverty. In the Owd Grandad Piggott stories he lives in a terraced house in Longton with his long suffering wife and is the next door neighbour of the author. His neighbours on the other side are Percy and Lizzy Lockett. Most of his days are spent in his local pub owned by Tommy Dawkins or, on the many occasions that he is ejected from here, the many pubs and bookmakers in and around the Longton area.Character
Owd Grandad is hardly a savoury character. By appearance he is scruffy and unkempt, often wearing a tatty trenchcoat and has little pride in his general appearance and manners. In one story he appears in the pub with a large blob of lard on his shirt but refuses to wipe it off preferring to leave it "until it goes hard then it will chip off". He is rather crafty in nature; always up for trying easier ways to make money. His skills in talking himself out of situations usually involving the police leave a lot to be desired. He uses phrases such as "it might have looked like me but it wasn't, I've got 6 brothers and they all look like me" or tries to warn off police officers by saying "ay up, I've got a disease!". Despite his many brushes with the law Owd Grandad can hardly be called a hardened criminal. His arrests and fines are always for minor breaches of the law such as breaching the peace or beingRelationship with his wife
Owd Grandad Piggott's relationship with his wife is hardly peaceful with their many arguments and rows being somewhat of a trademark for many of the stories. Though they have been married for over 30 years, over that time Grandma Piggott (as his wife is known) has had to suffer almost constant physical and verbal abuse from her husband. Often this is a result of Owd Grandad's alcoholism. However, she often gives as good as she gets with instances of her throwing a carving knife at her husband and has allegedly, according to Owd Grandad, tried to poison him in the past. Despite all of this there is only one instance in the all of the stories of Grandma Piggott actually walking out on him. That coming after a row involving a sledgehammer shaft.Friends of Owd Grandad
Club-Paper Jack An old friend of Owd Grandad Piggot who is described as a man who would "do anything for money but work". The nickname "Club-Paper" refers to papers which medically exempt a person from work. Presumably Jack uses these as a means to avoid work. He appears rather notorious wearing an eyepatch and a filthy Tam and has a cunning nature always being able to find ways to capitalise on situations to his benefit if not always being able to bring his plans to fruition. He is the mastermind behind the "great chewing gum robbery". He is an animal enthusiast and owns racing pigeons, whippets and ferrets. Billy Drummund Billy is another of the group of friends from Tommy Dawkins's pub. He is described as being "as honest as Legs Diamond" and has a particular talent for being able to acquire lead for sale by fair means or foul. He is another dog enthusiast owning a dog described as "a cross between a boxer and a carthorse". The Author The Author of the stories is not necessarily a friend of Owd Grandad but is his next door neighbour and often steps in to make Owd Grandad see sense in his misadventures. He does not particularly like Owd Grandad as a person but generally gets along with him despite him stealing money from his house.Notable adventures
The stories focus mainly on Owd Grandad's life as an old age pensioner and include him and his many friends. The Great Chewing Gum Robbery Owd Grandad and Club-Paper Jack (Owd Grandad's friend who has never done an honest day's work in his life) plan what they call a "big job" after being inspired by the Great Train Robbery. After careful thought and planning, Jack and Owd Grandad plan to break into a chewing gum machine on the wall of a tobacconist's warehouse. Jack had seen many children purchasing chewing gum drawing the conclusion that the machine must be full of money. They discover that the machine in fact contains only 7 pence and are arrested following an alarm being triggered overhead. It is revealed, however, that the alarm was not in fact triggered by them but by burglars in the warehouse itself who got away with over £1000 worth of cigars. The excursion to London Owd Grandad goes on a trip to London organised by Tommy Dawkins for his regulars. While on the trip he upsets another man by spitting a cherry stone in his ear upsetting his hearing-aid. On the coach home, after Owd Grandad had been drinking excessively, he falls asleep without going to the toilet before the 200-mile journey. After waking up while the coach was on theExternal links