THE pandemic has kept them apart.

But a granddad and his grandson could not be closer in spirit thanks to a lockdown project.

John Stamp started to write a bedtime story for his grandson Aubin in April as a way for them to stay connected and indulge in their shared sense of humour.

What was originally intended as one short story has since become a published book about the 'crazy times we're living through'.

John, who grew up in Stockton Heath and Woolston, said: "In early April, Aubin and I were chatting on Zoom and I said: 'I’ll send you a short story'.

"I hadn’t quite worked out what it was going to be about yet but I used to tell his mum Abi and my son Josh stories at bedtime that I'd made up."

John, whose granddad Arthur had a building firm in Warrington called Stamps Builders, came up with a fictional street where toilet rolls were the new hard currency.

It made nine-year-old Aubin laugh so John kept on writing.

He added: "I very quickly started to establish the theme involving a criminally minded but elderly Mrs Snark, two super sleuth boys keen to find out what’s going on and a Prime Minister having heavenly visitations.

"I used various parts of my slightly feral childhood as inspiration. I grew up in London Road in Stockton Heath, London Road.

"We lived next door to a brother and sister who had to suffer my siblings and I kicking balls over and the wall and doing midnight manoeuvres along the walls of a row of terrace houses.

"The story gathered some pace, but as Aubin had a big appetite to get the next chapter I found myself under pressure."

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Being able to make his grandson smile meant the world to John though.

The 58-year-old said: "It meant so much to hear his thoughts on the Zoom calls.

"He’d give me some feedback and helped me shape some of the characters. I was aware that being confined to the house for weeks on end was taking it’s toll.

"His mum and dad, Abi and Pete, were pulling all the stops out, exercising to Joe Wicks, a wall full of history, geography, English and maths lessons.

"Yet in the middle of it I felt that this little story could reach into his world and maybe make him smile.

"I didn’t want to trivialise, but put the events in some kind of context that made him feel like we weren’t all panicking – the adults ‘had this’.

"Even though at night we’d be sitting down with a glass of wine or six thinking: 'What has happened?'"

The project even went international when John's brother-in-law Paul Taylor-Smith in Houston, Texas, caught wind of it.

Paul is from the Chadwick family who bring the pop-up fairgrounds to Warrington.

John added: "I was telling Paul about the story and he said he’d dust off his drawing skills and do some illustrations.

"So he started sending across pictures of the characters, Snark, Boris, the Ghost of Churchill, Gary the Legend.

"I’d finished the book by late June. But the illustrations and editing and various drafts took a lot longer than I thought. I was encouraged by Aubin and family who all said why don’t you publish? So I did."

Twenty-nine chapters later, it is available to buy and John is hoping that despite the quirky style there is plenty in 'Snarky and Co' for people to relate to in the Covid era.

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John and Paul

He said: "As the story developed, I began to see the theme of everyday heroes – people doing remarkable things as an everyday job.

"The NHS, thousands of people getting up and putting on the protective gear and saving lives. I'm very proud of my niece Clare who’s a senior matron in Warrington. I’m keen that readers see the hope in it."

John thinks the book brought him as close as he could be with his grandson at times when they had to be apart.

He added: "For many it's been the nightmare year that’s rocked them to the core.

"At times I feel like I'm walking around in some kind of dystopian dream, waiting for the next punch of bad news – what tier are we in? Who can we see? And, more sadly, how many have been infected today?

"My wife Amanda and I arrived back in the UK from some travelling at the end of March as Boris shut the shop.

"We did a nine mile round trip walk to stand outside Aubin’s house, my daughter Abi his mum, Pete her hubby and three-year-old Belle.

"We just waved and smiled and had a chat from about 15ft away.

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"At nine, Aubin’s a whiz with phones and tech. He started to call me and send texts on his dad’s phone.

"We’ve always been very close, his sense of humour is epic, he’s always known what’s funny from a young age. That is one of the things that has kept me going."

John and Aubin will also be discussing book two on Christmas Day.

He said: "We’re going to be in a small bubble with my son Josh, his wife Emily, Abi and Aubin and family.

"Christmas this year seems like it’s arrived in the middle of summer. We’re not ready, got the wrong clothes on, something's just very clunky.

"But we’re going to make it work and have a fantastic time anyway. I keep getting the urge to write book number two. I think there’s a lot more that the Pyggs have to say and do. And maybe Boris..."

Snarky and Co is on Amazon as a paperback or ebook.