The Lancashire Hotpots

The Lancashire Hotpots are an English comedy folk group from St Helens. Active since 2006, they describe their music as “twenty first century folk for twenty first century folk” and draw heavily on Lancashire dialect and working-class northern culture.

Style and subject matter

The group’s songs focus on the traditions and people of places including Bolton, Preston, Wigan and St Helens. Their material uses local speech and humour, with titles and phrases that parody folk-song language and Lancashire life. The act is associated with comedy as well as folk music.

Line-up

The Lancashire Hotpots include Dicky Ticker, Bernard Thresher and Bob Wriggles. The line-up changes are presented as a later development in the group’s history, with these additions marking a new direction for the act.

Broadcast history and reputation

The group is described as a long-established Lancashire institution, with a comic backstory that includes a legendary television show called Shut Thi Trap in the 1970s. Their set of recurring songs includes Down’t Pit, Down’t Mill, Down’t t’hole int’ ground, Favver, has tha seen me cap?, Ee, I think thas got rickets! and Giz Six pints o’mild, I’is planning to get ratted.

Related influences

The group is also linked in description to Emmet, a dance music act recommended alongside them for listeners wanting more of that style.