Megan Hopkins Megan " Granny " Hopkins was the senior member of the Hopkins family , who ran the Corner Shop from 1974 to early 1975 . The family had plans to buy the business until Granny ' s attempt to blackmail its current owner Gordon Clegg over his illegitimacy caused them to leave Coronation Street in shame . Biography . Megan Hopkins , her husband Cledwin , and their son Idris hailed from Wales . As an adult , Idris relocated to Weatherfield , married Vera , a Lancastrian , and gave Megan a granddaughter in Tricia . At some point after the death of her husband , Megan ( or " Gran " to the family ) followed her son to Weatherfield . With Idris working nights at a foundry , it was Vera who had to cope with Gran the most and some years before they moved to Coronation Street Gran ' s unreasonable behaviour caused Vera to have a nervous breakdown . In July 1974 , Idris and Vera took Gran to Coronation Street to view the Corner Shop , as Maggie Clegg was selling . Gran had previously run a small chip shop . She thought the shop was pokey but went after it on the basis that , as Maggie had just married Ron Cooke and was emigrating to Zaire , and the sale was entrusted to her London - based son Gordon , that the Cleggs would want a quick sale and she could drive down the price . However , Gordon held them to £4 , 000 and with Gran refusing to go above £2 , 000 , Vera came up with the solution of having the Hopkins rent the shop for £12 a week with the money coming off the purchase price of £3 , 500 , with £450 for the stock . Gordon agreed and the family then moved into the shop ' s accommodation . Gran quickly set her stamp on the place by sacking assistant Mavis Riley and giving Vera her job and then announcing to customers that they would be served any time . Vera was unhappy with this and Gran upset her further by getting Idris to back her up in refusing to have Vera ' s sick mother stay with them . As her mother needed full - time care , Vera was absent from the shop for two months while she nursed her , returning in September after she passed away . Now 17 , Tricia wasn ' t spared her grandmother ' s sermons . When Granny found a polaroid of Tricia and builder Ray Langton , she got Idris to warn Ray off her and locked Tricia in her room while she subjected her to a moral preaching . Gran planned to buy the shop outright as soon as she could afford it but her hand was forced when Gordon received a good offer from another buyer . Gran ' s unit trusts had just gone down in value and the bank manager Mr . Morgan refused her a £1 , 000 loan , and so the Hopkins stood to lose the shop . They were granted a reprieve when Vera returned with her £1 , 000 inheritance , which she agreed to put into the shop . Gran agreed on principle that Vera would be in charge of the shop , which was then named " V and M Hopkins " , but in practice she carried on as if it were hers . Always scheming , Granny wanted to replace Maggie ' s furniture with Vera ' s mother ' s , and demanded Gordon pay her a storage fee of £4 per week when he said no . Eventually Maggie ' s sister Betty Turpin decided to sell the furniture but while emptying the sideboard Gran found Gordon ' s birth certificate , which gave his mother ' s name as Elizabeth Preston . Gran investigated and found out from Minnie Caldwell that Preston was Betty ' s maiden name , from which she deduced that Gordon was actually Betty ' s son and that Gordon didn ' t know . Gran and Vera gave the certificate to Betty and assured her that they wouldn ' t tell anyone , but while Betty trusted Vera to keep the information to herself , she wasn ' t so sure about Gran . When Gran tried to drive down the price of the stock , Vera and Idris out - voted her to accept Maggie ' s offer , much to her anger . Granny waited for an opportunity to use her knowledge to her advantage and in February she wrote to Gordon telling him the truth to spite Betty after she demanded a refund on an off - tin of mincemeat . The Hopkins were shocked when Gordon turned up at the shop brandishing the letter and told them that he ' d known for a while that he was Betty ' s son . When Granny threatened to tell the whole street , Gordon decided not to sign the final contract for the shop , despite pleas from Vera and Idris . The argument left Vera and Idris feeling too ashamed to remain in Coronation Street and the family left in a van that night . They settled in Vera ' s mother ' s house in Firbank Road on the other side of Weatherfield . Personality . Granny Hopkins went about Coronation Street with a scowl and was cold to nearly everyone she met . She displayed a warmer attitude with ( paying ) customers and when buttering someone up , but this was merely a front and her attitudes towards Betty Turpin and Gordon Clegg , and the threats made to both , showed her to be bitter , vindictive , and money - grubbing . Gran made no apologies for the way she was , and on the few occasions when she appeared to back down she was merely biding her time . Background information . Jessie Evans first appeared in " Coronation Street " in the minor role of Mrs Cook in 1967 . In 1974 , she was cast as Megan Hopkins , head of the Hopkins family who were being introduced as the new proprietors of the Corner Shop following the departure of Irene Sutcliffe as Maggie Clegg . Vera and Tricia Hopkins had appeared in 1973 and were brought back full - time along with the newly - created Idris and Megan , known to the family as " Granny " . As Violet Carson had recently left the programme due to ill health , Kathy Staff , who played Vera , hoped that her character would become Coronation Street ' s resident harridan replacing Ena Sharples however Granny filled that role instead . Staff attributed this to the casting of Granny : " Unfortunately , it was Jessie Evans that they got in to play my mother - in - law . And I was in between her and the rest of the people in the Street trying to keep the peace , because she did some rather nasty things . " ( The Coronation Street Story , Boxtree Ltd , 1995 ) The Hopkins proved unpopular with viewers and , aside from Tricia , they left the programme in February 1975 . Idris , Vera and Granny last appeared in Episode 1467 . The character was always credited as " Granny Hopkins " . She is referred to as " Megan Hopkins " in this article ' s title as per the site ' s article name conventions . Quotes . " That ' s her then , is it ? " ( First line , referring to Maggie Clegg ) " I only speak the truth , don ’ t I ? Whats wrong with that ? " ( Last line )