On 15th September 1969, the old man approached Ken Barlow at a cemetery in Weatherfield when Ken was laying flowers for his mother Ida, who died in 1961. The short, scruffy man asked Ken if he was good to his mother, causing Ken to reflect on his and Ida's relationship. The old man was unnamed. The reason for his visit to the graveyard isn't clear in the episode, although he was possibly a grave digger.