Pewter is a malleable metal alloy, traditionally 85–99% tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and lead. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. It has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C (338–446°F), depending on the exact mixture of metals. The word pewter is probably a variation of the word spelter, a colloquial name for zinc.

Pewter was first used around the beginning of the Bronze Age in the Near East. The earliest piece of pewter found is from an Egyptian tomb from 1450 BC.

The constituents of pewter were first controlled in the 12th century by town guilds in France. By the 15th century, the Worshipful Company of Pewterers controlled pewter constituents in England. This company originally had two grades of pewter, but in the 16th century a third grade was added. The first type, known as "fine metal", was used for flatware. It consisted of tin with as much copper as it could absorb, which is about 1%. The second type, known as "trifling metal" or "trifle", was used for holloware. It is made up of fine metal with approximately 4% lead. The last type of pewter, known as "lay" or "ley" metal, was used for items that were not in contact with food or drink. It consisted of tin with 15% lead. These three alloys were used, with little variation, until the 20th century.

Benjamin Mervyn ('Sandy') Griffiths (17 January 1909 – 21 January 1974) was a Welsh football referee from Abertillery, Monmouthshire. In his professional life he was a teacher.

He first took up a teaching post in Devon but soon returned to Newport and began his refereeing career in 1934 in local leagues. Within five seasons he was appointed to the Football League list as a linesman and, after the War, refereed the England versus Scotland clash in 1949, and then the 1953 FA Cup Final, otherwise known as the Matthews Final. It was his decision, with two minutes remaining, that enabled Stan Mortensen to equalise from a free-kick awarded just outside the penalty area.

Griffiths represented Wales at the 1950,1954 and 1958 World Cup Finals. In the first of these he appeared in the opening fixture, and in the second took charge of the semi-final between Hungary and Uruguay, and assisting William Ling in the final. In the closing minutes of the match, and with the score at 3-2 to the West Germans, Griffiths flagged Hungary's Ferenc Puskás offside, just as he beat Toni Turek in the German goal.