Stan and Ollie are alive and well…..

…….. I know this because I saw them sitting on a bench a couple of weeks ago.  Admittedly, they have shrunk in size over the years, but perhaps Alice and The Mad Hatter had something to do with that.

Thumbs up from Stan ©HelenBushe

I had stopped off in Ulverston in Cumbria on my way to Swarthmoor Hall  for a Zen Retreat. (Stan and Ollie, The Mad Hatter and Zen made for  an OddBall afternoon))

Ulverston is a quaint market town with cobbled streets, whose main claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Stan Laurel.

Mad Hatter’s Tearooms ©HelenBushe

I love this recently erected statue in the town’s main square:

Leaning on A Lamppost ©HelenBushe

The town also boasts of a Laurel and Hardy Museum which I have yet to visit. The website here makes it look like it might be a fun way to spend an hour on a rainy day, en route to next year’s retreat.

As far as I can see, the only other Laurel & hardy Museum in the world is in a town called Harlem in Georgia USA which was the birthplace of Oliver Hardy. Their website has a picture of the museum and the words “New Website Coming Soon”. So Ulverston definitely wins out there.

Oh, wait a minute, there is a Stan & Ollie museum in Solingen in Germany, but it’s only open one weekend a month.

My OddBall mission tonight now is to see how many more Stan and Ollie museums I can find around the world.

In the meantime, some  quotes from Stan:

“All I know is just how to make people laugh.” – Stan Laurel

“Humor is the truth; wit is an exaggeration of the truth.” – Stan Laurel

Thanks Cee for this OddBall Challenge,

“Another fine mess you’ve gotten me into.”