Hello Laurel & Hardy friends,

A belated Happy New Year to you all.  Our next film show will be next Wednesday, January 18th,  7.30pm till 10.30pm at the THE BRIDGE INN on Longmoor Lane, Sandiacre NG10 5LW –  in the outside function room as per usual.

Hello Laurel & Hardy friends,

Early Seasons Greetings to you all….as you will be aware its our Christmas Laurel & Hardy show next week.  Provisionally it is booked for Wednesday , December 14th.  However, as I’m sure many of you have noticed…..if England beats France on Saturday in the World Cup Quarter Finals then there will be a certain England vs Portugal/Morocco Semi-Final on the same evening of Wednesday December the 14th.  Wheras, i know many of you may not be bothered (because you maybe Welsh, Scottish, Irish or you may just not like football or England)….I know that many others are a little bothered (naming no names, but it would include a list of all our test officials).  Also, as I suspect that the bar would be full of England (and France) supporters this may hamper any of our trips to the bar…as well as some of us having difficulties finding a return path to the film room.  Also, we may get distracted with the many huge roars of delight as England nets a bagful of goals.

So, to avoid this massive distraction and the dilemmas that some of our England football supporters may have on the night, I’ve agreed with the Bridge Inn that if France wins on Saturday we shall continue with our plans to meet on Wednesday, December 14th.    BUT, if England wins….COME ON ENGLAND (oops sorry about that)……then, we will switch to the following night, that is Thursday, December 15th and we can talk about the prospects of England winning the World Cup in the Final.

Tell me that again… well dependent on the winner on Saturday the score will be France 14  England 15 !

Whatever the date of our Christmas meeting,  we will show our usual fayre of Christmas short films.  I’m also planning  a mini supper buffet of a few sandwiches, snacks, mince pies, etc.

I will send a reminder to confirm the exact date after the match on Saturday. I hope you will be able to make it, whatever the date is, next week.

Hello Laurel & Hardy friends,

Our next film show will be on Wednesday, Nowonder 16th,  7.30pm till 10.30pm at the THE BRIDGE INN on Longmoor Lane, Sandiacre NG10 5LW –  in the outside function room as per usual.

This month I thought we might have a look at some of the skirmishes that the Boys had with the Law and at some of the gags, scenes and films that were reworked into later films.  Stan, on record, has owned up to admitting his guilt that whenever they were short of ideas against pressing timescales to finish a film , they would look back to previous work and rework the product.  In his defence, they wouldn’t just copy it but work out what was good about it and what could be better and rework it to fit the overall film context and of course, in a lot of cases, they were thinking on how they could turn a silent into a talkie.

Our feature film will be the prison film “Pardon Us” (1931)” and I’ll show two earlier short films which in part has similar scenes or  plot lines.  I’ll also be showing a short 10 min documentary by Gary Winstanley on the remaking of Duck Soup into Another Fine mess.

Hello Laurel & Hardy friends,

Our next film show will be on Wednesday, Octember 19th,  7.30pm till 10.30pm at the THE BRIDGE INN on Longmoor Lane, Sandiacre NG10 5LW –  in the outside function room as per usual.

Hello Laurel & Hardy friends,

Our next film show will be on Wednesday, Septober 21st,   7.30pm till 10.30pm at the THE BRIDGE INN on Longmoor Lane, Sandiacre NG10 5LW –  in the outside function room as per usual.

Hello Laurel & Hardy friends,

Our next film show will be on Wednesday August 17th 7.30pm till 10.30pm at the THE BRIDGE INN on Longmoor Lane, Sandiacre NG10 5LW –  in the outside function room.

There will be the usual raffle (indeed any donations will be gratefully accepted),  toasts….and I’ll show a L&H cartoon or two in the intermission.   As always, the event is FREE and all are welcome to come and enjoy the show.

Many thanks for all your support of our film show at the Bull Inn – by all accounts everyone enjoyed the day.  Special thanks go to Robin Cook who was able to show us a partly restored copy of “The Second Hundred Years” which included never seen before extra film footage based on the Robert Youngson copy of the original film.  Also a special thanks to John Palmer, who brought along his special Model T Ford to the event.  We had many visitors…including Rob Lewis who brought with him a number of props from the “Stan & Ollie film” ….including Ollie’s plaster cast, which was used to good effect in photos taken in John’s car…..ala Perfect day, County hospital, Them Thar Hills and other films.  I’ve attached the main group photo below.

On the day i was able to secure a limited number of 2023 Laurel & Hardy calendars….These usually sell at £12 in the pop-up “calender club” stalls which appear in shopping centres nearer christmas.  Rob was selling them at £11 each at our bull Inn event….but I can sell them at a special reduced price of £10 each and still make a little money that will go directly into club funds.  i will bring them down on Wednesday and I will sell them on a “first come first served” basis.  I maybe able to get more later dependent on future L&H events up and until Christmas but that’s not guaranteed….so come early on Wednesday and get your copy.

Looking forward to seeing you all next week.

Hello Laurel & Hardy friends ,

Just a quick reminder to let everyone know that our film show at the Bull Inn, Bottesford  (NG13 0BW) is this Saturday, July 30th, 1pm-6pm.  It’s entitled “Twice Two – Part deux” in recognition of the tent reaching it’s 22nd year in the year 2022…and in my 2nd attempt at arranging this meeting this year!!! .  We will be showing many L&H films including one of boys best feature films “Sons of the Desert”.  There will be an observational quiz on this film where the winner(s) will be awarded with  the ‘”Mae Busch Wax Apple Bowl” quiz trophy.   The highlight of the day will be a premiere screening of a complete and restored version of the silent short “The Second hundred Years”  by film historian, archivist and ex-projectionist tent member, Robin Cook.   John Palmer will also be bringing his amazing Model T.

We will also have a number of special guests with us from all around the UK…..Antony and Jo Mitchell-Waite (from the Stoke Midnight Patrol Tent ) with books and memorabilia to sell;  Mark Hammond (from Brighton) who is a well-known Laurel & Hardy autograph, memorabilia and playbill poster collector/expert;  Rob Lewis (Exhausted Grand Shiek of the UK Helpmates Tent and recent editor of the Laurel & Hardy Magazine) and his family will be joining us from Kent.  As many of you know, Rob has been a major ambassador for Laurel & Hardy not just in the UK but internationally through the UK Helpmates tent, Helpmates conventions and the L&H magazine which he has been doing for over 40 years.  He doesn’t usually travel to other tent events, so it is an honour for us to have him with us again .   He has also been selling L&H merchandise for many many years….and will have a few items to sell at our meeting.  Rob was an on-set consultant on the Stan & Ollie film and will be bringing up some of the actual props from this film.  I’ve also been informed that we will have representatives from a few other tents…including the Brats from Sheffield. We will also be having with us, Dave Wyatt  (internationally renowned L&H and silent film comedy expert  and book author),  Russ Babidge (the new L&H magazine editor and book author) and  Patrick Vasey (of the online L&H blog and future book author). So, plenty of experts available if you want to ask questions and buy books and memorabilia.

There will be the usual raffle and we have a silent auction, where one of the items available is a rare and large Laurel & Hardy statue by Philippine artist Jun Asilo from 1997.  The statue is 75cm high, the pedestal is 49cm wide and 25cm deep.  It is made of fibreglass resin and is hand painted.  The statue is reminiscent of the final scene of “You’re Darn Tootin”   The item was donated to the tent by a local resident, Tom Mackie and its sale will go to club funds.  Its rare but has been selling for over £100 on Ebay, so, I will start the auction at £30 – but although I’ve enjoyed it for the last 2 years I don’t really want to take it home!!  So please bid on the silent auction form on the day.  An image of the item was attached in an earlier memo i sent.

The event is FREE and all are very welcome.

Can I please ask for everyone to park on the streets  and not in the pub’s car park as we will need this space for John’s trailer and Model T, my car and also for Rob Lewis’s car as he will be selling from his car-boot.  There may be a need to set up other tables outside for sale items – weather of course dependent.  There is plenty of free and un-restrictive street parking in the village

In the morning (of July 30th),  we will again be visiting The Plough Inn in Barkston (4 miles north of Grantham) where Stan’s father, AJ,  and his sister, Beatrice Olga, once lived and ran the small pub during the 1940s – and where of course Stan & Ollie made at least one visit during their 1947 theatre tour.   We will also be visiting AJs grave in the village and paying our due respects to this very special father.    Those interested in this pre-event …please meet at the Stag Inn at the centre of this small village (NG32 2NB) at 10.00 am.   For late comers, I expect to be at the Barkston & Syston cemetery at 10.15am and the Plough Inn (22 West Street) at 10.45am.  I will be leaving Barkston at 11.15am so I can get back to set up.

Food is not sold at the pub, so bring sandwiches or you can buy food in the village at the bakery, Co-op,  the  cafe or at the local chippy.

All are welcome to Bottesford & Barkston, and it should be a fun day out.

Hopefully, we’ll see you on Saturday….

Fraternally Yours,

Dave T

Hello Laurel & Hardy friends,

Our next film show will be on Wednesday July 20th 7.30pm till 10.30 pm at the THE BRIDGE INN on Longmoor Lane, Sandiacre NG10 5LW –  in the outside function room.

Thank you all for the support at our first meeting.  It was great to see so many old and familiar faces after our long break away…I know less of the old!!   After being so careful, unfortunately we had to cancel our 2nd meeting at the Bull Inn last month due to a Covid outbreak in the Tomlinson household….thankfully we are now both well and fighting fit…ok just well!.   This  leads me on to the theme of what is now our 2nd meeting next Wednesday….”Box Clever” .  we will be showing a number of Laurel & Hardy short films where the Boys get caught up in a Boxing match or in films where a Box leads to some comic mayhem.   One of the films we will be showing is the most complete version we have of “The Battle of the Century (1927)”  which includes all the extra footage of the pie fight that was discovered in a collection of Youngson films just a few years ago.

Thelma Todd was born on July 29th 1906….116 years ago.   She only appeared in 6 films with the boys…but each and every one is memorable.  We will be paying a little tribute to her followed by the first film she appeared in, which just happened to be the Boys first talkie film, “Unaccustomed As we Are (1929)”.

There will be the usual raffle, toasts….and I’ll show a L&H cartoon or two in the intermission.   As always, the event is FREE and all are welcome to come and enjoy the show.   As Covid is again on the rise, can I please ask for everyone to take care, be mindful and supportive of those who would still prefer to wear masks and if you can take a lateral flow test, please do so, before coming out.

As mentioned in a previous email, we have been able to re-arrange our film show for Saturday afternoon of July 30th at the  Bull Inn, Bottesford 1pm til 6pm.   Thankfully, we have been able to keep the same programme of events and attractions.    It’ll be our “Twice-Two – Part Deux” film show ….all with the number 2 or 22 in mind, which celebrates our 22nd year in the year 2022….and now we can add that its our 2nd attempt at running it!  Doh!    We will be having a  marathon film show culminating in the showing of “Sons of the Desert (1933)” with an observational quiz after, and yes with prizes.   Undoubtedly, the highlight of the day will be Robin Cook’s  showing of his restored version of the Boys silent film “The Second Hundred Years(1927)” in its most complete form based on  copies of the original 35mm film elements and specialist film restoration software/techniques.  We will have a number of Laurel & Hardy book authors on hand selling their latest books.  Also, John Palmer will be exhibiting his wonderful Laurel & Hardy car, a genuine Model T Ford.  Also, we are hoping to have a number of  well known “out of town”  Laurel & Hardy guests, including Rob Lewis (Grand Shieik and founder of the Helpmates UK tent and Laurel & Hardy magazine), Russ Babidge (new editor of the L&H Magazine), Patrick Vaseley  (Laurel & Hardy Blog), Dave Wyatt (L&H film expert), Roger Robinson (The Periwinkle magazine editor), and Mark Hammond (L&H memorabilia).  I’m also hoping that Rob Lewis, who was an advisor to the recent “Stan & Ollie”  film can bring up some interesting props from that movie .

As with all our film shows, the film show at the Bull Inn is FREE and WELCOME TO ALL.  So, please do come along and support us, it will be a great day out.   As most of you now know, the Bull Inn was the pub that Olga and Bill Healey ran during the 1950s…Olga being Stan’s younger sister (who incidentally gets a mention in the Beau Hunks  film!).  During their  theatrical tours of 1952 and 1953/4,  the Boys and their wives would regularly visit this pub and on Christmas Day 1953, the Boys pulled the pints behind the bar for the locals.  The Pub lounge is adorned with photos and memorabilia and there are plaques inside and outside the pub that commemorates their visits,

On the morning of Saturday July 30th, I will also be doing a  guided walk around Barkston (a few miles north of Grantham),  with visits to the Plough Inn on West Street (Olga’s first pub visited by the Boys in 1947)  and to Arthur Jeffersons grave (Stan’s father) in the Barkston&Syston graveyard.  We’ll start this at 10 am outside the Stag Inn in Barkston.

BS  Photo is topical…and a clue to another film we’ll be showing on Wednesday.

Hello Laurel & Hardy friends,