Captain's Log 

Ulverston's railway station was on the other side of town and it took me a little while to get there. I walked on to the platform and it felt a little like the buildings of an ancient civilisation was being reclaimed by the Amazon rainforest. Panels were missing from the platform's roof and rain was splattering through. The remaining panels seemed to support a mixture of vegetation. There was a look of dereliction about the place. The departure boards were still working though and so I presumed trains still run through the place. 

I wandered back to the centre of Ulverston and made my way to the Laurel and Hardy statue. Stanley Laurel (nee Arthur Stanley Jefferson) was born in Argyl Steet Ulverston in June 1890. He spent much of his time living with his maternal grandmother in North Shields and there is a statue of him at that location too (see Tour Of Tynemouth). He was of course a comedy genius and appeared in 107 films with his partner, Oliver Hardy. Their bronze statue is outside the Coronation Hall. There is a Laurel and Hardy museum nearby. I'd have loved to go around it, but there wasn't enough time and I didn't want to be rushed when I visited. I'd have to leave it for another day. As I was taking photos of the statue I was disturbed by some noise off to my left. I looked across and saw some people dressed in rather odd costumes.

Ulverston is known as a Festival Town and looking at their What's On website, there does indeed seem to be a lot going on. Today, there was evidently some folk dancing and singing around the city centre streets. It was the Furness Tradition Festival according to their website. There was an eclectic mix of performances from groups such as Perree Bane (a Manx traditional dance, music and song group), The Newcastle Kingsmen Sword and Clog Dancers, and the Furness Clog dancers. I think the clog dancers did pretty well to stand upright on the cobbled streets, never mind dance in the things. Some of the bizarre outfits did make me wonder a bit though. At one point, I watched a woman doing a Border Sword Dance in front of the Laurel and Hardy statue. It looked like Stan was standing there watching the performance as an appreciative member of the crowd.

It was time to go and catch my train. At the top of Market Street, I saw a florist shop called Floral And Hardy. That made me chuckle a bit. It had been a whirlwind tour of Ulverston, but I'd seen enough to encourage me to return at some point in the future and make a more extensive walkabout.