Ulverston

Slightly outside the boundary of the Lake District National Park, but still in Cumbria, Ulverston is a small market town in the centre of the Furness peninsula. It received its market charter in 1280, an event celebrated every year with its Charter Festival. When a canal was constructed in 1796, ships from Ulverston carried Lakeland copper and slate around the world. The canal is the world’s shortest, widest and deepest canal, just a mile and a half from the town to the sea.

The town's main claim to fame is that it was the birthplace of Arthur Stanley Jefferson who, after changing his surname, became famous as one half of the Laurel and Hardy duo – ‘That’s another fine mess you’ve gotten me into, Stanley!” The world’s only Laurel and Hardy Museum is in Ulverston. It contains an amazing collection of memorabilia, collected by Bill Cubin, a one-time mayor of the town. These include letters, photos and personal items. There is also a small cinema, showing films and documentaries all day. The Museum is still owned and run by Cubin’s daughter and grandsons.

Arthur Stanley Jefferson was born in Ulverston in 1890. His parents were very involved in the theatre and he spent a lot of his childhood living with his grandmother. His stage career began at Glasgow Metropole Theatre where his father was the manager. In 1910 he joined Fred Karno’s troupe of actors and at one time was Charlie Chaplin’s understudy. In 1916 he went to America where he appeared in several short comedy films. By this time he’d changed his name to Stan Laurel. He met Oliver Hardy briefly in 1920 when they appeared together in a comedy film ‘The Lucky Dog’ but it wasn’t until 1927 that he and Hardy teamed up as a comedy duo. The rest, as they say, is history.

Another local resident was George Fox, the founder of the Quaker Movement, who lived at Swarthmoor Hall, near Ulverston, in the latter half of the 17th century. For a time, the Hall was the centre of the movement and in 1691, Fox bought some land near the hall and built a meeting house there, which still exists today.

One visitor to Swathmoor was William Penn, who founded the Quaker Community in Pennsylvania in the 1680's.