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Stan's school for sale The following article appeared on the BBC news website in November: A County Durham school, once attended by comedy legend Stan Laurel, is to be sold off to ensure its future. The 143-year-old Laurel Building in Bishop Auckland was badly damaged in an arson attack in March. Durham County Council, which is the trustee of the Grade II Listed building, says insurance will not cover the full cost of restoration.   Money raised from a sale would be used to set up a charitable endowment for the benefit of local young people. The council has agreed in principle to offer the building, which is now part of King James I Community College, for sale for possible conversion to flats and offices.   Lesley Davies, the council's acting director of corporate services, said that although insurance would cover rebuilding, the cost of fitting it out would have to be met by other sources.   Busy Doddies Ken Dodd was eighty years old on 8th November. Lookalikes Gary and Rob went to his party celebrating 55 years in show business in Liverpool on 17th October and met up with Danny La Rue, Ricky Tomlinson and lots of other comedians. Atoll flood I've seen the complete, 10-reel Atoll K several times, and there is no "mothers and babies drowning" footage in it. There is, however, one dramatic close-up of a woman screaming in terror; this may have left a strong impression that something worse must have happened. Scott MacGillivray on the Lauel and Hardy Forum   Brats vs ETB quiz The Annual Inter-Tent Quiz between the Brats Tent of Sheffield and the Early to Bed Tent of Chesterfield for the Julian Tighe Memorial Trophy took place in September and October. The first leg, during the Early to Bed Tent's 12th Anniversary meeting in September, resulted in both teams scoring a perfect score of 20 out of 20! The second leg, during the Brats Tent's 19th Anniversary meeting in October, saw a closely fought contest end with a narrow win for the Early to Bed team.The proceeds from both raffles were donated to the Statue Appeal. I have been present at almost 300 meetings of these two tents and can say that, looking around over the years, it is not surprising that such high intellect exists during these quizzes, especially as the Grand Sheiks aren't allowed to enter. Also sent to the Statue Appeal was a donation from a talk I gave on art, and culture - and Laurel and Hardy - to the splendidly-named Chesterfield and District Agricultural Discussion Society. After the talk I showed a short by way of example, then another, then another. They wouldn't let me go home!" Grahame Morris Helpmates Convention Nick Rich says that the Helpmates Convention in Chatham on 27th October had not so many in attendance as usual. He adds, "One or two faces we talk to were missing. But I saw one or two. I hadn't seen for a while Ian Karmen from Hull. Mum Janice and I sat talking to the Saps at Sea Tent members. "We watched Cuckoo again. There are only two people left alive now who took part in that. And we saw Double Whoopee with sound -  a silent film with sound - which we liked very much. The two sets of Laurel and Hardy lookalikes were ace: Bud and Steve and Gary and Rob. The talks were OK, one of them being a sales pitch for a 'do' at Butlins next year." AJ Marriot's event to which Nick refers is being held from 23rd till 26th May, 2008. Details are awaited. Joe Brown and special guests Being an old rock and roller, on 24th October I went to see Joe Brown on stage in Southend. His advertised "Special Guest" was Dave Edmunds. It was a rocking good show but an added bonus was when Joe brought on stage his Tour Manager and assistant. Their contrasting shapes and sizes bore a remarkable resemblance to two characters I am familiar with but couldn't quite think of their names. Joe came to the rescue when he introduced Graham and Brad as "Laurel and Hardy" and they duly obliged with a head scratch and tie twiddle respectively! Roger Robinson