Alex supervised the slinging and lifting of the statue…….

On his ship to shore phone (this is before mobile phones) he contacted the pilot boat (that had been patiently waiting in the middle of the river for something to happen) to go to the quay at North Shields and tell the crane driver to get over to South Shields via the tunnel ASAP. The driver must have been Stirling Moss, in twenty minutes he was arranging the lifting straps around Stan Laurel who had been standing there patiently waiting to go to Dockwray Square. Everything began to fall into place, the reporters were scribbling away and the photographers arranging people for their shots, the PR girl began to regain her composure and colour and as Alex supervised the slinging and lifting of the statue. It was going like clockwork.

As Stan was hoisted on to the stern of the tug the PR girl decided she wanted to cross the river on the boat instead of driving through the tunnel with the press people. As we boarded, the skipper beckoned me to the wheelhouse and said that he was aground but he would try to get us off when the swell from a passing ship may lift the tug off the bottom. The only problem was when the vessel lifted he would give the engines full ahead to get us moving but this would mean the statue could end up over the side! Brilliant! I decided not to tell the PR girl this good news as she was busy telling the crew how she had arranged the entire operation. As we secured Mr. Laurel to the deck I comforted myself with the thought that if he ended up in the Tyne we would get two stories, the second being the recovery. The required swell soon came and as the tug lifted, the twin diesel engines roared into action and the boat shuddered from stem to stern. With one eye anxiously on the statue I gave the PR girl a reassuring wave as the vessel freed itself and shot of into the middle of the river. Stan Laurel wobbled but stood firm. I looked at his smiling face expecting him to utter those immortal words "that's another fine mess you got us into, Olley"

Stan Fact

On the other side, the crane (which had dashed back through the tunnel) was waiting to lift Stanley off the tug and onto the lorry to which he was then secured for the half mile uphill journey to the park in Dockwray Square. The PR girl and I followed in Alex's' jeep and as the lorry slowed down on the steepest part of the hill to take a left turn Stan leaned over at an angle of almost 45 degrees, the straps holding him tightened as they took the strain but held firm.

When we arrived in the little park Stan Laurel was lifted from the lorry and lowered onto steel securing pins and a bed of cement on the sandstone plinth to await the official unveiling by The RT HON Neville Trotter MP. at a later date.

The hiccups that often occur with projects such as the one a have described are all part of the buzz I get trying to make things work, and often the production of the statue is the easy part. But I have to say the Stan Laurel gave me a bit too much buzz that day.

I met the PR girl again at the unveiling ceremony; she asked if I had ever been worried about the transportation of Stan. I had to reply with a confident "NO."

                                                                                                   Bob…

Stan Fact