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VINTAGE comedy fans have been in their element after some rare black and white footage emerged of Laurel and Hardy’s visit to Edinburgh in 1932.

The pair performed in Edinburgh and Glasgow during all four of their UK tours in 1932, 1947, 1952 and in 1954.

During their first trip here they were mobbed by passersby at Waverley Train station as they prepared to visit the Castle as well as the capital’s Playhouse cinema which had a capacity of 3000 at the time.

The grainy five minute long footage of their visit shows both men enjoying a laugh with punters as well as Mrs Hardy who gets a kiss during their cinema visit, which also sees them stepping on stage to greet the crowds.

This year sees the 125 year anniversary of Stan Laurel’s birth on June 16 and Jon S Baird, director of Irvine Welsh’s Filth, is making a film focusing on Stan and Ollie’s farewell tour of the UK.

Stan Laurel and his American partner Oliver Hardy were no strangers to Scotland and although he was born in Ulverston, Cumbria, Laurel’s family moved north to Glasgow when he was still a boy. Although Laurel joined his father working in the box office of the city’s Metropole Theatre he was drawn to a career on stage.

Biographies mention Hardy’s paternal ancestors being English Americans and his maternal Scottish Americans - his mother’s surname Norvell was Scottish.

As well as their well documented trips to Edinburgh Stan and Ollie stayed at the Central Hotel in Glasgow and Ollie, a keen golfer, visited Gleneagles during their tour of the UK in 1932.

They even made films with Scottish themes, including Bonnie Scotland and put kilt wearing characters in some of their others.