I HAVE recently returned from a holiday in Hollywood, California, where I was attending the bi-annual International Sons of the Desert Convention.

More than 200 Laurel and Hardy fans gathered from all corners of the globe. Eight of the last nine Conventions have been held in the USA, and I was bidding as head of a UK consortium to bring it to Stan's hometown of Ulverston, Cumbria where it has only been held once before, in 1984.

We won and I am ecstatic. I need to concentrate on it though, for it demands a lot of preparatory work, as you can imagine, in research and development. I won't be dropping my Coffey Time activities, of course, but I will be postponing or dropping a lot of other activities for the next 24 months devote the necessary time to this huge project.

So if you see less of me around, now you know why.

Meanwhile, it is back to my weekly column although the difficulties of getting used to a new laptop means I really should have had a swear box next to it. I have been trying to master it since coming back home and, thanks to a friend helping me sort it out, normal service should now be resumed.

Already my thoughts are turning to 2015, which is the 800th Anniversary of Magna Carta and the 600th anniversary of Agincourt (Windleshaw Chantry was built by Sir Thomas Gerard, perhaps in gratitude for his surviving the battle of Agincourt).

It will also be seventy years since VE day and VJ day, and 200 years since the battle of Waterloo, and doubtless some other events I have forgotten.

Back to matters of the present and reader Keith Atherton, also an occasional contributor, writes to me about the book 'Surprising connections between the town of St Helens and the world of aviation'.

The book is now eight years old but I haven't come across any new surprising connections since it was published in 2006. At the time there were only 250 copies of the book printed and all were sold in aid of Willowbrook Hospice.

But Keith informs me that readers wanting to find out more can now visit www.surprisingconnections.co.uk.

I have also received several newly published local history books so I will plug one each week. They are available from Wardleworth’s book shop in Westfield Street, a fascinating treasure trove of local history and other books.

The first is called 'Detective Sergeant' and is written by Eric Guest. Eric spent many years as a policeman in the borough, and played cricket for St Helens Cricket Club. The book has been produced for the purpose of raising funds to promote the establishment of a local police museum.