The Ulverston-born comic actor Stan Laurel brought a smile to the face of millions and would surely have laughed had he lived long enough to find that his signature might top £500.

His name - and that of screen partner Oliver Hardy – is on a postcard which is included in the September 7 sale by Albion Auctions at Clowne in Derbyshire.

The pre-sale estimate on the card with its simple dedication to “Betty” is £450 to £550.

We don’t know who Betty is but she may have met the comedy duo on one of their British theatre tours.

The 1947 tour saw the comedy duo visit Ulverston for a civic reception and a chance to wave to the crowds from the balcony of the Coronation Hall.

Stan, who was born on June 16 in 1890 and died in 1965, got to visit the house in Argyle Street.

He had been born in the terraced house as Arthur Stanley Jefferson.

The same tour saw them appear at the Winter gardens in Morecambe and stay at the Elms Hotel in Bare.

In a 1954 tour they appeared on the stage of Her Majesty’s Theatre in Lowther Street, Carlisle – which was demolished in the 1970s – and stayed at the County Hotel.

Lake District art features strongly in the sale from August 31 to September 1 by Mitchells of Cockermouth.

An oil on canvas painting called Windermere and Loughrigg Fells From Rydal Mount is expected to sell for £400 to £600.

It is the work of A. P. Collis and is dated 1854.

Also on offer is a watercolour called Evening, Coniston Water from the Beacon Crag.

It is by Edward Horace Thompson, who lived from 1879 to 1949, and carries an estimate of £250 to £300.

A watercolour called The First Snows, Coniston Fells should make £70 to £100.

It is by Henry Robinson Wilkinson who lived from 1884 to 1975.

The same sale also has an oil on canvas painting called Barns at High Yewdale, near Coniston by Marion Bradley which should sell for £30 to £50.