The Lancashire & North West Magazine | April 2023

Designer Living In Elswick

The Whalley salon offering a fantastic range of beauty treatments from a highly trained team of therapists

Success Story Praised By Defra

152 Blackpool Illuminations Extended Again For 2023

156 Blackpool Grand Theatre Nomination In Stage Community Project Of The Year Award!

160 Daring New Production Of Macbeth Premieres At The Dukes

162 Balance Counsellor Cards Review

164 Judy & Liza Is Coming To Lancaster

167 Family Running Festival For Lake District Coast

168 Redrow Steps In To Protect Neighbours

170 Appeal For Jukebox Memories In Lancaster and Morecambe

172 Tin Man And Dance Release

174 New Homes Deliver £2 Million Boost To Halewood Community

178 The High Kings Announce June 2023 Uk Tour

178 Julius Caesar

180 Young Netballers Introduced To Game In Northwich

182 Harold Cunliffe - Dig Dig Dig

190 James Swaps Star Wars For Windermere’s Swift

192 PTES Trust Wildlife World Bitesize

200 Trentham Live - Natalie Imbruglia

IN THIS ISSUE...

This month we look back at International Women’s Day (8th March 2022) with a feature from Margaret Brecknell on Kate Sheppard, the Liverpool-born woman who became a feminist icon, regarded as such an influential figure in New Zealand that she features on the country’s ten-dollar banknote.

We talk to Lara Besbrode of The Matchmaker UK - an exclusive and bespoke introductions agency founded in 2019, backed by a UK-based and International team, serving their esteemed clientele from two UK-based offices, including London’s Mayfair and Cheshire.

Margaret Brecknell also introduces us to 10 Nobel prize-winners from the North West and looks at the life and work of war poet Wilfred Owen, born 130 years ago this month.

We pay a visit to Deep Beauty, established in 2007 and is situated in the bustling village of Whalley in the heart of the Ribble Valley. The salon offers a fantastic range of beauty treatments delivered by a highly trained team of therapists. we talk to Alison Baines, who took over the running of the business in 2020 bringing along her many years of experience in retail, finance, and beauty.

Hayley Hilton of Hand on Heart Canine Therapy tellsus about National Pet Month, a time for celebrating our furry friends. Gone are the days when we just see dogs, cats, rabbits, reptiles etc as “things” to keep the kids occupied, now we see them as family members as they truly do turn a house into a home.

Lachlan Rae shares with us some of his top tips for maintaing a healthy

garden this spring. Lachlan was trained in Botanical Horticulture at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburghand worked in a variety of garden settings as well as featuring as a judge on Garden of the Year in August 2022.

We look at 10 great ideas to entertain the whole family this Easter as well some of the most popular, original and cute first date activities to make for perfect date ideas to spice up your evenings or afternoons!

And of course, as always, we have features on homes, health, delicious recipes, fascinating history, and a bit of wildlife and more - all in our March issue.

NOTHING EVER WORKS FOR YOUR HAY FEVER? TRY THIS

By Airborne Allergens Expert, Max Wiseberg

do the whole job, you may be able to try other remedies at the same time and get a better result. In other words, you can create your own, bespoke Hay Fever First Aid Kit that suits your specific needs.

Several different groups of medicine have been developed for treating allergies. The common ones are:

through the nose and eyes. HayMax has been proven to trap over one third of pollen grains [1], and is drug free, organic and 100% natural, meaning it is suitable for everyone, including children and pregnant and breast-feeding women.

Sometimes it can be difficult to find the right product for your hay fever and when you do find something it can eventually stop working. If nothing is working for you, creating a Hay Fever First Aid Kit could be the answer.

April is peak tree pollen season, which is followed by the grass pollen season in May, June and July. Pollen can cause very unpleasant symptoms in the sufferer including sneezing, a runny nose, a stuffed up nose, itchy and watery or streaming eyes, nasal congestion and a general stuffed up feeling in the nose and throat.

Some people also experience itching around the face and mouth including an itchy mouth, itchy roof of mouth, and a burning sensation in the throat. Headaches and wheezing can also occur. Chronic hay fever sufferers may experience more severe or prolonged symptoms.

There are many pharmaceutical and natural products around for hay fever sufferers. Pharmaceutical remedies are usually based on either antihistamines or steroid nasal sprays, whilst natural remedies are based on physical preventative measures, immune boosters or natural antihistamines.

What’s useful is that many of these remedies can be complementary to each other. So if one helps, but doesn’t

• Antihistamine tablets and capsules can relieve most hay fever symptoms – sneezing, itchy, runny eyes, skin irritation, itchy nose and throat – but tend to be less effective for nasal congestion. Hay fever is our body’s reaction to the allergen and it produces too many histamines which trigger the unpleasant symptoms. Antihistamines do exactly what it says on the box; they anti the histamine. However, histamines also help keep us alert, attentive and awake. This is why antihistamines can cause drowsiness. There are different types of antihistamines so if one doesn’t work, try another. Cetirizine and Loratadine have been joined by Fexofenadine for second generation options. Chlorphenamine is first generation which is more likely to cause drowsiness. If drowsiness is experienced with antihistamines then you should not drive or operate machinery.

• Antihistamine nasal sprays – can quickly ease itching, sneezing and watering but generally only work for mild symptoms.

• Steroid nasal sprays and drops –reduce inflammation in the nose; they work best for clearing nasal symptoms – itching, sneezing, watering and congestion – and sprays sometimes clear eye symptoms too.

• Eye drops – may reduce itchy, watering, swollen eyes.

• Other, slightly less common forms of conventional medicine for hay fever include nasal washes.

There is a great range of natural products out there for hay fever sufferers. Organic allergen barrier balms, such as HayMax (www.haymax.biz), work by trapping allergens before they enter the body

Natural eye drops contain a herb called Euphrasia (more commonly known as Eyebright). This relieves inflammation and swelling and is thought to be a helpful allergy relief remedy. Butterbur is a herbal extract believed to have an antihistamine-like effect on hay fever symptoms, and is widely available in capsules. Quercetin is thought to limit the release of histamine. As well as being found naturally in many foods, it can also be taken in a capsule. Turmeric, commonly used in Middle Eastern and Asian cuisine, is a spice containing curcumin, which has been found to have anti-allergy properties. Most often used in dried form, it can be bought fresh, and is also available in tablet and capsule form.

You can use natural products and conventional tablets, sprays and drops individually or in combination to help combat the symptoms of your allergy, depending on which symptoms you suffer from and how severe they are. And there are many different brands of each type of hay fever medicine, so don’t give up if the first one you try doesn’t work for you; you may well find another version that works better.

However, there are rules: never take two antihistamines together, never take two steroid nasal sprays together, and consult your pharmacist or doctor about it if you are already taking another medication. I suggest that your ideal Hay Fever First Aid Kit will consist of one or more natural product, such as an allergen barrier balm, only one antihistamine, only one steroid nasal spray and eye drops. Good luck!

Luxury homes

By Becky Haslam

for sale in Elswick village

Create Homes offers a choice of quality designer properties at their new development in the award-winning village of Elswick, with plenty of options to make each home unique

Chapel Mill offers families an exclusive collection of beautifully designed & energy efficient 3, 4 & 5 bedroom properties. Providing discerning buyers with a relaxing lifestyle and the perfect balance of designer living & location, the semi-rural development has close proximity to excellent local amenities and transport links to Preston, Blackpool and beyond.

The beautiful homes on this new development have excellent kerb appeal and imaginative open-plan layouts, contemporary kitchens, quality fixtures & fittings and

generous private gardens. There is also the opportunity for buyers to personalise their new homes with a range of exciting flooring & tiling options, kitchen colour choices & quality upgrades, to enjoy the best possible lifestyle in this stunning village location.

The design of the new Chapel Mill development creates a highly attractive and relaxing place to call home, consisting of intimate tree-lined and beautifully landscaped streets, with open spaces, walkways, ponds and recreational areas, all situated next to the new village green.

“Every Create Home at Chapel Mill offers discerning buyers the perfect mix of quality, space, style and location...”

ENJOY BEAUTIFUL HOMES, BOTH INSIDE & OUT

n Every Create home offers comfortable & modern family living, where every detail has been designed perfectly.

AN AMAZING COLLECTION OF QUALITY HOMES

n The house designs at Create Homes’ rural Chapel Mill development in Lancashire, offer discerning buyers spacious modern living in a beautiful and award-winning village setting.

The enhanced homes, part of Create Homes 'Prestige Collection' offer a choice of seven beautiful house-types, and there is a home available for every type of family. Prices start from £260,000 to £560,000+.

“Home owners at Chapel Mill will enjoy a stunning village location and an open aspect, close to the new village green...”

n THE RIBBLETON - A five bedroom detached luxury family home with double integral garage.

n THE WHITTINGHAM - A four bedroom detached luxury family home with detached garage.

n THE NEWSHAM - A four bedroom detached family home with integral garage.

n THE BROUGHTON - A four bedroom detached family home with integral garage.

n THE SHERWOOD - A four bedroom detached family home with integral garage.

n THE GRIMSARGH - A three bedroom detached family home with integral garage.

n THE BARTON - A three bedroom semi-detached family home with private driveway.

PERSONALISATION

n Every new home at Chapel Mill offers buyers exceptional designer style & quality as standard. But there’s a lot more on offer to make each interior unique. The company sources a wide range of tiles and kitchen choices, giving the customer the ability to personalise their new home.

Working with the team at Lancashire’s top kitchen designers Stuart Frazer, Create Homes offers a choice of beautiful kitchen colour collections as standard. These options can be explored on the Kitchen Colour App on the Create Homes website.

Create Homes’ close relationship with Stuart Frazer means they are able to offer buyers a cost-effective way of acquiring a top quality SieMatic kitchen at a muchreduced rate, compared to a one-off retail purchase. All customers get a face-to-face appointment with the design team, to ensure they get the kitchen of their dreams, totally unique to them.

There are also many exciting upgrade options available to make each home truly special, including Amtico flooring, luxury carpets, fitted wardrobes, quartz worktops and Quooker taps, so customers can enjoy the best possible lifestyle in this stunning semi-rural village location.

n APPOINTMENTS: Until the show home opens at Chapel Mill late spring 2023, appointments will be held at The Sandpipers, Longridge. Book online at createhomes.com/book-chapelmill ch

The Kitchen colour app allows the purchaser to explore the different choices available

Drop the beat...

Breakin' Convention is back at Blackpool Grand this June!

Jonzi D’s ultimate celebration of hip hop culture storms back into Blackpool Grand Theatre this June with jaw-dropping live performances from poppers, lockers, b-boys and b-girls! It’s a real Head Spin!

Are you ready for some Top Rocking this summer? The breathtaking Breakin' Convention is back at Blackpool Grand Theatre on Saturday 10 June with MC Jonzi D’s ground-breaking world festival of hip hop dance theatre. Lock in your tickets now!

Expect incredibly skilled and inspiring performances from internationally celebrated poppers, lockers, b-boys and b-girls in a box fresh festival for 2023 that showcases local talent alongside global sensations.

Breakin' Convention is the critically acclaimed powerhouse behind a hip hop theatre revolution. Hosted and curated by UK hip hop theatre legend and Breakin’ Convention Artistic Director Jonzi D, the festival also features DJs, graffiti artists and freestyle sessions taking place all over the building! This is one exhilarating dance event that’s not to be missed…

In 2003, celebrated MC, dancer, spoken word artist and director Jonzi D had the dream of creating a festival to bring together the best hip hop dance theatre performers from around the world on London's doorstep. In 2004, Sadler's Wells performing arts centre helped make that dream a reality as Breakin' Convention, the international festival of hip hop dance theatre, made its debut in May 2004

Since its thrilling inception, Breakin' Convention has represented the origins and evolution of hip hop culture from around the world and around the corner. Working with the most respected, innovative and inspirational artists, Breakin' Convention is at the vanguard of the global development of the hip hop theatre genre, through its worldrenowned festivals, international touring, professional development, youth projects and educational programme.

Since founding Breakin’ Convention, Jonzi has triumphed in raising the profile and giving a platform to hip hop disciplines, and through the professional development projects Open Art Surgery and Back to the Lab, Jonzi has supported hundreds of hip hop dance and rap/poetry artists on their journey to creating theatre.

for Breakin’

Breakin’ Convention is at Blackpool Grand Theatre on Saturday 10 June at 7pm

Visit BlackpoolGrand.co.uk or call the box office on 01253 290 190 for bookings and further information. Tickets from £12.50 with concession, family tickets and group rates available.

Freestyle to The Blackpool Grand and book your tickets

Convention 2023 now!

The Carpenters Story

Sat 11 Mar

A musical journey through the glittering career of music’s most famous brother and sister duo.

The Illegal Eagles

Celebrating over 50 years since the formation of the legendary West Coast Country Rock band The Eagles

Queen Rhapsody

Fri 31 Mar

The ultimate live concert experience with stunning accuracy in sound and vision, producing a high energy show which will rock the house.

Rock Icons

Mon 10 Apr

A rockin’ live music show that takes you on a journey some of the world’s greatest Classic Rock bands and albums.

ELO Again

Fri 14 Apr

As the UK’s No.1 tribute show, ELO AGAIN provide you with the spectacular live effect of ELO’s famous orchestrations, soaring strings and vocals.

Absolute Reggae

Thu 20 Apr

The music that filled the airwaves during the 80s and 90s is brought to life again by Johnny2Bad. The band recreates the million selling songs of the Reggae era.

Simon and Garfunkel Story

Thu 11 May

Two young boys from Queens, New York, who went on to become the world’s most successful music duo of all time.

Lost in Music

Sat 13 May

Join us as we recreate the magical 70s and let us take you on a musical journey straight to the heart of disco!

This Is Elvis

Sun 25 Jun

Elvis IS in the building as Ben Portsmouth performs in his jaw-dropping show This Is Elvis.

Elton John Show

Sun 02 Jul

With a never ending back catalogue of incredible songs! From Rocket Man to Tiny Dancer, this show brings "Young Elton" back to the stage at his energetic best.

Anything for Love

Fri 07 Jul

The Meat Loaf Story will have you up on your feet dancing and singing out loud to some of Meat Loaf’s greatest hits.

Magic of Motown

Fri 04 Aug

Get ready for all the hits, glittering costumes, dazzling dance routines and outstanding musicianship in this breathtaking live concert spectacular.

Thank You For The Music

Sat 19 Aug

The Ultimate Tribute to ABBA! Calling all Dancing Queens, this is your night to say, Thank you for the Music!

Think Floyd

Sat 11 Nov

Dubbed the Definitive Pink Floyd Experience, are renowned for their stunning celebration of the music of one of the world’s greatest musical phenomenon.

The Bon Jovi Experience

Tue 14 Nov

Lead singer Tony Pearce’s striking resemblance to the original frontman creates an unrivalled tribute not to be missed.

TICKETS & MORE INFORMATION

BlackpoolGrand.co.uk

01253 290 190

Get Lost in Music at The Grand!

Say Thank You For The Music at Blackpool Grand Theatre with a whole host of magnificent live music shows on offer all the way through 2023.

Snap up your tickets now for not-to-be-missed nights of high-kicking Country, riotous Rock, rhythmic Reggae, dynamic Disco, the sheer poetry of Simon & Garfunkel and even the return of the sensational songs of The Carpenters. You’ll feel on Top Of The World!

It’s Yesterday Once More as outstanding vocalist Claire Furley and talented Musical Director Phil Aldridge perfectly re-create Richard Carpenter’s original orchestral arrangements in The Carpenters Story on Saturday 11 March in a musical journey through the glittering career of music’s most famous brother and sister duo.

Queen Rhapsody bring A Kind of Magic to The Grand on Friday 31 March in an ultimate live concert experience featuring hits from every decade of Queen’s musical legacy with stunning accuracy in sound and vision, producing a high energy show which will rock the house!

Go Dancing in the Moonlight with Rock Icons on Easter Monday 10 April, in a cracking hot rockin’ live music show that takes you on a breathtaking journey through the eras of some of the world’s greatest Classic rock bands and albums.

Sip Red, Red Wine as renowned band Johnny2Bad beautifully recreate the music that filled the airwaves during the 80s and 90s and the million selling songs of the Reggae era in Absolute Reggae on Thursday 20 April.

Take a Bridge Over Troubled Water on Thursday 11 May for the critically acclaimed The Simon and Garfunkel Story about two young boys from Queens, New York, who went on to become the world’s most successful music duo of all time.

Dress to impress for a great big glitterball of a night out with Lost in Music on Saturday 13 May celebrating magical 70s on a musical journey straight to the heart of disco!

The Illegal Eagles bring a ‘masterclass in musicianship’ on Sunday 19 March as an all-star line-up brings the very best of The Eagles back catalogue; Roll Over Beethoven and relive the age of Glam Rock as ELO AGAIN pay tribute to the wonderfully crafted songs of Jeff Lynne and the Electric Light Orchestra on Friday 14 April, and Elvis is IN the building as the one and only Ben Portsmouth slides into The Grand with his jaw-dropping This is Elvis show on Sunday 25 June that has to be seen to be believed. Thank you very much…

Sizzling Summer Sounds include the Crocodile Rock-ing Elton John Show on Sunday 02 July; Steve Steinman's Dead Ringer of a night out Anything For Love on Friday 07 July; the biggest party of the year at the Magic of Motown on Friday 04 August; the Super Trouper Thank You For The Music Abba tribute on Saturday 19 August; the extraordinary Think Floyd travel to the Dark Side of the Moon on Saturday 11 November and the Bon Jovi Experience are Livin’ On a Prayer on 14 November. And that’s just to name a few!

Music has the incredible power to boost your wellbeing, soothe your soul and make your body move! Grab your tickets now for fabulous feelgood nights out at The Grand!

Please call the Blackpool Grand Theatre Box Office on 01253 290190 or visit BlackpoolGrand.co.uk for full listings, bookings and further information on all our live music events.

LOST IN MUSIC

Behind-The-Scenes Work Helps Make Cumbria a “Must See” for World Travellers

A huge amount of behind-the-scenes work is underway in the Lake District, Cumbria as Windermere Lake Cruises joins forces with other tourism businesses to promote the area to the wider world.

Attractions, hotels, tourism promoters and transport providers have pulled together with a collaborative campaign to make sure visitors around the world know why they should make Cumbria part of their travel plans this year.

“This is a crucial time of year for all of us who rely on the visitor economy,”

says Jennifer Cormack, Sales and Marketing Director with Windermere Lake Cruises. “It’s when we all come together collaboratively to take part in a vast array of special events, exhibitions and familiarisation trips where we show tourism operators around Europe and the world exactly what this wonderful part of Britain has to offer.

“It is really great to see so many Cumbrian businesses working together and presenting a united front at these travel events so that national and international operators get a fully rounded idea of what the Lake District, Cumbria has to offer its visitors.”

So far this year they have been involved in:

• A USA familiarisation trip on their vessel MV Swift followed by a networking event at Lakeside Hotel and Spa

• The Britain and Ireland Market Place event at the O2 in London

• Inspirational Venue Roadshow

– providing a cruise experience on MV Swift for those attending the CHS Events roadshow hosted at the Lakeside Hotel and Spa.

• A Japanese operators familiarisation trip

• Coach Tourism Association Conference in Belfast

“These events really showcase Cumbria’s attractions, hotels and transport providers,” explains Jennifer. “It shows the collaboration between all of us works well and helps promote the area effectively.”

There are plans to take part in more events over the next three weeks including ITB Berlin – the world’s leading travel trade show.

Some of the many Cumbrian businesses who’ve been involved in the varied events include

Cumbria Tourism, The Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway, Lakeside Hotel and Spa, Lakeland Motor Museum

Lindeth Howe Hotel, Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, Ullswater Steamers,

Windermere Lake Cruises, The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction and Wordsworth Grasmere. The companies work closely with the national tourism agency VisitBritain.

Lachlan Rae

Originally from Dumfries and Galloway, I have gardened my way around Britain arriving in Lancashire three years ago. Training in Botanical Horticulture at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh I have worked in a variety of garden settings as well as featured as an onscreen judge on Garden of the Year as shown on More 4 in August 2022. My time is mostly spent advising, looking after and designing gardens around Lancashire and the North West.

April

As gardening months come, April can be one of the best. As the soil begins to warm and dry after winter, spring life stirs. At first its subtle but as the month passes plants are going into overdrive. As far as the gardeners time is spent in April, the work is varied and past paced. No one can deny the excitement of tiny plants emerging from some seeds sown or the joy that the pot of tulips you planted in November brings.

April could be the busiest month in the kitchen garden. Potatoes, onions, carrots and peas amongst many other crops going out into beds and pots. The organized gardeners or those lucky enough to have a greenhouse will have already tackled a number of sowings by now. Don’t be disheartened

about falling behind your veg growing guru neighbors; now is the time. Typically April provides steadily warming temperatures and reasonable moisture levels that allow for good plant growth. Sowing and growing veg is great way to spend a Saturday afternoon and can be helpful in getting children to engage with where their foods coming from. Just be ready to protect your precious seedlings in case the dreaded late Lancashire Frost tries to catch them.

In the borders, growth will have started to kick off. April offers a lot of flower. Rhododendron, cherry blossoms, daffodil, primrose and camelia all working hard to provide valued sources of nectar to spring pollinators. Perhaps you haven’t managed to get out into your garden yet this year, don’t be overwhelmed. A few simple tasks like mowing the lawn or clearing up some plants that have died back over the winter can make a huge difference. Its amazing what you can achieve in a short space of time.

April is a great month for direct sowing and planting annuals- plants which grow ,flower, set seed and die in one growing season. I particularly enjoy growing annuals. For those like myself, who enjoy the thrill of change in the garden or to try something different, annuals are perfect. You’re not committing a space permanently to something that you may wish to change in the future and there are so many to choose from. My favorites include Ammi, Cosmos and Nicotiana. If your into cutting flowers for the house then you must have sweet peas which are fit for planting

out or indeed direct sowing. The best flower for cutting is Statice. There is breeding line called the Sunburst series which come in many colors and have long stems, ideal for arranging. What is brilliant about Statice is the way in which the flowers retain their color when dry.

Pots and containers planted with spring bedding or bulbs should still be looking great. If you haven’t got anything in your pots, you could get something from a local nursery or garden center to smarten them up but I wouldn’t rush out and fill them for the sake of it. By the beginning of May or slightly later in frost prone parts of the county, we will be thinking about bedding out our pots for summer. For those looking to keep their pots a little more constant; small trees and shrubs, clipped evergreen forms or foliage plants like ferns or heuchera can provide longer lasting displays.

For me, the winners for April are definitely Rhododendron. These wonderful shrubs come in vast a range of sizes and flower colors. There is one for almost every garden. Rhododendron do particularly well in some areas of Lancashire with local gardens such as Gresgarth Hall boasting fine collections. They will however struggle in parts of the county where limestone is present. Some varieties like ‘Cunninghams White’ will do better on alkaline or neutral soils. If you struggle to grow them in your garden but fancy having one, then maybe trying a smaller variety in a pot is the way to go.

Wishing you all a great gardening month and I look forward to seeing gardens across Lancashire flourish over April. Keep up to date with

what I’m doing via my Instagram: @lachlanrae_gardens or get in touch via email with any gardening enquiries: enquiries@lachlanraegardens.com

Muncaster Castle’s Iona Brushes Up On Her Decorating Skills!

It’s all hands to the pumps – and paint brushes - at Muncaster Castle this week as the historic home races against time to be ready for a gala dinner and music evening.

Iona Frost-Pennington, whose family have lived in the West Cumbrian castle for over 800 years, has donned her overalls to redecorate one of the sumptuous rooms after the professional decorator lined up for the job had to pull out at the last minute.

“It’ll be a bit of a scramble but I’m confident I’ll have it finished in time!” says Iona, the descendant of the last Lord Muncaster.

She’s re-decorating the Castle’s spectacular Drawing Room where portraits of her ancestors, former residents of Muncaster Castle, usually hang.

At the weekend the Drawing Room hosts a gala dinner as part of a special music evening at the castle. It’s working collaboratively with ‘The Gather, Ennerdale’ to put on an event featuring the renowned saxophonist Snake Davis and guitarist, singer and songwriter Gareth Mouton.

“The Drawing Room was an open courtyard until my ancestors closed it in and roofed it over in the late eighteenth Century,” explains Iona.

“But for the last 10 to 15 years it’s been beset with some serious roof leaks and we alone have not had the funds, until the Historic Houses Foundation provided money towards the works.”

It was planned out so the room would be ready for this gala dinner. At the last minute, however, they couldn’t do the job. And that is when Iona decided to don her painting overalls.

“Because we live in a castle, people sometimes think our lives are like

Downton Abbey! But nothing could be further from the truth,” Iona laughs. “The servants are long gone and the whole family has to get stuck in to make sure we look after this remarkable old building.

“If that means painting and decorating, moving furniture or cleaning toilets – then that is what we will do. We will have it finished on time,” promises Iona. “There is no other option!”

The Gala music evening took place on Saturday, January 28 and was co-hosted by part of the Great Artists Small Venue project.

Camp RUGBY

Camp NETBALL

Juniors

14th-17th Aug 2023

Seniors

21st-24th Aug 2023

Juniors & Seniors

15th - 17th Aug 2023

Camp TENNIS Camps available between 18th July & 4th Aug 2023

Seniors only*

Ages 8-18

* Tennis day option only

For boys and girls

Tel: 01254 827270

STONYHURST’S SUMMER FESTIVAL OF SPORT

This year Stonyhurst will be hosting its inaugural residential and day “Summer Festival of Sport” programmes allowing children from all over the globe to take part in in a variety of sports camps, utilising Stonyhurst’s impressive facilities within spectacular surroundings.

Based in the heart of the Ribble Valley, children will be offered the opportunity to sign up for a variety of sports camps, including Netball, Rugby and Tennis for both senior and junior age groups. For the first time, residential camps will be offered in rugby and netball, allowing children to immerse themselves in the Stonyhurst Experience. As well as taking part in local excursions, trips and enjoying evening entertainment, children will have the opportunity to make lifelong friends and become well-rounded young people.

Stonyhurst’s facilities boast a 25-metre swimming pool and gym, 22 sports pitches and 2 indoor grand slam tennis courts within the all-year-round tennis dome, providing young sports people with enhanced opportunities to maximise their potential and train to the best of their ability.

Each camp will be run by a team of professional pastoral care experts, providing 24/7 support for children. To support children’s wellbeing and their ability to perform in their chosen sport, organically sourced meals and access to the on-site health centre will be provided.

The Summer Festival of Sport camps will deliver an unforgettable experience for a wide range of children, aged 8-18 years, offering both junior and senior levels. Senior camps will nurture talent, focusing on performance and skill as well as an opportunity to prepare for pre-season training. The juniors’ camp will focus on enabling children to have an action-packed summer holiday of a lifetime, meeting new friends and having fun. Each camp will be directed by former and current professional players and coaches with a low coach-

Festival

to-pupil ratio to allow the children to be all that they can be.

Stonyhurst’s Netball Masterclass will once again be led by Tracey Neville MBE, a former England player and coach, who boast numerous honours as both a player and a coach. Due to the overwhelming success of the netball camp over the past three years, Stonyhurst is expecting another sell-out year for this camp.

Stonyhurst’s Rugby Camp will be delivered by Dino Radice and Marcus Jackson. Dino is a current Director of Rugby at Blackburn Rugby Club & has successfully delivered Rugby Camps for the past 15 years. Marcus is an experienced coach at Stonyhurst and coaches Sale Sharks Junior Academy, developing the best talent in the Northwest.

The Tennis Camp will be hosted by David Shaw, Director of Tennis at Stonyhurst and former professional. After winning the Lawn Tennis Association’s Lancashire Tennis School of the Year award for two consecutive years, Stonyhurst is thrilled that David

DATES:

• Netball Juniors: 8-9 years

15th – 17th August 2023

• Netball Seniors: 10-15 years

15th – 17th August 2023

• Rugby Juniors: 8-13 years

14th – 17th August 2023

• Rugby Seniors: 14-18 years

21st – 24th August 2023

• Tennis Seniors: 9-16 years

Camps available between 18th July and 4th Aug 2023

and his team will once again return to deliver an outstanding tennis programme.

Paul Sharples, Director of the Stonyhurst Experience team said:

“We are delighted to announce the launch of our very first Summer Festival of Sport, offering both residential and non-residential places. Over the past few months, The Stonyhurst Experience Team have been busy designing the bespoke camps to inspire children to be the best that they can be. These

camps are suited to those who want to excel professionally, as well as those who want to enjoy their summer holiday by making friends and learning new skills. The Stonyhurst Experience Team look forward to welcoming you to Stonyhurst.” For further information on Stonyhurst’s Summer Sports Camps please visit: Make a Booking - Stonyhurst Experience

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact The Stonyhurst Experience Team at: enterprises@stonyhurst.ac.uk

AN EVENING WITH SIMON & OSCAR from OCEAN COLOUR SCENE

announce May 2023 UK Tour Dates coming to BLACKBURN - King George’s Hall on Friday 19th May 2023!

An Evening with Ocean Colour Scene’s Simon & Oscar, Intimate acoustic performances of all their big hits and anthems, including The Riverboat Song, The Circle, Traveller’s Tune, Hundred Mile High City and The Day We Caught The Train.

Simon Fowler describes the acoustic shows as, “A real tonic - a great chance to look the audience in the eye and interact with them on a more personal basis than ever before”.

Founding member of Dexy’s Midnight Runners Pete Williams will open for Simon & Oscar in a special appearance.

Tickets for An Evening With Simon & Oscar From Ocean Colour Scene – May 2023 UK Shows are available from:

Friday 19 May

BLACKBURN

King George’s Hall bwdvenues.com/whats-on/ an-evening-with-simon-andoscar-2023/

For more information on An Evening

With Simon & Oscar From Ocean Colour Scene, please visit the following website / social media links:

d www.oceancolourscene.com/

f OceanColourSceneOfficial

t OCSmusic

i ocsmusic/

y OceanColourSceneBand

Saturday 6 May

PORTSMOUTH – New Theatre Royal

Sunday 7 May EXETER – Corn Exchange

Friday 19 May

BLACKBURN – King George’s Hall

For tickets on all of their 2023 UK shows, go to: www.thegigcartel.com/Artists-profiles/SimonOscar-from-Ocean-Colour-Scene

Owning a home from home

Made for making memories, holiday homes appeal across the spectrum with owners ranging from young families to retiree grandparents sharing with their extended family.

Unlike holidaying abroad, your time-out comes with a low environmental impact. You can come and go as often as you like without having to trawl the internet for availability and you don’t even have to have the hassle of packing every time; you simply fill your holiday home with your permanent belongings for familiarity and convenience.

The Marshall family, Thomas, Jane, Isabel and John, have been in the holiday park business since 1970. They are still hands on with running of two independent parks, Riverside Caravan Parks and Wenningdale Escapes and along with their experienced friendly team they offer owners the very best experience.

From either of their locations in the foothills of the Three Peaks you can enjoy two National Parks and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty from one unique base surrounded by the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District and the Forest of Bowland!

Owning a holiday home gives you the feeling of not just holidaying, but of belonging in this beautiful part of the world as you become part of the community. The village of High Bentham, with all the amenities you would expect, is in easy walking distance for popping to the shop or going for a meal or a night-cap in one of the pubs.

For the homebirds at heart there is simply no better holiday option than finding a location that is dear to you and a place that you can turn into a home from home..

Riverside Caravan Park

This award-winning park on the banks of the River Wenning offers brand new or preloved holiday homes with all the services infrastructure you need. Owners benefit from CCTV security and complimentary Wi-Fi throughout the season and an on-site warden available 7 days a week and on call overnight. Prices start from £25,000 with a 20-year security of tenure from new for holiday use only with touring caravans, motorhomes and trailer tents taken in part exchange. Fishing features strongly here, as the park offers not only river fishing on the Wenning but also boasts its own lake for coarse fishing.

Wenningdale Escapes

Nestled among the fairways of Bentham Golf Course, luxury fullyfurnished lodges are a golfer’s dream. New lodges from £189,000 are custom-built to your exact specifications, from versatile room layouts through to spa hot-tubs. Discounted green fees, all-weather driving range, buggy hire, tuition and a well-equipped leisurewear shop all add to the golfing appeal of holiday home ownership here.

As well as the golf and fishing on hand, this is magnificent walking country for all abilities; you can enjoy a gentle riverside stroll or tackle The

Three Peaks. If life on two wheels is a passion, there are the challenging routes of the Tour de Yorkshire or the Pennine bridleway if you’re more of a mountain biker.

From the miles of sand at Morecambe bay, to the depths of White Scar Cave and the peak of Pen-y-Ghent there is something for all ages and abilities just minutes away by car. Take a trip on the iconic Settle-Carlisle railway line, browse the shops and galleries of the Dales market towns, take boat trips in the Lakes, wonder at the waterfalls or gasp for breath atop the Great Stone of Fourstones.

Colour and Style

OUR SECTION ON COLOUR AND STYLE WITH SARAH HARRIS FROM ‘COLOUR ME BEAUTIFUL’

SPRING IS HERE AT LAST

I love this time of year - seeing people out and about, the changing of their wardrobes from heavy winter coats to light weight jackets, you can certainly see the spring in their step! (excuse the pun!)

Spring is the season of change and a good time to have a sort through your wardrobe! For many ladies and men, who prefer Winter where they can hide away under layers of warm clothing, the thought of Spring and wearing less is a challenge! So I’d like to talk body shapes and tips on how to dress whether straight, curvy or a combination!

And how the right shade of colour is transformational! Over our lifetime we change not only our body shape but our colouring type.

I’m Sarah Harris and I’m a Colour and Style Consultant who trained with Colour Me Beautiful the world’s leading Image consultants. My background is in fashion and after leaving school at 16, I travelled to London to work as a Fashion/Photographic Model, I enjoyed the life and it allowed me to travel the world, during my career I also worked in wholesale/retail within the fashion industry.

I learnt all about fabrics, business, international companies and trying all those clothes on – the quality, cut and fabric. I took a break from the business when I married and had our two children. I retrained as an Image Consultant with Colour Me Beautiful who have been changing the lives of women and men for over 35 years.

I’d like to inspire you with Colour, Style and Skincare tips every month, I’m hoping to give you an interesting read. If there is something that you would like to know about please email me and I will do my best to help.

E sarah@sarahharrisstyle.co.uk D www.sarahharrisstyle.co.uk

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

Your basic body line remains the same throughout your life because it is based on your skeleton as well as your genes.

When we stand in front of a mirror most of us tend to focus on the things that we would like to change rather than accepting what we have and making the most of our positive points. By understanding your body shape you will focus on your positive points and learn to accept what nature has given you!

Understanding the Colours and Styles of your clothing alongside knowing your bodies shape and proportions can help you create a wardrobe that works for you, and what better time to have a spring clean than now!

Some reasons why the clothes in your wardrobe can confuse you :-

Colours

They may not suit you

Sizes

May be too big or too small

Styles

May not suit your body shape or Style

Personality

Fabrics

Too heavy or flimsy

Patterns

Too big or too small

Before you address your wardrobe you need to take a good look at your body shape…

WHAT BODY SHAPE ARE YOU?

You may have had a straight up and down body shape which we call a lean column, however you might have found that over time, your bottom seems to have flattened and drooped, your waist definition has all but disappeared and you carry weight around your middle. If this is you then you will need to:-

• Avoid fullness around the waist such as gathers and elastic, and although this is comfortable it will add volume and bulk.

• Be cautious tucking in.

• Ditch belts and instead go for a little shaping at the waist instead.

• If your bottom has flattened, treat that as a bonus and finish tops and jackets there. I advise clients to finish hemlines at the narrowest point, not the widest.

• If you feel that your shoulders aren’t as straight as they used to be, try shoulder pads in your tops and Jackets.

As hormone levels decrease in menopause, you may have a tendency to store fat centrally in the tummy area, rather than thighs and hips.

You’ve probably got amazing legs? Be sure to show them off!! Clothing that hang from the shoulders in soft fabrics cut straight are perfect for you. Don’t clutter up the area between your bust line and hips, and always accessorise with jewellery.

A looser fit is far more elegant than a tight fit and don’t worry about the label size, remember that different shops have differences in sizes; so in one shop a size 12 might fit you well ,whereas, in another you might need a 14 or 16. Don’t obsess about the size it is simply there as a guide!

CURVY BODY SHAPE

Straight or Curvy

Understanding whether your body is straight and angular or round and curvy will help you choose clothing that will suit you. You could have a combination of straight and curvy. Sometimes we have a curvy upper half and a straight lower body or vice versa. Let’s take a look...

• If you prefer to hide your middle altogether, stick to longer line tunics and cardigans. Asymmetric shaping is very flattering.

• Layering is also great; shirts worn open over a camisole or t-shirt is a great option.

• I teach my clients to buy clothes that follow their body lines, so a straight body shape will always look better in simple straight cuts.

• If you carry weight around your middle, or across your bust, look for slightly softer fabrics with the same straight cut as opposed to fussy drapes and folds.

Women tend to gain weight until they are 60; if you have curvy lines, you tend to gain weight evenly across your whole body.

• You will already know the benefits of following your silhouette with clothes, and emphasising your waist. By changing the fabrics to softer fluid fabrics that follow your body line as opposed to those that constrict, Lycra will be your best friend!

Be careful with texture and heavy layers, as both have a tendency to add bulk.

• Avoid clutter and detail across the bust and hips, and the reason for this is that you don’t want to emphasise these areas.

• An open neckline is always more flattering than one that buttons up to the neck.

• You may find that the space between your bust and waist seems shorter (as your bust may drop), so try to lower the appearance of the waist line. Empire styles work well.

• Clients actually think that they have wider bottoms whereas they actually have longer bottoms, so look for trousers with a longer rise.

• If your waist is still defined and in the right place, make sure you have a good stash of belts!

• Think about where you wear print which draws attention, so if you are full busted, avoid stripes in this area. If you feel your bottom half is your challenge, wear pattern only on the top half.

• An all over print on a dress is great, but be sure it balances with your frame. Small neat patterns are best on small boned frames, large bolder patterns work better on those of a large scale.

• Use Colour appropriately. Darker colours can minimise, but black, if it is not in your palette, can draw attention. If it’s away from your face it is not so bad.

Don’t mourn the loss of what you once had; instead embrace your new shape with flattering colours and cuts. If any of the above resonates with you and you’re at a loss as to how to dress why not treat yourself to a Style Consultation with me. I am happy to chat through your worries and concerns before booking an appointment.

...THE IMPACT COLOUR AND STYLE HAS!

Colour has a huge impact on our mood and wearing the right shade can lift and lighten your complexion, making you look and feel healthier and more radiant!

Ageing, menopause, illness can change the way that we look; our hair may become less vibrant (salt and pepper) or more intense (steel grey), eyes can become more muted and skin tone can become more pinker or sallow.

Shades that you have been wearing for years, suddenly don’t look as good. This is a clear indication. That your colours have changed. For example someone with red hair and a warm skin tone may lose the strong rich look over time and will be more suited to a Softer palette which is a much gentler, muted set of shades.

When I first had my colours done I remember it as my ‘light bulb moment’ I can still see Cliff putting the Salmon drape under my chin, I actually thought I looked alright!!

However, when he replaced it with the Orchid drape it was amazing! It felt light a light box was being placed there – it took away lines and made my skin look amazing! So I always say to my clients - wearing the right colours is like having a face lift without the surgery! And I never stop getting enthusiastic about showing client’s the right colours as the proof is in the drapes! Try placing some different coloured materials

under your chin – you will have to remove all your make-up and stand in front of a window for natural light. You will see that the colours will instantly change your skins appearance.

If you have previously had a Colour analysis but feel that your palette isn’t working so well, it may be time for a Colour review!

How we change over the years...

4 or 5 years

15 years

The above two pictures show me with my natural hair colour, unfortunately, I haven’t any clearer of when I was 15, we didn’t have mobile phones to take pictures with!

You can see how my hair colour has darkened, no make-up apart from lipstick.

Those images are professional as I have no pictures without make up that are clear to see, but my hair is still natural. The picture on the left has hints of auburn, due to lighting in the studio.

Above: SOFT & WARM (SOFT AUTUMN)

Above you can see my wish to become a blonde had come true! Do you see how my skin tone is different and my eyes don’t look as blue. This is because my dominant characteristic has changed from Clear to Soft, my look was more tonal and muted. Then in my 50’s when I decided to go back to my roots!

You can also see how I’ve adapted my make-up to my colouring type.

Another great example of how our colours can change, Cliff Bashforth, MD of Colour Me Beautiful shows how he’s changed over 35 years in CMB:-

Above: SOFT & COOL (COOL SUMMER)

Here the transitional stage where hair is salt and pepper and skin tone is changing.

COOL & SOFT (COOL SUMMER)

Hair is much lighter and skin tone pinker.

You can see the gradual change over 35 years of Cliff from a Soft Warm to a Cool Soft.

As a Soft Warm, Cliff would have worn colours that where much more muted. The colours of medium depth where better and when choosing shirt and tie combinations, the colours needed to be tonal, either one shade lighter or one shade darker. And as Cliff had a warm undertone he was better suited in yellow based colours.

Whereas, today his colouring has changed to a Cool Soft which enables him to wear stronger colours of medium to deep depth with a blue undertone that have some contrast. He can’t wear yellow and golden based colours anymore.

Mid 30's

20 years - Images by Tony Rizzo of Sanrizz and Lawrence at Crimpers.

Mid 50's

Simply changing your make-up routine can have a massive impact! Stop wearing the Black eye pencil and change it for a more flattering shade. Think about the shape of your eye, if for example you have hooded eyes don’t use a deep shade in one block on your lower lid! Apply a medium shade past the crease of your eyelid. Think twice about wearing eye shadows with sparkle. It can look great on Clears, however, it very much depends what your eye lid is like. Remember that sparkle emphasises! And wear a primer before you make up your face as it smooths out any fine lines and provides a good base to help your make-up stay in place.

When is the last time you changed your make-up routine? I offer make-up lessons, either one to one or in groups, to help you understand how to look after your skin and enhance what you already have using your best shades. It will breath new life and youthfulness into your look giving you that well needed confidence!

Have fun with your wardrobe, and take a good look at pictures from your past and look at how you have changed over the years, work with these Images to find the colours and styles that suit you now.

Look after yourselves and each other, Warm Wishes, Sarah x

E sarah@sarahharrisstyle.co.uk

D www.sarahharrisstyle.co.uk

‘Veteran’ Apprentices Inspire New Trainees

THE latest recruits to Redrow’s apprenticeship scheme have picked up plenty of tips for a successful career after meeting two former apprentices.

Liam Brown, 20, an apprentice groundworker and Jospeh Potsid, 18, an apprentice joiner, both working in Halewood, met up with head of construction Shaun Phoenix and joinery contracts manager Lee Serrio, who both joined Redrow’s apprenticeship scheme back in 1994.

Shaun, 45, started life at Redrow’s former Lee based office as an apprentice joiner aged 16. His rise to the top has seen him take on the roles of site joiner, assistant site manager, site manager, project manager, area build manager and today he heads up the construction department for Redrow Lancashire.

“Redrow is committed to growing its own talent and I am testament to that. If you want to work hard and build your career, the company will nurture you, provide training and back you all the way,” said Shaun, from Leigh.

“I wish Liam and Joseph all the very best in their careers, I know they will do well.”

Lee, 47, has worked as a sub-contractor for Redrow for the past 16 years, working for R Joyce Joinery Limited.

“I joined Redrow’s apprenticeship scheme in Lancashire in 1994 when I was 18” said Lee, who lives in Wigan with his wife and

daughter. “I left school and couldn’t get a job. Redrow had a new development across the road from my parent’s house and I told my mum I’d like to work for them as they built nice houses.

“I sent out a letter and secured an interview, although my mum had to do a bit of persuasion as back the Redrow wanted apprentices straight from school... Fortunately, they liked me at interview, and I was soon enrolled on the apprenticeship scheme.”

Lee spent his three-year apprenticeship working on a number of developments with the Lancashire team, alternating spending five weeks at college and five weeks working on site.

Once qualified Lee worked as a joiner and then a site manager, before becoming a joinery contracts manager.

“I worked hard, and it paid off. Now I’ve got a career I’m proud of and that’s down to the start I had with Redrow’s apprenticeship scheme,” said Lee.

“Redrow look after their team and apprentices and I wish Liam and Joseph the very best in their careers – you can tell already they have the passion to do really well.”

left & Opposite: Back row, LtoR Shaun Phoenix and Huw Williams. Front LtoR Lee Serrio, Liam Brown and Jospeh Potsid

Liam Brown, from Hightown, and Jospeh Potsid, from Widnes, will spend their 22-month long apprenticeship at Redrow’s The Finches at Hilton Grange development in Halewood.

Liam and Jospeh will both work alongside Redrow’s site management team and under the guidance of an experienced sub-contractor.

Open to anyone over the age of 16, Redrow’s apprenticeship scheme covers key housing trades, including bricklaying and groundworks, as well as administration and technical roles within its offices.

Trade apprentices’ time is split between working on site and college-based study that will provide the apprentice with essential industry qualifications.

“I work with a civil engineering company onsite, working on internal and external draining, block paving and flagging,” said Liam, who lives with his parents in Hightown.

“I heard about Redrow’s apprenticeship scheme online. It’s really good and I know that Redrow look after their team. I have one day a week release to Salford College where we work on health and safety and theory but also practical skills too.

“I learnt about dropping curbs last week, so we are learning skills that I can bring back with me on site.”

Jospeh, who lives in a Redrow home with his parents in Widnes, was informed about the apprenticeship scheme by a family member.

“I’ve lived in a Redrow home, so I’ve seen the craftsmanship and know they build good houses,” said Joseph.

“I work with a team of joiners and we’re currently working on the second fix, which is work carried out after the plastering has been completed. Tasks include fixing skirting boards, internal doors and window frames.

“I too have a day release attending Riverside College in Widnes, working on both theory and practical. I would definitely recommend Redrow’s apprenticeship scheme for anyone thinking about a career in the construction industry.”

The apprentices are all employed by Redrow but supervised and mentored by established sub-contractors who teach them their trade. They also come under the overall supervision of Huw Williams, who has overseen the apprenticeship scheme in Lancashire for the past 18 months.

“Our training department based at Tamworth advertises our apprenticeships on offer, then out of the dozens of applications they receive I am sent the best applications for the role here in Lancashire,” said Huw, who joined Redrow Lancashire in 2001 originally as a site manager.

“We currently have 16 apprentices working with us and will be taking on more this year.

“Redrow’s apprenticeship scheme offers very impressive on the job learning and thanks to our local colleges it is backed up with theory work too. It is a great way into the construction industry and enables the apprentice to earn whilst they learn.”

For further information about becoming an apprentice with Redrow and other career opportunities visit: www.redrowcareers.co.uk

Ricky Tomlinson Returns to the Stage in Irish Annie’s Musical Play

Catherine Rice And Asa Murphy Also Star In Comedy Celebrating The Best Of Irish Culture Touring In March 2023

Actor and comedian, Ricky Tomlinson is to return to the stage in a new musical comedy that celebrates the best of Irish culture.

Irish Annie’s will perform around the March St Patricks Day celebrations visiting St Helens Theatre Royal, Stockport Plaza, Epstein Theatre in Liverpool, City Varieties in Leeds, Stafford Gatehouse, Blackpool Grand, The Brindley in Runcorn and Mansfield Palace Theatre. Tickets are on sale and selling fast!

Irish Annie’s is a celebration of Irish culture, from the music to the comedy, featuring the well-known live 6-piece band The Shenanigans. Meet landlady Annie and her regular madcap customers for a fun night out of comedy, music and mayhem, featuring original tracks written for the show by Asa Murphy, along with your all-time favourite Irish tunes including Galway Shawl, Tell Me Ma, Dirty Old Town, Whiskey In The Jar, Danny Boy and many more. The evening promises to have the audience laughing, singing, and dancing the night away.

Ricky Tomlinson will perform as himself as a celebrity guest in the

pub. Ricky is a much-loved actor and comedian living all his life in Liverpool, he is best known for his roles as Bobby Grant in Brookside, DCI Charlie Wise in Cracker and Jim Royle in The Royle Family, he also played the title character in the film Mike Bassett: England Manager. He is a very keen musician playing both the banjo and harmonica.

Ricky said “This show is a delight to be part of, with a wonderful cast of characters and beautiful original and classic Irish music. Come and enjoy the show, I guarantee you will have a ball”.

Irish Annie’s is co-produced by Bill Elms Productions (Judy & Liza, Jerry Springer The Opera, Swan Song, Something About Simon) and Asa Murphy Productions (Buddy Holly Lives, The Bobby Darin Story).

The show also stars Catherine Rice as Irish Annie, Asa Murphy as Seamus Murphy, Nathan Murphy as Porky the Postman, Sam Conlan as Noel Singen-Smithe and Pauline Donovan as Moira the Money Lender. Look out

for very special guests at some of the venues too.

Producer Bill Elms commented: “Irish Annie’s is the perfect show to bring out around St Patricks Day, it’s a huge feel-good show filled with great comedy and live music, I am thrilled that we have such a fantastic cast including Ricky Tomlinson, Asa Murphy and Catherine Rice. The show

WHAT THE PRESS SAID

Writebase – 10/10 Perfect -

premiered in Liverpool a few years ago and went down a storm, now it’s even bigger and better than before.”

Asa Murphy has created and coproduced the show. Asa has been a successful entertainer for 18 years. He has performed all over the world singing Big Band Swing music and my own self-penned songs. He has fulfilled many of his dreams as a performer selling out London’s Ronnie Scott’s, topping the bill at the famous Liverpool Empire, and cruising and singing on the most beautiful liners in the world. Asa also has a very popular BBC Radio show and has been on the airwaves for 10 years. In 2019 he turned his talents to writing stage musicals and has so far had three hit shows, Buddy Holly Lives, Mack The Knife and Irish Annie’s along with two children’s shows.

Writer and performer Asa Murphy added: “This show is a celebration of everything that makes Irish culture and the people of Ireland so special.

Laughter, music, and the ability to make people face life’s difficult obstacles through friendship. I am very proud that the show has been so well received with my family originating from Cork and Tralee and many still living in Ireland.”

“A wonderful celebration of irish culture”

The Irish Post -

“No matter where you live, i urge you to see this production. It’s a wonderful feel-good show that symbolises everything that we love about irish music.”

“A great night of entertainment”

Champion News

Text.

MARCH 8, 2023

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organization specific.

#IWD2023 #EmbraceEquity

KATE SHEPPARD - The Liverpool-Born Woman Who Became a Feminist Icon

By Margaret Brecknell

Emmeline Pankhurst is rightly celebrated as the leading light of the suffragette movement in this country during the early years of the 20th-century. However, by the time she rose to prominence over here, New Zealand women had already been voting in parliamentary elections for a decade or more, primarily because of the actions of an extraordinary woman named Kate Sheppard.

Indeed, Kate is now regarded as such an influential figure in New Zealand’s history that she features on the country’s ten-dollar banknote.

It is quite surprising to discover that New Zealand’s most famous suffragette was born here in NorthWest England. Catherine Wilson Malcolm (known as Kate) was born in Liverpool, on 10th March 1848, to Scottish parents, Andrew and Jemima Malcolm (nee Souter). Information regarding Kate’s early life is sketchy, but her parents are known to have eventually returned to Scotland with their children.

By the time of the American Civil War, her father had joined the Union Army. This is not as surprising as it may first appear. Thousands of Scottish soldiers served on both sides during the conflict, enticed by the prospect of a better life and greater financial rewards than they could ever hope to

achieve back home. Sadly, Andrew Malcolm never returned to his family. He died, in January 1862, whilst stationed at Fort Craig, a US army fort in New Mexico.

The cause of his death has only come to light relatively recently, following years of research by Kate’s great-greatniece, Tessa Malcolm. He appears to have died of delirium tremens syndrome, a severe form of alcohol withdrawal which can often prove fatal. The manner of her father’s death may well have played a major part in Kate’s later passionate involvement in the temperance movement.

Following his death, Kate lived for a while with an uncle who was the minister of the Auldearn Free Church in Nairn. Her time in the Scottish

Highlands, whilst a teenager, probably helped to shape her religious beliefs and interest in social issues. The move to New Zealand came in early 1869, just before Kate’s 21st birthday. Kate’s sister, Mary, had emigrated with her husband to Christchurch a couple of years previously and Jemima Malcolm took the decision to join them there, accompanied by her other children.

Two years after her arrival in New Zealand, Kate married Walter Sheppard. He was a local grocer, some twelve years her senior, who was active in local politics and had served on the Christchurch City Council. She became involved with various social welfare initiatives at the Trinity Congregational Church, where she and her family worshipped, but did not become politically active herself until the mid-1880s.

In May 1885, Mary Leavitt, a leading figure in the American Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, gave a series of talks in Christchurch, including one at Kate’s own Church. The temperance movement sought to encourage abstention from alcohol, believing it to be the root cause of many of the social welfare issues prevalent in 19th-century society. Mary Leavitt was regarded as a highly eloquent public speaker. “It is not often in this colony that ladies address public audiences”, one local Christchurch paper commented. “If there are any of our readers who have never heard a woman speak in public, we recommend them to go and hear Mrs Leavitt”

The American campaigner may well have inspired Kate Sheppard to become more involved in the temperance cause, as, later that same year, Kate became a founding member of the New Zealand Women’s Christian Temperance Union. She threw herself wholeheartedly into her new role, helping to draft and send a series of petitions to Parliament in support of the temperance cause. One early petition, which sought to prevent women from working as barmaids, was well supported across the country, but was dismissed by Parliament. One politician suggested that “the greater portion of those who signed petitions against barmaids were jealous wives and children under age”.

Experiences like this served to convince Kate that it would only become possible to campaign successfully on the important social issues of the day, particularly those that had a direct impact on women and children, by giving women the vote. Some of the more enlightened male politicians of the day already supported women’s suffrage and, in 1887, Kate persuaded former Premier, Sir Julius Vogel, to introduce a Women’s Suffrage Bill to Parliament.

This was not the first occasion on which the subject had been debated in the New Zealand Parliament. Yet, the New Zealand Herald reported, Vogel still felt compelled to implore his fellow MPs not to treat the subject “in a frivolous manner”. He argued that “the intellectual powers of women” were not so far below those of men to exclude them from voting and that “the full emancipation of the female sex would be followed by vast good to the community in general”.

One opponent of the Bill said that he would vote against it “out of his deep reverence and great regard for women”, adding that “the mission of woman was to purify and elevate”

and not to be “dragged down by having to become familiar with the lowest scenes of human life”. Another MP warned that “they would have to confine the suffrage to plain women, for if beautiful ladies came there would be no business done, particularly by the older members”. In fact, it would be another half-a-century or more before New Zealand elected its first female MP.

The Women’s Suffrage Bill was defeated by just one vote, but Kate refused to be disheartened. Over the following six years, she and her fellow suffragettes stepped up their campaign right across New Zealand. The campaign’s origins may have been rooted in the temperance movement, but the suffragettes came from all walks of life. Kate herself once famously remarked:

Kate spearheaded the campaign with great aplomb. Not only did she become a confident and persuasive public speaker, but also an accomplished author. One journalist praised her writing, commenting that there was nothing of the “Shrieking Sisterhood style” about it, but, instead, it was “couched in terse, masculine language”. She frequently wrote letters in support of women’s suffrage to the press and would hand out leaflets to audience members at the meetings she addressed. One single-sheet pamphlet, entitled “Ten reasons why the women of New Zealand should vote”, was sent to every member of New Zealand’s House of Representatives.

Following a further defeat for the Women’s Suffrage Bill in Parliament, the suffragettes decided to employ a new tactic. In 1891, they organised the first mass petition to be signed by New Zealand women in support of the cause. Kate was responsible for the wording of the petition and it attracted around 10,000 signatures. A second petition, arranged the following year, attracted double that number.

By the time a third petition was presented to Parliament in 1893, the

“All that separates, whether of race, class, creed or sex, is inhuman and must be overcome”

Above: National Council of Women Christchurch 1896 - Kate Sheppard is seated fifth from left in the middle row.

number of signatories had risen to just under 32,000, an extraordinary figure which equated to around one-quarter of the entire New Zealand adult female population. It was then the largest ever presented to Parliament and the 270 metre-long petition (equivalent to about 890ft) made quite an impression when it was unrolled in the Chamber.

With such a groundswell of public support behind them, the women’s suffrage movement was now well nigh impossible to ignore. In September 1893, New Zealand became the first country in the world to give all women over the age of 21 the right to vote when an Electoral Bill was finally passed through Parliament. In recognition of her role as the leader of the campaign, New Zealand’s Governor, Lord Glasgow, symbolically presented Kate with the pen with which the bill had been signed.

Soon afterwards, she travelled with her husband to Britain for an extended visit. She may well have been in need of a well-earned holiday. Instead, she found herself constantly in demand as a keynote speaker at suffragette meetings in this country. After such a high-profile success in her own land, Kate was destined to play an active role in the ongoing debate about women’s right to vote across the globe.

Kate continued to campaign tirelessly for women’s rights and social reform in New Zealand until 1903 when poor health compelled her to take a less active role. Nevertheless, she remained an influential figure in the suffragette movement, both at home and abroad.

Walter Sheppard died in 1915, but Kate eventually remarried a decade later. Her second husband, William

Sidney Lovell-Smith, was the author of Outlines of the women’s franchise movement in New Zealand and a longstanding friend. He died four years later.

Kate herself lived just long enough to see the first female MP enter the New Zealand Parliament in September 1933. She passed away the following July at her home in the Christchurch suburb of Riccarton.

Folllowing her death, the Christchurch Times noted in tribute that “A great woman has gone, whose name will remain an inspiration to the daughters of New Zealand while our history endures”. In leading the way for women’s suffrage, Kate Sheppard’s influence continues to be felt not only in her adopted homeland, but also across the world. 

Above: the Kate Sheppard Memorial in Christchurch, New Zealand.

SPRING CLEAN YOUR DATING JOURNEY AND GO OUT MEET SOMEONE NEW

Spring, the season for new beginnings, is here. The prospect of warmer weather and longer days is officially upon us. It’s not only time to rotate your turtleneck and puffer jacket for something lighter, but it’s also a wonderful time to spring clean your dating strategy!

Singles, this is your time to come out of winter hibernation and bloom. Lara Besbrode, Lancashire Magazines’ Dating Expert, and the award winning Matchmaker and Founder of The Matchmaker UK, serves up fresh advice on how to radiate, and attract new love this spring.

1. FIND YOUR INNER GLOW

Whether you’re single, dating, or actively looking, attracting that special someone starts from the inside. If winter has dampened your desire to find a partner, it’s time to do whatever it takes to motivate yourself to get out of your rut: whether it’s going for a walk, changing your perspective on dating or trying a new activity. At The Matchmaker UK, we work with our clients to not only get them in the headspace to start dating again, but we also pair each client with a stylist, dating coach and experienced matchmaker. Maybe it’s time you considered a full makeover too!

2. GET YOUR HEART PUMPING

If you need a kickstarter, a 2018 report showed that 65% of daters said that dating someone who works out is important. Lara is no stranger to preaching the benefits of an active lifestyle, whether you’re single or taken: “When you’re challenging yourself on a daily basis, pushing yourself to new extremes with a workout challenge, race or goal - your future partner is bound to be impressed and will take notice. Plus, you’ll look and feel better, too and knock off any winter pounds!” Take advantage of the warmer weather and motivate yourself to go out for a daily walk/ run or join a local exercise class. You never know who you’ll meet or what you’ll learn about yourself in the process.

3. SPRUCE UP YOUR WARDROBE

By spring even the best of us are tired of our winter wardrobe, and your inner fashionista is practically begging for an overdue revival. Make time to visit your favourite shopping district in-person and try new items. Ditch online shopping and make your way to the brick-and-mortar shop. Not only are you more likely to stumble across new shops or items, but you can also make a social event out of the experience.

4. SEE AND BE SEEN

You’ve found your mojo, completed a few endorphin-boosting workouts, purchased several dazzling and stylish outfits: it’s time to get social. Dust off your contact list and get some friends together. Find a trendy rooftop bar, book a short trip or head to a music festival. Whatever you do, keep it light, fun and vibrant.

This spring, endeavour to break old patterns and form new habits on your journey to spring clean your dating journey for 2023. If you need some extra motivation to get started, here’s a final tip from Lara, “As long as you’re willing to put in the effort, keep a positive outlook and make time for new beginnings, whatever that means to you, I promise that a new romance, new goal or new adventure is around the corner for you! So, get out there, make the most of it!”

The Matchmaker UK offers a discreet, confidential and bespoke introduction service. If you’re ready to reboot your dating life this spring, please get in touch with us now.

D www.thematchmaker.uk

N 0330 175 7679

I @thematchmakeruk

HOW TO COMPLIMENT YOUR WIFE (FYI - Not Like This)

By Denise Mullen

Celebrating the loss of some heft across the beams – yep, even through the festive period my body was a temple – I decided to buy a couple of new dresses.

Like a cat whose had his whiskers accidentally given a haircut, I have no idea what size I am now, post weightloss, what gaps I fit through and, due to ongoing renovations in the hovel, can’t find the scales.

I offered to buy new scales, husband just handed out a flat ‘No, they’ll turn up.’

So not knowing what I weigh, or what size I am, I had to take everything into the changing rooms in three sizes at the shops.

One of the dresses I bought was an astonishingly comfy knitted dress with a bold black and white wide horizontal stripe. Now normally, this would not be something I’d consider, what with the horizontal stripes and all that woolly extra bulk, but somehow it worked and, teamed with some leggings and an ontrend biker boot I was pretty chuffed.

Until, that is, my husband clapped eyes on me. ‘Ooh, you look lovely,’ he said, ‘Like a Belted Galloway.’

Cranking an eyebrow at him he responded with, ‘Well they are my favourite breed of cow.’

For one, the Belted Galloway’s stripes are vertical – which aid a slimmer silhouette – and for two, attractive as they are, they still look pretty chunky. In fairness though, these ladies are quite furry.

Denise Mullen is a journalist, columnist, writer and entrepreneur.

So, in a revenge attack, I’m planning a covert bathroom scales purchase.

As we were driving to the big family party for my lovely Uncle John’s 90th birthday the following day, I had forgiven the comment, but had ‘plumped’ for something with a leaner line.

Sitting in the passenger side of the pickup, husband at the wheel, we had a couply conversation. He talked about plumbing and I talked about what I wanted to talk about. Neither of us had any need of input from the other but it was companionable enough. I mused that this ability for couples to talk about polar-opposite topics, without deviation or distraction, must be a married thing.

Then, when we got back, he asked me the same question he’d been asking for two weeks. I reminded him I would be away this Saturday. ‘This Saturday?’ he said. ‘Yes,’ I confirmed.

‘Ah yes, you’re seeing Dawn aren’t you.’ He’s getting a bit cocky now. ‘Yes,’ I said.

‘Do you want a lift to Manchester?’

‘No,’ I said.

‘It’s no trouble.’

‘That’s great,’ I respond, ‘that it’s no trouble, but I’m not going to Manchester, and nor is Dawn.’

‘Oh, is she staying here then?’

‘No, we’re still both having a night away in the Lake District as I’ve already told you 4,000 times.’

‘Oh yes, that’s right.’

So, I said: “Do you know why we are really, really lucky – both of us in this marriage?’

‘No,’ he says.

‘Because neither of us is Camilla Parker Bowles,’ I finish.

And I think we can leave it there. 

DEEP BEAUTY - Treatment Review

By Natalie Christopher

The welcome at deep beauty could not have been warmer despite the fact that due to heavy traffic we were running half an hour late.

The gorgeous scents hit you as soon as you walk through the door pulling you towards the treatment rooms and nudging you towards the stress free time ahead. The stylish yet informal surroundings made it easy to switch off and the consultation with the therapist was a good opportunity to explain any skin issues, concerns and preferences which I did as she kindly and attentively took note of everything.

I am sure everyone says pretty much the same thing before a facial, ‘’ make me look 10 years younger and get rid of all the chins and lines’’ and yet the personalised and tailored service I received was fantastic. I opted for the Yon ka facial and whilst I have heard of most brands this one was new to me so I was keen to try something different. I learnt it was French and that Yon stands for a purifying river whilst Ka means the vital force running through us.

With a love of all things natural yon ka’s products harvest the natural magic from plants and with potent combinations and clever technology they use the most powerful plants to nurture and heal our skin with nothing synthetic that can do any harm.

As I had gone for a results based treatment: the optimizer lift effect facial, I wondered if working completely by hand with all natural products would have much benefit. As the therapist chatted about the brand and her experience and explained that my skin surprisingly wasn’t in too terrible condition I did just focus on the treatment and forgot the emails I needed to reply to, the meetings I needed to arrange and any problems were temporarily blocked out which

is not always easy to achieve. This was a positive experience that gave me a bit of time devoid of having any responsibilities, and that feeling was great.

The different stages were explained and my face got a much needed work out plus a fantastic head massage that sent me off to sleep, which is rare for me, I am mostly pretty alert. When I was gently woken up I had a good long look at my skin and it was a lot brighter and less red,my therapist had also been more gentle with my eyes than most and they were in one piece. I felt like I could see the start of the work on the jaw and with a few more regular sessions I would make even greater progress.

I felt a marked difference and as soon as I get a little bit of free time to myself Deep beauty is exactly where I will be heading both for the relaxation and the results. With the atmosphere of the comfortable and cosy salon

and the skills and knowledge of the therapist you would find it impossible not to feel that this is time and money well spent.

Deep beauty takes care of men as well so you might want to bring your other half or a friend as the prices are reasonable and they do gift vouchers if you want to treat someone to something a bit different to your every day treatments that you find in lots of different salons.

m 76 Mitton Rd, Whalley, BB7 9RY

e sales@deepbeautyspa.co.uk

d deepbeautyspa.co.uk

n 01254 822832

Deep Beauty -Alison Baines

Deep Beauty was established in 2007 and is situated in the bustling village of Whalley in the heart of the Ribble Valley. The salon offers a fantastic range of beauty treatments delivered by a highly trained team of therapists. In 2020, Alison Baines took over the running of the business bringing along her many years of experience in retail, finance, and beauty.

Having worked for a large business bank for over 13 years, Alison transitioned into the beauty industry after being made redundant in 2016 and took up a bookkeeping position at a beauty salon/clinic in Oldham. Alison soon began to get more involved in the running of the clinic before progressing to Clinic Manager. After four years in the role, Alison came to learn of a beauty business for sale in Whalley. It was an ideal opportunity to combine Alison’s business background with her beauty and aesthetics experience, and despite taking over amidst a global pandemic, Deep Beauty is busier than ever and thriving. Alison told Lancashire Magazine in her own words all about Deep Beauty.

What sets Deep Beauty apart from other salons in the area?

First and foremost, we are extremely passionate about delivering outstanding customer service; we consistently receive five-star reviews from our clients and our team of therapists should be very proud of the high standard of treatment and care that they provide. Our customer care journey differentiates us from other salons, from booking that initial appointment right through to when the client receives their review request email when they get home. We want customers to feel valued and for them to feel relaxed and at ease in a welcoming and calm environment.

We pride ourselves on the level of experience of our team, a combined 90 years of experience in the beauty and skin industry with many of our therapists qualified to teach beauty, this level of expertise certainly sets us apart from other salons.

We invested in a new website in March 2022 and added an online booking option as we recognise that people lead busy lives and often have the need to book appointments out of usual working hours. The website upgrade has made a huge difference to the business, allowing more customers to browse our treatment menu, book appointments and purchase gift vouchers.

Tell us about the products the salon uses.

We pride ourselves on using premium and trusted brands in the salon. These include the well-known British brand Elemis, the French brand Yon-Ka who incorporate natural and plant-based ingredients into their products and the American brand Obagi Medical which is science-led and delivers incredible results.

I have worked with Obagi Medical for seven years and have witnessed some life-changing skin transformations in that time. Backed by over 30 years of clinical results, Obagi Medical products and treatments are designed to help minimise the appearance of premature skin ageing, hyperpigmentation, acne and sun damage. I am extremely proud to have been awarded the accolade of Obagi Ambassador which is given to clinics and salons that have a deep understanding and belief in Obagi Medical. This ultimately gives our

client’s confidence that we can offer the best advice to make positive changes to their skin.

As well as using these premium brands within our treatments, we also stock a wide range of skincare products with the added value of receiving expert skin advice, something that isn’t readily available via high street cosmetic stores.

Tell us about Deep Beauty’s treatments.

All our treatments are delivered by a team of highly trained therapists, some of which have been with the business since it’s opening in 2007. The most popular treatments include facials, massage, waxing, lash & brow treatments, sculptured gel & acrylic nails and spray tanning. Since the pandemic, we have seen

a surge in clients opting for more relaxing and holistic treatments including Reflexology, Indian Head Massage and Hopi Ear Candling. Our popular massages include the Elemis Deep Tissue Massage and the Elemis Peaceful Pregnancy Massage. Alongside our popular male & female waxing treatments, we also offer more permanent forms of hair removal such as IPL and Electrolysis. We invest heavily in training our therapists to a very high standard via our skincare partners such as Elemis. Elemis provide regular, first-class training that ensures we are offering the best experiences and technologies to each and every client. Our client reviews reflect this with people often commenting that our therapists offer the highest standard of treatment and level of expertise even when compared to large, high-end spa venues, something which we are extremely proud of!

We host several specialist clinics that include Facial Aesthetics, SemiPermanent Make-Up and Podiatry services. Dr Dan Flynn offers facial injectable treatments including the popular Profhilo skin hydrator as well as Dermal Fillers and treatment for excessive sweating.

Tell us about Whalley.

Whalley is a busy and vibrant village full of independent shops, restaurants & bars and is a friendly place with a great sense of community spirit. We are situated away from the high street with ample car parking facilities and we benefit from having the local train station just a short walk from the salon.

What is new in 2023?

We hope to further extend our treatment menu in 2023 with a new exciting electrical facial device from Elemis along with a device for removing specific skin lesions. We also have exciting plans to open a second location in early 2023 in the village of Great Eccleston, Preston. The new salon will offer similar treatments to the Whalley salon and will bring a high level of treatment and care to another Lancashire village.

End of the World as We Know It

news with the school children, as well as trying to soak up every second with her baby, who is just a few months old. Her husband Neil works for a supermarket chain and sees first-hand the panic buying and selflessness of some consumers. The friendship circle is completed with Marta (a Latvian nurse who is desperate to see her parents one last time), and Liam, a hotel manager who resents having to continue working when there is little left to live for.

Preston author, David Hatton talks about returning to Lancashire and his latest novel, which is set in his hometown.

It’s been a crazy couple of years. With lockdown and the turmoil of politics, the war in Ukraine as well as the doom and gloom of the costof-living crisis. It felt at times like the world was ending. And that’s what inspired me to write my latest novel.

The End of the World as We Know It is about six friends who decide to spend their last day alive together after the news hits the headlines of a deadly asteroid heading towards Earth. However their lives become interwoven and tensions begin to build. Relationships end, friendships dissolve and they risk spending their last day alone if they don’t mend their ties of friendship. Forgiveness is hard but when the end is near, people have a different perspective.

The story is told from the perspective of each character, almost like a diary entry. It begins with Janine, a newsreader who is tasked with announcing the story that they have found a deadly comet hurtling towards Earth, which is expected to hit the planet in less than four months. Her wife, Kristina, is told on the same day that she is terminally ill and wonders whether her condition or the asteroid will get her first. They’re best friends with Dawn, a Primary school teacher on Mat leave, who spends her time threating over how they’ll handle the

Lies are told. Secrets are exposed. And historic mistakes which had been buried under the carpet suddenly come to the light of day. And amongst this is how a nation of people will respond to such horrific news. Panic buying, riots and looting. Power outages and food shortages. But on the other side, like we saw in the pandemic, there are good people who selflessly want to help others.

I set the book in Preston as I wanted to take it out of the big cities and into a smaller town. It’s also where I grew up and brought it close to home. I follow a podcast about a popular American comedy I enjoy called The Office, which is set in Scranton Pennsylvania, and the directors explained that the more you personalise a story around its location, it oddly becomes more personal to the readers too, even if they’ve never visited or heard of the

place. Because at the heart of it, we all have those places which we grew up in, called home, and those little nuances which make us fall in love (as well as at times become frustrated) with the place. And that’s something we all have in common.

I lived in Manchester and then Horwich for many years, but now I’ve returned to my Lancashire roots. I’ve moved to Buckshaw Village, just on the outskirts of Chorley. It’s been wonderful to be back in my home county and being closer to family and catching up with old friends. And my love of the area inspired me to bring the setting of my latest novel here too. Preston is the place which inspired me to write in the first place. My teacher at St Andrews Primary School in Ashton always read out my stories in class. When I left, I promised her I’d send her a signed copy of my book if I ever published a novel; I kept that promise nearly twenty years later and we’re still in touch now.

The End of the World as We Know It is a murder mystery in reverse. You begin knowing exactly who the killer is (a deadly asteroid). Instead, you know that someone survives, and the mystery is who that person is. There’s lots of clues throughout, it could be any one of them, and you’ll only find out who it was in the last chapter. But the book in its essence is about a group of

friends who are faced with the biggest challenge life will throw them and how they cope, and how friendships can face challenges far more difficult than death. At the heart of it, those friendships mean far more than material goods. But can they overcome their issues so they can spend their last day on Earth together?

I don’t know how I’d cope if the same fate was handed to me. In the 90s, a prophet called Nostradamus predicted the end of the world and I remember being so scared I was sick. I drew on some of that experience to write how some of the characters would react. I was a child back then; I don’t know if I’d act any differently today. In 2021, I lost a dear friend called Judith, who the book is dedicated to. She was given weeks to live after being told of a terminal cancer diagnosis. I went to say goodbye to her just four weeks before she left us. She was so full of humour and strength. I hope that if I ever face the same fate, I’d draw on some of that courage she demonstrated in those final weeks. One story which will stay with me forever is that when she was

told she was dying, she told the doctor to go home and hug his wife. She was sure that having to break that news was crushing for him. That was Judith. She was always thinking of other people. Everyone should be a little more Judith. Her daughter, one of my best friends, read the book recently and left me a wonderful review. She was naturally nervous with the subject of the novel, only having recently lost someone so special to her, but she loved the book.

This is my sixth novel. In 2021, I brought out Camp, which focused on the LGBTQ+ experiences within the Holocaust. This has been by far my most successful novel, outselling all my books collectively. People were really bought into the story of George, who moves to Germany to escape the antigay laws in the UK, however the Nazis are gaining votes in Germany which is a threat to him and his new-found friends. I was honoured to interview Holocaust survivor, Ben Lesser, after the book was published. He’s gone on to create the Zachor Foundation to continue the education around the Holocaust.

My first novel, The Return, was set in New York, whereby a man knocks on his wife’s door, ten years after he was declared dead in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A year later, I released The Medium, which was a psychic murder mystery about a medium who claims to know the whereabouts of a missing woman in Manchester. The Catfish was probably my most controversial book, which featured a lawyer defending the honour of a man who was entrapped by a predator hunter gang. And finally in 2020, I released The Exhumation, which is loosely based on the true tory of an attempted theft of President Abraham Lincoln’s body.

All my books are completely different, and I like to think there’s something for everyone. From historic fiction to thrillers to my latest novel, which I’d say is a drama. My family are begging me for a comedy, but I have no idea what I’m going to write next. I’ll let you know when I get the writing bug again.

All of David Hatton’s novels are available worldwide on Amazon as E-books or Paperbacks.

How Not to Drown - A Grand story of Positivity, Adventure and Hope

The multi award-winning How Not to Drown from Thickskin is a fast-paced physical theatre production that shares an incredibly stirring story of endurance for a little kid who wasn’t safe or welcome anywhere in the world.

ThickSkin theatre company is well-known for searching out and nurturing emerging talent, showcasing unknown artists alongside a high calibre creative team. ThickSkin first met Dritan thirteen years ago through a theatre training programme for young people and stayed in touch - mentoring and supporting him as a performer since then. Through How Not to Drown, ThickSkin and Nicola McCartney have offered Dritan an important platform and facilitated him as a co-writer of his first stage play.

Renowned theatre company ThickSkin presents the intensely visual, uplifting and action-packed tale of positivity, hope and adventure How Not to Drown at Blackpool Grand Theatre from Wednesday 15 to Friday 17 March.

This fast-paced physical theatre production shares the inspirational true story of an eleven-year-old unaccompanied asylum-seeker arriving in the UK and is performed by an ensemble cast, starring Dritan Kastrati himself.

In 2002, in the turmoil after the end of the Kosovan War, 11-year-old Dritan was sent on the notoriously perilous journey across the Adriatic with a gang of people smugglers to a new life in Europe. Relying on young wit and charm on his journey to the UK, Dritan’s fight for survival continues when he finds himself caught within the British care system, struggling to cling onto his identity and sense of self.

“I don’t know why my Dad let me go, especially when he knew how dangerous, how hard it was… I was too young, too weak to make this journey. I wouldn’t have sent me… He wouldn’t have sent me unless there was a reason.”

How Not to Drown is Dritan’s real-life story and is cowritten with playwright Nicola McCartney (herself a foster carer) following 60 hours of recorded interviews between the two of them. This vibrant tale of endurance transports audiences from intimate spaces to locations the size of the ocean, journeying with the then 11-yearold Dritan to experience his world. A shape-shifting set and immersive soundtrack of music and indecipherable languages accompany. With an emotional relevance to how the world feels now, this is one boy’s story which hopes to give a voice to those who have been through similar experiences.

Dritan Kastrati said: “This is my story, but it could be anyone’s. Just for one second imagine there is a war happening in the UK now, which direction would you run for safety? It would be awful. British families fleeing, children separated from their parents. But it’s happening every day across the world. It happened to me. I wanted to share my story, in my own words, as a child coming to the UK alone. It’s a story we don’t usually hear about asylum seekers. It’s not a sad story, parts of it are actually pretty funny, but it is truthful and sometimes painful.”

Director Neil Bettles said: “After the huge success of How Not to Drown at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019, it feels timely and important to be sharing Dritan’s story with a wider audience around the UK. It’s a show that we are very proud of and includes all the hallmarks of a ThickSkin show - an urgency in its storytelling about an important social issue of our time, delivered with a fast-paced, cinematic, dynamic quality that we hope will have broad appeal.

“How Not To Drown is about losing identity and place in the world. I think it rings true for all of us that feel a little lost and take extreme actions to find ourselves again. Against the context of current world events, this compelling and uplifting true story feels as important now as ever. And having met Dritan Kastrati shortly after his story in the play ends, it feels right that ThickSkin were the company to help him realise his story on stage.” This is unmissable theatre at Blackpool Grand.

ThickSkin’s award-winning How Not to Drown starring Dritan Kastrati is at Blackpool Grand Theatre from Wednesday 15 to Friday 17 March with an audio described performance on Thursday 16 March and a post show talk available on Thursday 16 March following the show.

Tickets from £15.50 with concessions/group/school rates available. Age recommendation 14+

Visit BlackpoolGrand.co.uk or call the box office on 01253 290 190 for bookings and further information.

LISTINGS

ThickSkin’s How Not to Drown:

Wed 15 Mar to Fri 17 Mar at 7.30pm – Age 14+

Audio Described

Thu 16 Mar at 7.30pm + post show talk

Grand Theatre, 33 Church Street, Blackpool FY1 1HT

n 01253 290 190

d blackpoolgrand.co.uk

f blackpoolgrand

t Grand_Theatre

i grandtheatrebpl

New ‘Tourism Talent Hub’ Planned for Cumbria

By Cumbria Tourism

Not only will the new comprehensive online resource showcase a diverse range of opportunities and career paths, but it will enable people to access courses such as chef training, customer service, middle management, and much more.

The county-wide Tourism Talent Hub will be aimed at students, parents, adults and businesses. It’s being developed by Cumbria Tourism in partnership with Lakes College, Carlisle College, Kendal College, Furness College and the University of Cumbria.

The project follows in-depth analysis carried out by the county’s official Destination Management Organisation as part of the recent Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), to find out more about the recruitment and skills needs of tourism and hospitality businesses.

It revealed a fragmented picture when it comes to local information and support for people hoping to develop future careers in the industry – with a clear need to bring practical help and resources together in one place.

With Cumbria Tourism research also showing that 73% of businesses regard the recruitment of staff as

Cumbria Tourism has revealed plans to develop a new ‘Tourism Talent Hub’ to help inspire careers in tourism and hospitality and give more people the practical support they need to make their mark in the county’s multi-billion pound industry.

a problem, plans for the Tourism Talent Hub are seen as more important than ever for futureproofing the county’s £2.63billion visitor economy.

Head of Partnerships and Projects at Cumbria Tourism, Rachel Tyson, says, “The new Tourism Talent Hub will bring a wide range of career and training opportunities together in a truly coordinated way for jobseekers of all ages. It will help match people with new career opportunities, highlighting the different ways they can gain industry experience, train on the job and potentially progress into senior positions.

“From gardeners to tour guides, graphic designers to park rangers, there is so much more to tourism and hospitality jobs than meets the eye, so it’s also a great way to bust some of the myths and misconceptions about working in tourism and hospitality.”

On behalf of the education providers, Principal of Lakes College Chris Nattress says, “The education, training and skills providers in Cumbria have an important role to play working with Cumbria Tourism, employers and key partners to support the sector in preparing the ready talent and stars of the future that are much needed.

“By using our existing links to various programmes and funding opportunities we will enable a wide range of people in developing the ready to go skills they need to start developing a rewarding career with employers in this varied and exciting sector.”

The new Tourism Talent Hub will go live later this Spring.

EIGHT MOST POPULAR FIRST DATE IDEAS

ACCORDING TO DATING EXPERTS

Dating is not easy, and even when you think you’ve found the right person, trying to organize the perfect first date to sweep them off their feet can be a stressful ordeal.

Relationship expert Valon Asani from dating app Dua.com is well aware of this and has analysed Google searches worldwide for some of the most popular, original and cute activities paired with the keywords “near me” to discover which of them will make for perfect date ideas to spice up your evenings or afternoons!

1 BOWLING

Old-fashioned bowling is the undisputed number one with 1,640,000 average monthly searches, and we think it’s with good cause. Apart from being fun and laid back, bowling alleys have it all, from great food to a lively atmosphere which, combined with some honest sportsmanship will make a great recipe for a successful night!

2

MINI GOLF

Another one for the sportsy people out there, mini golfing scored 488,000 average monthly searches, and is another great way to have fun while keeping things real, and the right amount of competitive. Paired with a nice dinner afterwards or aperitivo earlier on, your date is going to feel the effort you put into organizing it.

3

ESCAPE ROOM

This one is for those who are not afraid to be locked in a room with their first date for a while and want their evening to last. Escape rooms gained 483,000 average monthly searches, making it the third most popular activity.

It is not for everyone, but it could be a great way to show off some of your intellectual skills, as well as survival instincts and intuition!

4 AQUARIUM

With 382,000 average monthly searches, aquariums are fourth and another great first-date idea. Unfortunately, this won’t be accessible to everyone all the time, but if your city (or a nearby one) has an aquarium, it might be the best idea you’ll ever have. The atmosphere, paired with the sense of comfort and tranquillity that water can provide might be the best combination to hope for a second date.

5 ARCADE

Another old but gold type of location, arcades have 364,000 average monthly searches and are perfect for whoever is trying to recreate that 90s/2000s vibe.

6 ZOO

Animals are often among people’s favorite things, and if well organized, a trip to the zoo can be a great icebreaker. With 359,000 average monthly searches it is surely one of the favorite activities out there, and it works well as a unique and maybe slightly eccentric first date idea!

7

MUSEUM

A trip to a museum has never not been romantic and even though the 353,000 average monthly searches might not all refer to a date idea, we know that if your date loves art and quiet places, they will be thrilled with the idea of being taken to one.

8

KARAOKE

But not everybody likes quiet, and that’s why we do recommend trying to go beyond the shyness or your limits and take your date for a karaoke night if you think it will not make them uncomfortable! For sure, the 291,000 average monthly searches are proof of its popularity!

Of course, this is not all, as while it’s nice to organize fun and unique activities, sometimes simple is best, therefore never forget the opportunity to take your date on a picnic, a nice restaurant or just a long walk!

BUILDING BACK BETTER: Vision, Commercial Intelligence, Commitment And Understanding

By Norman Wallis, CEO, Southport Pleasureland

Southport Pleasureland is a vibrant contributor to Liverpool City Region’s attractions portfolio and visitor economy, and welcomes its mayor’s push to make the area the UK’s cultural capital.

It’s challenging to find another place in the UK that offers such a diverse and engaging range of entertainment, arts, music and events – all on top of one of the friendliest welcomes. More, the region is one that is most willing to actively celebrate different cultures, embrace diversity and positively support equality.

I am a supporter of the Mayor of Liverpool City Region’s plan for making the most of the natural and built environments with which our region is blessed, as well as the education and training-positive programmes and schemes it is delivering. I’m also committed to ensuring that the way these things are achieved is sustainable.

Southport was originally conceived as an elegant resort serving the city and wider region’s elite when they

found time to relax. It featured big, grand houses that were homes to the merchants whose business centred on the region’s capital – Liverpool’s port and warehousing. And it offered sea air, fine hotels, luxury dining experiences and new and exciting diversions.

Some 110 years ago the newly opened jewel in Southport’s crown was its amusement park. Southport Pleasureland’s gates opened and the crowds came, marvelling at the colour, music and lights – and sampling the newest rides.

Today, my focus is on reclaiming Southport’s position as the leisure destination of choice for the region – and incoming tourists and day visitors from further afield. We are developing the Pleasureland site into a series of new themed lands offering unmissable experiences and cuttingedge opportunities for education, exploration and enjoyment.

The park will rebrand to reflect its reinvention which will include its Viking Golf – which is already open – a new Dinosaur Park, a Steam Punk experience, new Pirate Cove, Adventure Boardwalk with new rides and experiences and the new

Big Wheel and Alpine Village which both opened to the public last year. The park’s plaza area will, of course, still feature the lovingly restored and much-admired vintage miniature railway.

The new-look park will hold its heritage dear while offering 21st century family-friendly rides and events As plans progress there will be more under cover attractions and experiences, contributing even more visitor numbers for the region’s economy year round.

Keeping things vibrant and introducing different elements to attract visitors is the key. So is joining other visionary business leaders who have invested to enhance the town’s incoming visitor appeal.

The vision of business people such as Andrew Mikhail, owner of Lord Street’s The Grand restaurant and bars, and hotels The Bold and The Lord Street Hotel. Andrew has seen heritage buildings lovingly restored to make a huge contribution to the town’s re-invigoration.

And others like Paul Adams who owns the town’s first boutique hotel The Vincent. Paul is also the force behind Carbon Climate Solutions –a business dedicated to delivering carbon reducing measures, from solar energy generation to EV charging systems - worldwide.

Carbon reduction for Pleasureland is something we are working on with LJMU sustainability academics as we push to become the UK’s first net zero carbon park.

It’s important to keep a finger on the pulse and experience the best of what’s new and what’s next. This is one of the most critical elements of the Pleasureland senior team’s work as we move on with our development plans – and we’re doing so with some of the best environmental impact experts to help us achieve them in line with Sefton Council’s 2019 Climate Emergency Plan promises.

Doing things well – and in the right way – there’s nothing more important.

So as the anchor family attraction for the town it is also right that we work with the borough’s education establishments, support young talent and showcase the careers available to them on their doorsteps.

We’ve been engaging with tutors at Southport College around apprenticeships, work experience and real-life projects where students can be involved in something that will eventually become part of the town’s infrastructure.

Students from art and design courses looking at some of the visualisations for the park’s Steam Punk Land for example – their concept drawings will help build the look and feel of theming around the rides and infrastructure. Yes, it’s part of their coursework, but it’s a real life project which will help them understand how pure design integrates with commercial pressures to deliver the right approach within a timescale and to a budget. Their design concepts will be considered by industry experts – it’s a huge opportunity.

And students studying CAD design for construction industries will get a chance to work with us too – work that will impact the finished shape of the park’s family of attractions. Real work opportunities on world-scale projects in their local community –opportunities that they may not have realised are live and available and

will make a terrific contribution to their careers. As a sixth generation showman – these days my title is CEO at Pleasureland, but my professional career is one that spans tourism and leisure globally - I make it my business to tour parks across the world every year. I’ve served on the North West Tourist Board Commercial Members Committee, and recognise the importance of gathering firsthand knowledge of the world’s most successful attractions. It’s critical to understand not just what they have invested in, but how visitors have responded.

We are serious about entertainment and education – and we’re very serious about how we deliver what we do.

Rugby Paralympian To Retire And Inspire

ONE of Britain’s leading Paralympians has announced his retirement from sport and praised the UK for “giving me chances that no other country or culture would have given me.”

Ayaz Bhuta MBE was born with Roberts Syndrome; a condition so rare it only affects 150 people worldwide, with most sufferers dying at birth.

Yet, despite the condition, which has restricted Ayaz’ growth to just 3ft 7ins, the 33-year-old, from Bolton, went on to become one of the finest wheelchair rugby players in the country.

He competed at two Paralympic games, became a double European Champion and a Paralympic Gold

Medallist at Tokyo 2020 and was awarded an MBE for services to wheelchair rugby.

And Ayaz , whose parents moved to Britain from India in the 1970s, said he has “the British culture of accepting disability” to thank for his success.

“Traditionally, in the Indian culture, there is a different perception to disability,” he said, “and I hope that my achievements will go some way to changing that.”

Ayaz’s childhood years were plagued by hospital visits and major operations, which affected his early education.

But, despite this setback, he was able to graduate from the University of Bolton in 2010 with a degree in Business Information Systems and has

gone on to be awarded an honorary doctorate.

His sporting career began, not with rugby, but with wheelchair basketball with the Bury Blue Devils before he was spotted by a wheelchair rugby scout, going on to amass 158 caps over the course of his career.

During that time he and the GB team also suffered setbacks, losing their funding after finishing fifth at Rio 2016.

“We had to compete without our usual funding and had to source our own funding which was considerably less and we had to scale back,” he said.

“But even with this setback we managed to create history during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games by becoming the first ever European

team to win a medal of any colour at the Paralympics in the sport of wheelchair rugby.”

Now, he wants to encourage more people with disabilities within his South Asian community to believe they can achieve anything they want, regardless of the barriers that lie ahead.

Ayaz frequently shares his story through school visits and talks and has formed his own community company AB10 Revolution, which aims to empower and educate by offering bespoke inspirational assemblies and speeches, education on inclusive sport and fun activities for schools, businesses and events.

“I am proof that you can achieve wonderful things even if all the cards have been stacked against you,” said Ayaz, who is also looking forward to coaching at his club team, West Coast Crash.

“There is a part of Indian culture that still treats disabled people as outsiders, to be locked away and almost written off.

“That view is changing slowly and I hope that when other South Asians see what I have achieved and how much support is available for disabled people – from charities, community groups and sporting bodies for example – they will see that anything is possible.”

Ayaz With His Tokyo Gold

Ayaz

MANISH’S ZODIAC PREDICTIONS

Manish Kumar Arora is a renowned KP Astrologer, Numerologist, Tarot Reader & Vastu Consultant. He has been rendering professional advice to clients with a reasonable degree of success. He has been conferred with the title of ‘Jyotish Varahamihir’ and ‘Jyotish Aryabhatt.’ He has been writing monthly astrological columns for many international magazines.

ARIES 21 Mar - 19 Apr

You could feel the need to show off a little. You might be a little over eager and putting in more effort than need be. Don’t rush to be something you aren’t. People do really like you for who you are. You’ll be feeling a little pressured. Watch how much you really push others’ boundaries! You’ll be feeling like you are being manipulated to meet others demands. But as the month progresses, you’ll be able to stand your ground and find your balance within your own wants and needs

Favourable Dates: April 2, 5, 11, 14, 20, 23

Favourable Colours: Red & Green

TAURUS 20 Apr - 20 May

You would be feeling like you haven’t been focussed on the right priorities and your efforts have been wasted. You can’t run away from the problems. It’s time to re-group and put your thoughts in line. In romantic relationships, you might be feeling you’re putting in all the effort in nourishing the connection. Try not to let your feelings of being unappreciated create a rift. If you have to talk about things, focus on the root of things. Act on the principles that set a fire in your belly and set your heart aflame.

Favourable Dates: April 3, 8, 12, 17, 21, 26

Favourable Colours: Blue & Yellow

GEMINI 21 May - 20 Jun

There could be the desire to branch out to unknown territory. Listen to your heart and follow through. This month gives you the encouragement to pursue your passions. You can trust that you can have your head meet up with your heart and that it will lead you to the path you’re wanting to be on. Writers and artists of all kinds may want to take advantage of this energy to bring some added might to their projects. Think outside the box, dare to suggest the inconceivable, anything is possible.

Favourable Dates: April 1, 4, 10, 13, 19, 22

Favourable Colours: Red & Yellow

CANCER 21 Jun - 22 Jul

Feel the strength within yourself to take the higher road. You might be feeling like you aren’t sure if you can compromise with others. You’ll need to be honest with yourself if you’re looking at things from everyone’s perspective. Don’t let the feeling of anxiety stifle you. You might be questioning how much you can open up about your insecurities. You could be feeling that you need an “easier” way to reach your goals. You’ll have to dig deep and look hard for the inner flame of faith to keep you going.

Favourable Dates: April 7, 8, 16, 17, 25, 26

Favourable Colours: Brown & White

LEO 23 Jul - 22 Aug

This period will help to lighten any pressure you felt at the beginning of the month by placing your focus on fun with friends and creative activities. This month may carry some hints about how your creative playtime and maybe a little bit of romance, can help bring clarity to your future path. Take this time to go out with people who hold similar ideals, hopes, dreams and wishes as you. These are the people who will spur you on to actually seeing those dreams manifest.

Favourable Dates: April 2, 6, 11, 15, 20, 24

Favourable Colours: Red & Yellow

VIRGO 23 Aug - 22 Sept

You would show awareness of your emotions, your fears, and what scares you to death. Action will be less driven by impulse and more by the feeling that life is so short. You may be urged to get up on your soapbox about what matters to you You may find new paths that will be able to bring the security you’re looking for. After 10th your mind and desires will be fully focussed on making some of your wishes come true. Socialize with friends who share similar goals to yours; they’ll help you to achieve them.

Favourable Dates: April 1, 8, 10, 17, 19, 26

Favourable Colours: Blue & Yellow

LIBRA 23 Sept - 22 Oct

You will feel relentless in your desire to get to the root of any issue, regardless of the muck that comes with it. This would be a great time to have one-onone time with a great listener, or to go in for some talk therapy. Be mindful about how you wield your power, what you focus on or obsess about. Things can happen very suddenly kicking up a fuss and bringing breakthrough energy. You’ll be facing some reality, but will also be optimistic with some newly found inspiration that you can turn it around.

Favourable Dates: April 2, 6, 11, 15, 20, 24

Favourable Colours: Red & Green

SCORPIO 23 Oct - 21 Nov

You’ll be feeling the need to reel in any scattered emotions you’ve had. You’ll need to be careful not to allow your emotions to overtake you. You’ll be thinking about your reputation and how others see you compared with how you see yourself. You may be drawn to delve into mysterious topics like tarot, astrology, or life after death, this would be within reason with Mars activating your eighth house of death and transformation. Go for it, see what your investigations bring up.

Favourable Dates: April 2, 5, 11, 14, 20, 23

Favourable Colours: White & Green

SAGITTARIUS 22 Nov - 21 Dec

This period may give rise to aggressive interactions with partners and even outright displays of hostility. You may want to offset that energy by inviting partners to engage in activities like dance, martial arts, sports, or even debate to burn up the prickly excess energy. If something feels a little out of place, it’s a good idea to explore what can be done to make it suit your style. This month directs you to spend more time at home with family. Dig around your mind to see what motivates you to form loving relationships with others.

Favourable Dates: April 2, 8, 11, 17, 20, 26

Favourable Colours: White & Red

CAPRICORN 22 Dec - 19 Jan

This is a month for expanding beyond what you already know about yourself to see what can be improved for your benefit, and to the benefit of those who love what you have to share. It’s time for way of scheduling your life that fills you with energy. You could use some of the insights gained during the new moon to find new ways to apply your skills that make the everyday more enjoyable and useful to you and those you work with. Be attentive to your health for the entire month.

Favourable Dates: April 2, 8, 11, 17, 20, 26

Favourable Colours: White & Red

AQUARIUS 20 Jan - 18 Feb

This is a great month to use your voice to powerfully manifest what you love into the world. Everything related to your thoughts and words and your values and desires will be intensified. The planets will be sending over plenty of intuitive insights regarding how you can make it happen. By the 16th of the month, be open to changing your mind about what you thought you wanted for your future. Listen to your spidey senses for the next few days. Efforts to chase new love would bear fruit.

Favourable Dates: April 3, 9, 12, 18, 21, 27

Favourable Colours: White & Red

PISCES 19 Feb - 20 Mar

Everything you’re doing this month has you closer to your vision and it is also setting you up for some more stability in the future. Take a breath. You’re being asked to slow down a little bit and feel your gut before taking action. This has you further looking into what is going to make you happiest and has you viewing things with more determination. You could be feeling the need to have more stability and balance but rather than focusing on what you have, you’re focused on what you’re lacking. Try to give yourself a little bit of a break.

Favourable Dates: April 1, 8, 10, 17, 19, 26

Favourable Colours: Blue & Red

Manish Kumar Arora, 91-9871062000 | K.P. Astrologer, Numerologist, Tarot Card Reader & Vastu Consultant F www.facebook.com/manishastroconsultant | E manish@manishastrologer.com

The life of war poetWILFRED OWEN

By Margaret Brecknell

Wilfred Owen was born 130 years ago this month. He only lived to the age of 25 and at the time of his tragic death, shortly before the end of World War I, was virtually unknown as a writer.

Now he is rightly heralded as one of Britain’s greatest war poets, whose work chronicles the experiences of a lost generation of young men sent to its death on the battlefields of Northern Europe.

Owen is often associated with his birth county of Shropshire, but he

also spent much of his childhood in Birkenhead on the Wirral. The eldest of four children of railway man, Tom Owen, and his wife Susan, he was born on 18th March 1893 in his mother’s family home of Plas Wilmot. Dating from the late 1820s, this elegant late Georgian villa in the Shropshire town of Oswestry had been a much-loved family home for seven decades. However, shortly before Wilfred’s fourth birthday, his grandfather died and unexpected financial difficulties meant that Tom and Susan Owen were compelled to sell Plas Wilmot.

Soon afterwards, Tom Owen became station master at Birkenhead’s Woodside Station (now no longer in existence) and the young Wilfred moved with his family to the Wirral. The poet is commemorated with a blue plaque on the house of Elm Grove in Tranmere where the family lived from 1900 to 1903. They subsequently moved twice more to properties nearby.

Much of what we know about the war poet’s early life comes from the autobiography of his younger brother, Harold, entitled Journey From Obscurity. The industrial surroundings of Birkenhead contrasted sharply with

the family’s former home in the heart of rural Shropshire and the poet’s mother, Susan, reportedly found it especially difficult to adjust to this change in lifestyle.

Wilfred and Harold Owen were both educated at Birkenhead Institute, a boys’ grammar school on Whetstone Lane which was eventually demolished in 1970. Wilfred appears to have enjoyed school life and was popular with his teachers, but he is depicted as a quiet, shy child who was happiest when reading his books and writing. In contrast, his brother, Harold, was disruptive, with such a reputation for fighting that on one occasion he was warned by the Headmaster that “the Institute is not a training school for prize fighters”.

In 1907, Tom Owen was appointed assistant superintendent of the Joint Railways in Shrewsbury and the family returned to Shropshire, where Wilfred attended Shrewsbury Technical School until 1911. He had hopes of continuing his education at the University of London, but failed to win a scholarship and instead went to

work as a parish assistant to the vicar of Dunsden in Berkshire.

Owen had been raised in a devoutly Christian household and this move seems to have been intended as a stepping-stone to a career in the church. Instead, his 18-month stint in the role appears to have had the opposite effect, only serving to impress on the young Owen that his real interest lay in writing poetry and not theology. When he fell ill in early 1913, he returned to the family home.

There was little money to be made from writing poetry alone, so, in pursuit of a regular income, Owen left England for southern France and began a new role as a tutor at the

Berlitz Language School in Bordeaux. In contrast to the quiet little schoolboy depicted in his brother’s memoir, the budding poet appears to have embraced life in the French city. He wrote home about making new friends, commenting in one letter that conversation could “equal, and supplant even, novel-reading”.

In June 1914, he became tutor to the affluent Leger family’s only daughter and took the opportunity to join them for the summer at their home in the French Pyrenees. He was excited to meet a friend of the family named Laurent Tailhade there. The flamboyant Frenchman, a poet of some distinction, proved to be an important influence on the young Owen’s work.

Owen would later evoke the past joys of that golden summer at the Villa Lorenzo in Bagneres de Bigorre in the 1917 poem, From My Diary. It begins, “Leaves murmuring by myriads in the shimmering trees.

Lives wakening with wonder in the Pyrenees.

Birds cheerily chirping in the early day.

Bards singing of summer, scything through the hay.”

On returning to Bordeaux at the end of the summer, Owen began work in Merignac as a tutor to the children of the de la Touche family. Superficially, it appears that life continued to be good. Further north, however, World War I was already underway and in his letters home during this period Owen reveals a growing sense of guilt that he has not joined the fight. The final straw seems to come when he hears that the 60-year-old Tailhade has enlisted. In November 1914, he wrote to his mother, “I heard that Tailhade…is shouldering a rifle! Now I may be led into enlisting when I get home: so familiarise yourself with the idea!”

Owen’s journey home was not straightforward because of the practical difficulties involved in travelling the length of France and crossing the Channel during wartime. However, the following year he returned to England and, in the autumn of 1915, joined the 2nd Artist Rifles Officers Training Corps in London.

Following months of training, Owen

accepted a commission as an officer in the Manchester Regiment. He arrived in France during late December 1916. At first, he seems strangely excited about the prospect, writing that “There is a fine heroic feeling about being in France, and I am in perfect spirits”. However, within a matter of days Owen was sent to the front line and his mood changed abruptly.

“I have suffered seventh hell”, he wrote to his mother on 16th January 1917, adding that “I have not been at the front. I have been in front of it”. Owen, with 24 of his men, had been crowded together in a small dug-out, so far advanced that it was situated in the middle of No Man’s Land. The Germans bombarded it with heavy shelling for over two days before Owen was finally able to crawl out of it and return to his original position. “Those fifty hours were the agony of my happy life”, he wrote home.

This was only the start of Owen’s hellish existence on the front line. In March 1917, he suffered concussion when he fell into a deep shell hole whilst searching in the dark for a

missing comrade. He was given hospital treatment, but returned to the front days later only to face even more extreme conditions. At one point during April the German shelling was so intense that, in Owen’s own words, “For twelve days I did not wash my face, nor take off my boots, nor sleep a deep sleep”. One night, Owen was injured after being blown into the air by a shell and was compelled to shelter for several days in a hole near the corpse of one of his fellow officers. It is little wonder that soon afterwards he was diagnosed with shell shock.

In late June 1917, Owen was sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh, where he was placed under the care of Dr Arthur Brock. Brock’s treatment methods were revolutionary for the time. He believed in the value of occupational therapy and persuaded Owen to run an English literature class at the local Tynecastle School. Learning of Owen’s love of writing, he also encouraged him to confront his inner demons through the medium of poetry. He gave Owen the role of editor of The Hydra, the

hospital’s short-lived magazine, and this is where two of Owen’s early poems (Song of Songs and The Next War) appeared in print for the first time.

Six weeks into Owen’s stay at Craiglockhart, another major influence on Owen’s work arrived for treatment at the hospital. Siegfried Sassoon was nine years older than Owen and already a well-known poet. Owen was said to have been in awe of Sassoon at their first meeting, but the more experienced man took him under his wing and became a mentor to him.

It is strange to think that, without Brock’s intervention and Sassoon’s guidance, Owen’s war poems might never have seen the light of day. The final handwritten draft for one of his most famous poems, Anthem for Doomed Youth, exists to this day and it is still possible to discern Sassoon’s suggested edits on the manuscript. Sassoon encouraged Owen to adopt a more realistic and direct style, enabling the younger man to better express his message regarding the futility of war and the senseless loss of life.

Owen’s most famous poem, Dulce et Decorum Est, was also written during his time at Craiglockhart. The title comes from the work of Roman

poet, Horace, who once wrote, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori”, meaning “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”. In his poem Owen turned this concept on its head, focusing, instead, on the appalling conditions which soldiers in the trenches, like him, faced on a daily basis. His opening lines capture in verse perfectly the nightmarish reality of life on the front, recalling the aftermath of one gas attack experienced by Owen and his comrades during those dark days of early 1917,

“Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge.”

Like nearly of all Owen’s work, this remarkable poem was not published until after his death. He remained at Craiglockhart until early November 1917, following which he rejoined his regiment. Initially, Owen was not posted abroad, but instead was given a clerical role, acting as the Mess Secretary to a group of 70 or so officers

stationed in the Clarence Gardens Hotel at Scarborough. Subsequently, his recuperation continued at Ripon.

During this period Owen continued to write poetry and, through his association with Siegfried Sassoon, was introduced to many of the era’s most influential literary figures. By the summer of 1918, Owen appears to have already been planning his first book of war poems. Sadly, he didn’t live long enough to see them published.

In June 1918, he was declared fit for active service. Two months later, he returned to France where he served with distinction, winning a Military Cross for “conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty” with the citation noting that he “personally manipulated a captured enemy machine gun from an isolated position and inflicted considerable losses on the enemy”. Just a month after this action, Owen was killed, on 4th November 1918, by a German machine-gunner whilst attempting to lead his men across the Sambre Canal near Ors in northern France. His parents famously received the fateful telegram regarding his death a week later, as the local church bells rang out to mark the end of World War I.

Following his untimely death, friends and family of the poet were determined to publish his work before he was largely forgotten. The first collection of Wilfred Owen’s war poems was published just two years after his death in December 1920, including a foreword by Siegfried Sassoon. A later, more complete, anthology, was compiled and published eleven years later by Edmund Blunden, who wrote in his introduction that a sense of Owen’s “promise and achievement has deepened since 1920”.

Today, Owen’s legacy as a poet is assured, with his work rightly known and admired across the world. Through the publication of his brother’s recollections of family life and the preservation of the many evocative letters he sent home from the Western Front, it is also possible to discover much about the man behind the poetry, Wilfred Owen himself.

Above: Birkenhead Institute War Memorial in Hamilton Square commemorating Wilfred Owen - Credit: “Phil Nash/CC BY-SA 4.0”

Easter Bonnets

By Lucy Newton

With Easter just around the corner it is a time to welcome traditions both old and new. From simnel cake to easter eggs, to attending church on Easter Sunday it is a time of hope, new beginnings and joy. However, one tradition that some of us may not be as familiar with is that of Easter Bonnets. Here writer Lucy Newton takes a look at where this age-old tradition stemmed from, the history of feathered hats and how to make hats work for you!

For those of us who have heard of this tradition, Easter bonnets may be synonymous with children, homemade over the top bonnets, adorned with everything from plastic eggs, to papier mache bunny rabbits. However an Easter bonnet actually refers to any new or fancy hat worn by tradition within Church as a headcovering during Easter.

It has long been tradition to wear new clothes during the festival of Easter. In the 4th century, during the rule of Emperor Constantine (the first emperor to practise Christianity) it was common for many Romans to don new clothing to symbolise new life and also to celebrate the end of lent, a time of restriction and frugality. By the 16th century it actually became bad luck not to have new clothes to wear on Easter Sunday, with a 16th century satirical rhyme alluding to this “At Easter let your clothes be new, or else be sure you will it rue”.

With hats being both a statement piece and also in line with religious rules to cover one’s head in Church, it is clear as to why they were a popular choice during Easter time. Some hats were extremely ornate, and back in the 19th century it was extremely common for hats to include bird feathers. Ostrich, Peacock, Pheasant and Marabou were often seen adorning wide brimmed hats on top of hair piled high.

Infamous hats of the past: This silk bonnet with birds dating back to 1890. Now located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This bonnet is a clear example of the extremes the fashion industry went to during this time, to incorporate bird feathers in their designs.

Audrey Hepburn also made hat history with her appearance in the 1964 film ‘My Fair Lady’. Although not filmed at the time, the film was set in 1912 which was a time when plumage and the use of birds feathers in hats was rife. Hepburn portrayed the character ‘Eliza Doolitle’ attending Royal Ascot and made history with her elaborate feather hat. The hat combined with the dress sold at auction in 2011 for an eye watering 3.7 million pounds.

However, during the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, fashion fast became the main killer of birds, with many exotic species such as Ostriches and

Flamingos facing extinction. Appalled by this murderous craze, seemingly dominating the hat industry, in 1889 Emily Williamson, born in Lancaster but who grew up in Didsbury, began her campaign ‘Wear No Feathers’. Williamson began her campaign by asking a group of her friends for tea at her home in Fletcher Moss Park, Manchester and asked them to pledge to boycott any clothing or hats that featured feathers. From there, campaigns and popularity for the boycott grew and the ‘Royal Protection of Birds Society’ was born. The core aim of the society was to fight against the use of birds feathers in fashion to avoid the inevitable extinction they would otherwise face. It is estimated that 61 species of birds were at the brink of extinction during this period of time due to the use of bird feathers in the fashion industry. The ‘all women’ movement quickly gained pace and in 1908 the plumage prohibition act was proposed to MP’s in parliament. In 1921 the bill was passed, banning the importation of exotic bird feathers to be used in women’s hats.

Nowadays, womens hats still remain as popular as ever with approximately 1000 hat designers and dedicated milliners working within the UK, a milliner being someone who designs, makes, trims or sells women’s hats. Milliners work by marking out and cutting patterns to create designs for hats. They then cut out the various components and assemble the hat. This can involve twisting, rolling, folding and sewing various parts.

Luckily, in the North West, we are fortunate enough to have a number of well established milliners at hand. Sue Wood Millinery located in Cheshire, created in 2013 being one example. Sue began her business after being determined to wear an elegant hat to her daughter’s wedding. Unable to find one on the high street that suited her, she enrolled on a three day millinery course and fell in love with the art of millinery. She then did courses at Liverpool community college and Leeds College of Art, to establish what is today ‘ Sue Wood MIllinery’. Sue offers not only bespoke services, creating hats for the likes of weddings, funerals and theatrical millinery, but also offers millinery courses for those interested in giving hat making a go themselves!

Sara Gadd millinery in Cumbria, established in 2002 also shares a similar passion for the art of millinery. Sara’s work is inspired by the intrinsic beauty found within nature and flowers, with her designs showcasing bold colours and hand crafted silk flowers. Her website saragadd.co.uk showcases some of these beautiful designs.

So whether it be a hat for a wedding, funeral, the races or taking a modern twist on an ‘Easter Bonnet’ there are plenty of ethical, beautiful designs on offer here in the North West that manage to avoid the use of any papier mache bunnies!

THE HANDY HAT GUIDE

How do I know what kind of hat to go for?

With plenty of milliners around and ample hat choices on the high street, choosing the right hat can be confusing. When deciding on the perfect hat, there are a number of things to consider:

• What is the occasion?

• Are you wanting sun protection?

• What colours suit you?

• What is your face shape?

As a general rule of thumb, a hat wants to balance out the proportions of your body. Tall crowns and upturned brims are lengthening, while wide and down turned brims make you appear shorter. A hat’s brim should be no wider than the width of your shoulders and finally the larger your build, the more hat you can get away with.

You then need to consider your face shape. Hats can either compliment or accentuate facial features, so getting it right is essential! When considering your face shape, here is a handy guide to help you find the perfect hat for any occasion:

Long Faces: Any hat that cuts across the forehead are best for long faces, in order to shorten your face. For example wide brimmed hats, cowboy hats and sun hats.

Round Faces: Angular hats are your best bet to counteract the roundness of your face. For example retro hats such as fedoras or cloches.

Heart Shaped Faces: You will look best in any shaped hat that de-accentuates the wider top part of your head. Think baseball caps, newsboys or fedoras. Avoid floppy brims as the extra volume may result in the top of your head looking wider than it is!

Square Faces: Soften square faces with floppy or wide brimmed hats.

Oval Faces: Lucky you! An oval shape can pull off nearly any style of hat so the choice is yours!

Diamond Faces: An outback style is popular among diamond shaped faces. Hats with a medium brim that are structured can work to create symmetry with a more pointed chin which is common amongst diamond shaped faces.

Red Rose Awards Finalists announced!

Almost 100 businesses have earned a place in the final round of the Red Rose Awards 2023, the UK’s biggest regional business awards.

After rigorous selection processes, six companies in each of the 21 categories will now be invited to Burnley FC’s Turf Moor on February 8 and 9 to present their cases in person to independent judging panels.

The panels, consisting of business leaders from various sectors across Lancashire, will hear the case of every finalist before agreeing their winner in each category.

Those names will be kept a closely-guarded secret until the awards ceremony itself on March 9 at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens.

An audience of more than 1,000 is expected at the finale of the awards programme, which is now in its 13th year of celebrating the most innovative, impactful and successful Lancashire businesses.

The categories up for grabs include sector-specific awards such as digital, professional services and tourism. There are awards for specific achievements, such as customer service and scaling-up, and three new awards for 2023: the transformation award, commitment to skills award and one recognising the best of environmental, social and governance (ESG).

Each of the companies on the shortlist has been assessed for suitability by global top 10 auditing specialist RSM.

Karen Musgrave, office managing partner for RSM Preston, said: “We are very proud to be the validation partner for the Red Rose Awards this year. We have seen so many fantastic entries, from both familiar faces and future stars, showcasing the entrepreneurial and dynamic spirit of our region.

“We wish the best of luck to the finalists as they move on to the next stage and look forward to celebrating the successes of local businesses at the upcoming awards ceremony.”

Lancaster University, a global top 100 institution, is supporting the awards as the official judging partner.

Mark Rushforth, the university’s associate director of enterprise and innovation, said: “Lancaster University has a long history of working with and supporting businesses across the Lancashire region to innovate and grow. We recognise the hard work that organisations have been doing over the years, and we are both excited and proud to be the Red Rose Awards judging partner this year.

“We look forward to reviewing the entries and as well as the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of all those who have taken the time to put themselves forward for this event.”

This year’s awards have again been sponsored by Forbes Solicitors, the headline sponsor every year since its inception, alongside Barclays, which has sponsored the event for each of the last ten years.

Pauline Rigby, managing partner at Forbes, said: “Shortlisting this year was incredibly difficult. The calibre of the businesses was outstanding and a testament to the quality of businesses we have here in the county.

“Congratulations to all, and we look forward to meeting them at the judging process which continues to be one of my favourite days in the business calendar.”

John Stanworth, head of corporate banking at Barclays in Lancashire and Cumbria, said: “The entries for the Red Rose Awards 2023 are of great quality and it’s been fantastic to see businesses that haven’t been involved before put themselves forward.

“It has been a very difficult job indeed and those that have been named finalists should be very proud. We look forward to meeting all the shortlisted businesses on the judging days and celebrating the success of the Lancashire business community on the big night in March.”

Stephen Bolton, managing director of Lancashire Business View which organises the awards, said: “As our partners have mentioned, the calibre of entrants and finalists this year is exceptionally high. We’re proud that we’re able to bring such a fantastic group of businesses together and showcase their achievements.

“The standard of competition is also why it’s important for us to have a thorough, impartial and credible judging

process in place. That’s why alongside our headline sponsors, Forbes Solicitors and Barclays, we have RSM and Lancaster University leading the verification and selection process.

“Any business that wins an award can be especially proud knowing how tough it is to shine above all of their peers and to have their excellence recognised by the independent judging panel.”

The Red Rose Awards 2023 finalists are:

Built Environment Award

Sponsored by: Harrison Drury Solicitors

• Anderton Gables, Preston

• Fox Brothers Group, Blackpool

• Harrison Pitt Architects, Lancaster

• Kingswood Homes, Little Hoole

• Pendle Hill Properties, Burnley

• Wareing Buildings, Preston

Commitment to Skills Award

Sponsored by ELE Advanced Technologies

• Advocacy Focus, Accrington

• Ewood Experience, Blackburn

• Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Chorley

• Shelter Lancashire, Blackburn

• VEKA, Burnley

• WEC Group, Darwen

Customer Service Award

Sponsored by Serconnect

• Alcidion UK, Burnley

• Havwoods Global Holdings, Carnforth

• International Dyslexia Learning Solutions (IDLS), Lancaster

• Trident Utilities, Blackpool

• WCF Fuels North West, Carnforth

• Woodcocks, Haworth & Nuttall Solicitors, Accrington

Design Award

Sponsored by Peter Scott Printers

• Bigtank Productions, Ramsbottom

• EXP, Lancaster

• Kingfisher Couture, Chorley

• StudioLWD, Poulton Le Fylde

• TCB Designs, Burnley

• Think!Creative, Poulton Le Fylde

Digital Award

Sponsored by Pierce

• +24, Burnley

• Alcidion UK, Burnley

• Granby Marketing Services, Blackburn

• Novi Digital, Lancaster

• Scrap Local, Accrington

• VisionsLive, Lancaster

Employer of the Year Award

Sponsored by Four Recruitment

• B2BTradeCard, Chorley

• Granby Marketing Services, Blackburn

• Pendleside Hospice, Burnley

• Senator International, Accrington

• Service Care Solutions, Preston

• Tharstern, Colne

Environmental, Social and Governance Award

Sponsored by Community Foundation for Lancashire

• Backhouse Jones, Clitheroe

• Burnley FC in the Community, Burnley

• CooKit, Burnley

• Landfill Projects, Chorley

• Leighton Hall, Carnforth

• The Wellbeing Farm, Edgworth

Export Award

Sponsored by PM+M

• BMP Europe, Accrington

• GA Pet Food Partners, Chorley

• Interfloor, Rossendale

• International Dyslexia Learning Solutions (IDLS), Lancaster

• MattressTek, Rossendale

• VetPlus, Lytham 

Family Business Award

Sponsored by Napthens Solicitors

• Addison Precision, ThorntonCleveleys

• Decca Plastics, Preston

• GA Pet Food Partners, Chorley

• Leighton Hall, Carnforth

• Readyfix, Preston

• Stables Pies, Clitheroe

Health and Wellbeing Award

Sponsored by Alcidion

• Burnley FC in the Community, Burnley

• Delta Care, Preston

• Essentialise Workplace Wellbeing, Preston

• Healthier Heroes CIC, Burnley

• Revive Mind Body, Waterfoot

• Unique Home Care, Preston

Large Business Award

Sponsored by Forbes Solicitors

• BAKO, Preston

• Bowland Inns & Hotels, Clitheroe

• CMAC Group, Accrington

• Hippo Motor Group, Blackburn

• Senator International, Accrington

• Star Tissue UK, Blackburn

Made in Lancashire Award

Sponsored by Barclays

• Addison Precision, ThorntonCleveleys

• CooKit, Burnley

• Scentish, Rawtenstall

• Sm@rt Technology, Preston

• VetPlus, Lytham

• WEC Group, Darwen

Medium Business Award

Sponsored by Azets

• Aspire UK Interiors, Nelson

• CooKit, Burnley

• Granby Marketing Services, Blackburn

• LCM Environmental Services, Burnley

• Service Care Solutions, Preston

• Unique Home Care, Preston

Micro Business Award

Sponsored by Chorley Council

• icon kitchen studio, Rawtenstall

• Nook, Euxton

• NORI HR And Employment Law, Accrington

• North Star Projects, Heysham

• NW Recruitment Services, Burnley

• Think!Creative, Poulton-le-Fylde

New Business Award

Sponsored by U Start Project

• MPTENGINEERING, Burnley

• Nook, Euxton

• OnyxPDA, Chorley

• Stipendium, Chorley

• Switch Property Group, Preston

• Upholstery2u, Nelson

Not-for-profit Award

Sponsored by United Utilities

• Advocacy Focus, Accrington

• Blackburn & Darwen Youth Zone, Blackburn

• DEPHER CIC, Burnley

• Empowerment Charity, Blackburn

• Pendleside Hospice, Burnley

• The Boathouse Youth, Blackpool

Professional Services Award

Sponsored by Porsche Centre Preston

• Adkirk Law, Preston

• Backhouse Jones, Clitheroe

• Becketts FS, Poulton Le Fylde

• Brown & Co, Thornton-Cleveleys

• Eventus Recruitment Group, Lancaster

• Woodcocks, Haworth & Nuttall Solicitors, Accrington

Scale-Up Award

Sponsored by Cube Thinking

• B2BTradeCard, Chorley

• Chiptech, Lancaster

• Hippo Motor Group, Blackburn

• LCM Environmental Services, Burnley

• Northern Industrial, Blackburn

• Star Tissue UK, Blackburn

Small Business Award

Sponsored by Fox Group

• +24, Burnley

• B2BTradeCard, Chorley

• Chiptech, Lancaster

• International Dyslexia Learning Solutions (IDLS), Lancaster

• Poppy Signs, Chorley

• Scentish, Rawtenstall

Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Award

Sponsored by Porsche Centre Bolton

• 263 Preston, Preston

• Holmes Mill, Clitheroe

• Lancashire Outdoor Activities Initiative - Anderton Centre, Chorley

• Mytton Fold Hotel, Blackburn

• The Wellbeing Farm, Edgworth

• Winter Gardens Blackpool, Blackpool Transformation Award

Sponsored by UCLan

• Blackpool Council, Blackpool

• Empine Group, Darwen

• KeyFleet, Blackburn

• LCM Environmental Services, Burnley

• Nelson & Colne College Group, Nelson

• The Wellbeing Farm, Edgworth

The awards are sponsored by Alcidion, Azets, Bigtank Productions, Burnley FC, Business Health Matters, Campbell & Rowley, Chorley Council, Community and Business Partners, Community Foundation for Lancashire, Cube Thinking, ELE Advanced Technologies, Four Recruitment, Fox Group, Harrison Drury Solicitors, Mattioli Woods, Peter Scott Printers, Pierce, PM+M, Porsche Centre Bolton, Porsche Centre Preston, Napthens Solicitors, Nybble. co.uk, Sales Geek, Serconnect, The Fun Experts, United Utilities, University of Central Lancashire and U Start Project.

The awards are supported by AMRC North West, RBC Brewin Dolphin, Daniel Thwaites, Mytton Fold, Partners&, Pink Link, Marketing Lancashire, Shout Connect and Winter Gardens Blackpool.

All finalists can be viewed on the awards website: www.redroseawards.co.uk/event/ finalists.

THE PERFECT FOREVER HOME NEAR PRESTON

FOR families looking for a forever home, Redrow has the perfect property that offers lots of flexible space to suit different lifestyles.

Located on the second phase of Redrow’s award-winning Tabley Green development in Fulwood, The Balmoral is a substantial four-bedroom family home.

Inside the kitchen incorporates a dining area, with wide patio doors opening out onto the rear garden, and there are double doors through to the main lounge to encourage sociability. There’s another reception room that is ideal for use as another lounge or could be a home office or kids’ playroom. The ground floor also enjoys other modern essentials like a cloakroom, utility room and detached double garage.

Upstairs both the main and second bedroom feature an ensuite, while the family bathroom serves the two remaining double bedrooms.

The Orchards is home to some of Redrow’s larger styles at Tabley Green, which is located less than four miles from Preston and close to open fields and farmland, creating a semi-rural feel.

Sian Pitt, sales director at Redrow Lancashire said: “To some, a forever home might be the stage after buying a first homewhen more space is needed to fit a growing family. This is the home that people aim to stay in for a long time and, to fit the bill, a key factor is adaptable space, so needs can be met at different times as the family evolves.

“In the Balmoral, the extra downstairs room might be a playroom or a ‘chill’ room while the kids are still at home. Then, once they have fled the nest, it could be transformed into a study or a reading room. And that’s the beauty of this home.”

The Orchards, has all the benefits of being close to the bustling city centre of Preston, with all the restaurants, bars and shopping amenities that offers, while closer to home a Sainsbury’s supermarket, Post Office and more, provide all the essentials.

Preston is accessible from a number of major motorway networks so it’s easy to connect with the wider area, and its trains travel to places like Manchester, Liverpool, London, Edinburgh, and The Lake District.

And, for homeowners wanting to enjoy the great outdoors, Brockholes Nature reserve is just over 10 minutes away..

To find out more about The Orchards at Tabley Green or to book an appointment with Redrow’s sales team, visit www.redrow.co.uk/tableygreen or call 01772 507449.

left: The Balmoral

St YL i SH BAR RooM FURNitURE AND ACCESS oRi ES LUXURioUS D iNi NG t ABLES AND RooM SE tS

St UNN i NG S tAt UES AND D iSp LAY piECES

FABUL o US L i GHtiNG AND H o ME DEC oR

10 EASTER IDEAS FAMILY FUN FOR ALL

1. Easter Brekkie

Eggs are the first thing we think of right? Well whether you like them fried, scrambled or boiled you can always create your own easter themed brekkie. You can easily turn a fried egg into a bunny face, with toast soldiers for ears and use a blob of ketchup for nose, maybe bits of bacon for eyes, or more sauce, and thin toast strips for whiskers.

Or use thin toast soldiers to build a nest around a boiled egg or scrambled eggs.

Pancakes – you can buy ready made pancakes to just put in the toaster, or home made (simple recipes are readily available online). Then decorate again into a rabbit with fruit for nose and eyes (blueberries/raspberries/sliced banana etc.) You can use vertical slices of half a banana for ears or cut ear shapes from another half of a pancake. It’s fun to put all ingredients in the middle of the table and all make them together.

2. Artistic Ideas – Painting Eggs

Hard boil some eggs and let them cool before colouring. You can then use water based paints (better for younger children) or acrylic or use felt tips, markers or paint pens. (You can find paint pens online at sites like Amazon, or

try arts and craft high street stores). Its fun for the whole family to create an entire egg box full of characters, these could be animals like chicks or bunnies or a creation of your own. You could even then progress to the added step of decorating the egg box! With stickers or paint, and turn it into a barn, or a nest or well anything you can think of. Maybe even alien egg creatures in their own egg box space craft!

You can also collect egg shaped pebbles if you are lucky enough to live by the seaside or be visiting, and paint Easter Egg designs on them.

3. Home-Made Decorations

Easter cards, paper flowers, pom pom bunnies or chicks. Again if you are stuck for ideas there are lots of websites full of inspiration.

4. Bunny Ears Headbands

These are quite simple to make if you have a basic head band, you can then use pipe cleaners to mould into ears. You can first wrap a headband with ribbon for extra decoration, and add your own flowers, paper/real/ fake. Attaching with either glue or by tying with string.

5. Bunny bags

If you can source some small paper bags (or maybe make your own pouches from A4 paper). You can place sweet eggs inside, like mini eggs, then tie into a pouch with a piece of string or ribbon. Then with the top section, cut it into a slit, and cut or shape into two bunny ears. Finally you need to draw a face on the front and colour if you want.

Bunny sweet cups – turn everyday paper drinking cups into a bunny. By painting or stinking paper decorating onto the cup for a face and then making paper/card bunny ears to stick onto the rim, and fill with sweets or popcorn.

There are tones more creative ideas to inspire you online – just search Easter Crafts.

6. Egg Hunts

There are lots of ways to do egg hunts, you can do them at home, in the house or in the garden, or you could go to a local park area, or join an organised local egg hunt. You can just hide eggs for everyone to find, or you could turn you egg hunt into a clue based hunt. If you can’t think of your own clues there are plenty of sites which provide some clues for you, either way this just makes the hunt even more fun.

7. Flower pressing

Flower pressing kits are quite affordable and can often be found in local arts and crafts stores, or online, again Amazon is always useful.

8. Baking

Easter Egg cookies or rabbit or chick shaped cookies if you have a mould. And ice them with pre-made or homemade icing.

You can turn simple cupcakes or buns into chicks or bunnies too.

9. Play a Game

You could make your own Pin the Tail on the Bunny, (or you can purchase a version). You could have your own Egg and Spoon or Sack Race. Easter Bingo or do some Egg Rolling. For this you will need to get out and find a sufficient hill, then you simply roll your eggs down the hill, in an egg rolling race. (Sometimes fun to then roll down the hill yourselves after!)

10. Easter movie time

Once you have made your sweet packs and cookies and found all your easter eggs and treats, and done enough rolling down hills, what better way to do next than cuddle up and watch a good easter classic. Some ideas are – Peter Rabbit (1 & 2), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Wreck it Ralph, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Farmageddon, Wallace and Gromit, Rise of the Guardians, maybe even Watership Down. (That one is a tearjerker though!) But you could invite your other relatives or friends to join you by having a Watch Party. This feature is available on services such as Amazon Prime Video, or you can just time this between yourselves!

Or if you want to put extra icing on the easter cake, you can find many companies online who hire out outdoor cinema equipment

RED HOT CHILLI PIPERS Announce May 2023 Shows!

Red Hot Chilli Pipers...celebrating 20+ years as the most famous bagpipe band in the world, ever!

There has never been anything quite like The Red Hot Chilli Pipers, from their formation in 2002 and a cameo appearance at T in the Park in 2004 with the Darkness to opening the main stage in their own right in 2014. The past 20+ years have seen the Red Hot Chilli Pipers become the most famous bagpipe band on the planet, ever! Bagpipes with attitude, drums with a Scottish accent and a show that carries its own health warning.

The band’s achievements have reached incredible heights with their ground breaking fusion of traditional Scottish music and rock / pop Anthems which they proudly call “Bagrock”. The Red Hot Chilli Pipers are a genuinely unique experience.

Tickets for the RED HOT CHILLI PIPERS – May 2023 UK Shows are available from:

Friday 5 May

LINCOLN – The Drill

Doors – 7.30pm

Saturday 6 May

HOLMFIRTH – Picturedrome

Doors – 7.30pm

Sunday 7 May

LYTHAM ST ANNE’SLowther Pavilion

Doors – 7.00pm

d thegigcartel.com/Artists-profiles/Red-HotChilli-Pipers

BOLTON SCHOOL

Infant and Junior Schools’ Open Evening

Thursday 27 April, 4.30pm-6.30pm

You and your child are warmly invited to attend our Infant and Junior Schools’ Open Evening where you can enjoy guided tours, experience our wonderful learning environment and meet Head Teachers, teaching staff and pupils. ey will tell you about the high academic standards and exciting extra-curricular and enrichment programme that will allow your child to flourish.

We look forward to welcoming you to this informal evening, where we can discuss your child’s educational journey.

Contact: 01204 434754

pdadmissions@boltonschool.org

www.boltonschool.org

Bolton School: A Place to Flourish

Every year up to 75 girls and boys set out on their school and, ultimately, life journey when they join the Reception Class at Bolton School Infants’ School.

Asignificant proportion will have progressed up from the School’s popular Nursery or from its Pre-School Class for 3 and 4-year olds but many are new to the School. Whatever path lies ahead for them, their parents know that they are giving them the very best start in life as they enjoy the fun, creativity, resources and learning that takes place in the Infant School where the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is consistently ranked as “outstanding” by the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate (ISI).

After three years at this exceptional, co-educational Infant School, pupils move up to either Hesketh House, the Junior Girls’ School (ages 7-11), or the Junior Boys’ School (ages 7-11) and then on to the nationally renowned Girls’ Division and Boys’ Division, both of which include their own Sixth Forms. At this point, they are joined by many more pupils from across the region who enrol in one of the Senior Schools. Like the EYFS findings, the latest ISI reports awarded both Divisions with the top mark of “excellent” in all categories.

As an academically selective independent day school, there is a clear focus on stretching and challenging every pupil. Students

reach their full potential through a wide range of extra-curricular and enrichment activities, regular visits to the School’s outdoor pursuits centre, volunteering and foreign travel. The School has a national reputation at sport and offers a rich variety of options in the creative arts. There are activities to suit all needs and tastes. Senior School pupils can choose from over 100 clubs and societies to join in each Division.

The curriculum is delivered by a highly qualified, experienced and dedicated teaching staff, who create an industrious and supportive environment where pupils are motivated to learn. Annual GCSE and A level results place the School amongst the best independent schools in the North and often within the top 100 nationally. The vast majority of students go on to their first choice university and there is a regular flow of sixth formers to highly competitive courses.

With over 2,500 pupils, Bolton School is one of the largest schools in the country but there is a strong emphasis on pastoral care and each child enjoys lots of personal attention in small classes. There is a thriving former pupils’ network, which holds regular reunions across the country and further afield. Many alumni return regularly to school to offer their wisdom and advice and to inspire the next generation.

Bolton School regularly wins awards for its educational offer. In 2019 it was the TES’ Independent School of the

Year and the Independent School Parent Magazine’s School of the Year. The School became the first school to achieve the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (the MBE for volunteering). Also in 2019, the school won the Fundraiser of the Year Award, a campaign which helps some pupils pay less or no fees and the year before that, the school won the TES’ Community Initiative Award and the MEN’s Active Community Award.

As the School’s new website attests, it is a place for children to grow, to be curious, to discover, to be inspired and to flourish.

If you are interested in finding out more about what it offers, the School holds regular open events and taster sessions. There is a Primary Division (ages 3-11) Open Evening on Thursday 27 April from 4.30pm-6.30pm. If you would like to register to attend or have an interest in enrolling your child in the Infant School (ages 3-7) or one of the single-sex Junior Schools, you should call Mrs Gore on 01204 434754.

The School will also hold Taster Mornings for Year 5 pupils who are considering entry into Year 7 of the Boys’ Division or Girls’ Division in September 2024 and these will be held on Thursday 8 June (for boys and their parents) and Friday 23 June (for girls and their parents) from 11.00am-1.00pm. You can register to attend one of these events by calling 01204 840201. The School’s Whole School Open Morning will take place on Saturday 7 October from 9.30am-2.00pm.

Shine a Spotlight on Your North West Unsung Teaching Hero

UK charity, The Teaching Awards Trust, is calling for the local community to nominate school staff in the North West for a prestigious national teaching award, televised by BBC One’s The One Show.

With the 2023 Awards now open for entry, it’s the perfect time to recognise those unsung teaching heroes in the North West and surprise them live on TV. Entries will be judged by a panel including The One Show host, Alex Jones.

The Unsung Hero award spotlights everyday heroes working in establishments providing full-time education to children aged 3-18. And it’s not just for teachers.

You can nominate any member of staff, including office staff, caretakers, lab technicians and all support staff. It gives them some of the recognition they deserve for all their hard work.

Silver winners enjoy a trip to London in July for a celebratory afternoon tea reception, followed by the annual

awards ceremony in November for both Silver and Gold winners.

As well as attending the ceremony at a London venue, winners get an overnight stay in a top London hotel, and a trophy to recognise their contribution to a profession that changes lives.

Last year, Redgate Community Primary School in Liverpool won Gold in the ‘Early Years Team of the Year’ category for all the hard work of their passionate and ever-evolving team to improve outcomes for the children.

They put the children at the heart of everything they do and have even shared their experiences and achievements at the Global Summit in China. Headteacher, Suzanne Webb said: “Our team is not content to do what everyone else does in their Early Years departments. They strive to put the children first and they challenge the boundaries. They are pioneers in their field.

“Our fantastic team realised early on in their journey that if you keep doing the same every day, you’ll keep getting the same old thing - they want

more than that for our children and families at Redgate. Our Early Years team is truly the foundation of our Redgate Family.”

Now the Pearson National Teaching Awards is calling for entries in North West for this year’s awards.

With so many schools and colleges in the North West, there must be plenty of unsung teaching heroes out there who deserve a bit of recognition.

If you know a teacher or anyone who works in your local nursery, school or college that deserves an award then don’t miss this opportunity!

You can nominate on the Teaching Awards website: www.teachingawards.com and the entry deadline for the 2023 National Teaching Awards is 24th February.

Sir Michael Morpurgo, celebrated author and former Children’s laureate, and President of the Teaching Awards

Trust, said: “People of all ages will always remember that amazing teacher who made such a difference in their lives, whether that’s igniting a fire for their favourite subject or the support they’re received outside the classroom. Teachers and school staff will never know how many lives they have changed, or the impact they have made on so many children and their families, but our hope is that these awards help show them our gratitude, how much we owe them, how much we value their dedication.”

NEW ACTS JOIN HIGHEST POINT FESTIVAL LINE UP

Organisers behind the Lancashire-based festival announce more acts added to the 2023 line up, including the likes of Sub Focus, Sigma, Friendly Fires and Freya Ridings

With 50% of tickets already sold, Highest Point has announced a huge variety of new acts joining its bumper weekend of music, food and activities from chart-topping artists and indie legends to underground house heads, D’n’B superstars and funk groovers.

‘Lost Without You’ singer, Freya Ridings will be joining the Highest Point line up in time to debut her new album, ‘Blood Orange’, as well as the Funk and Soul presenter and Corrie Legend, Craig Charles, who will be headlining The Woods stage.

More new names on the line up include indie band, Friendly Fires, British Drum and Bass DJ duo, Sigma, Drum and Bass legend, Sub Focus, DJ Mag Breakthrough winners Girls Don’t Sync return alongside the legend that is Skream plus Manchester-based indie band, The Lottery Winners, known for their top 40 hits ‘Young Love’ and ‘Hawaii’, and set to return for their third year at the festival.

The festival is set to be held from Thursday 11th – Saturday 13th May 2023 at the stunning 54-acre grounds of Williamson Park, and will be headlined by Hacienda Classical, Bastille and Anne Marie.

Hacienda Classical will open the festival on the Thursday night, with their first live performance since their sold out performance in 2018, and will be bringing all the dance floor anthems in classical versions you’ve never heard before. With three

number one albums to their name, Bastille will be performing a variety of their top 10 singles, which include ‘Pompeii’ and ‘Happier’, for their headline slot on the Friday night, and closing the festival will be ten-time Brit Award nominee, Anne-Marie, known for her chart-topping singles ‘Ciao Adios’ and ‘2002’.

As well as these incredible headliners, guests can expect to see more than one hundred artists across six stages over the course of the weekend, plus enjoy a premier regional street food and craft beer offering on-site.

Other acts joining the festival lineup include Radio 1’s Danny Howard & Charlie Tee, DJ Paulette, Gok Wan, House Gospel Choir, Elvis Fronted Nirvana, Toploader, General Levy and The Cuban Brothers with Guilty Pleasures taking over The Woods on the Saturday. Chris Hawkins (6 Music) will be hosting The Dell Inn, a pub in the woods, in collaboration with Manchester Union Brewery.

The Dell Inn, soon to be everyone’s favourite festival pub, will be the home of comedy, poetry slams and acoustic sets across the weekend, as well as opening its door, or branches, to some well-known stars. This is one of the many changes the festival has made this year as part of its ambitions to become bigger and better, as well as Bushrocker Hi-fi roots reggae takeover at the Waterfall and a new look to the much-loved Sundial stage.

Festival Director, Jamie Scahill, said ‘We are always looking for new ways to make Highest Point bigger and better every year so there will definitely be a few changes this year. The team behind the festival are working really hard to make this year the best one yet with new and exciting experiences added to the festival, as well as a much more diverse lineup of acts.”

With tickets selling fast and already 50% sold, full weekend tickets for Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the festival are available via Skiddle’s website, costing £145 per adult. Day tickets are also available from £39.50 per adult for Thursday, and Friday and Saturday tickets each costing £69.50 per adult.

HIGHEST POINT 2023 LINEUP

Hacienda Classical / Bastille / AnneMarie / Arielle Free / A Little Sound

/ Charlie Tee / Chris Hawkins / Craig

Charles / Cuban Brothers / Danny

Howard / DJ Paulette / Elvana / Freya

Ridings / Friendly Fires / General

Levy / Girls Don’t Sync / Goddard /

Gok Wan / Guilty Pleasures / House

Gospel Choir / K-Klass / Lottery

Winners / Skream / Sigma (DJ set) /

Sub Focus (DJ set) / Toploader / Turno

/ AMA / Beth / Bklava / Buckrocker Hi-

Fi / Eldon / Emily Makis / Funkademia

/ Ki Creighton / Matt Thiss / Matrefakt /

Mike Garry / Murphys Law / Nathan X

/ Nico Balducci / Phoebe Hall / Pirate

Copy / Sam Redmore with many more…

The setting for the festival could very well be one of the most beautiful event sites in the UK, with enchanting woodland, and breathtaking views over Morecambe Bay and the Lake District fells and mountains. The park is also home to Lancaster’s most iconic building, the Ashton Memorial, which dominates the city’s skyline at around 150 feet tall.

Highest Point Festival was recently awarded Large Event of the Year at the Lancashire Tourism Awards 2022 for its tourism excellence to the region, as it brings an economic impact of around £4.68 million to Lancashire, and a return on investment of £4.26 for the local economy for every £1 invested in the event.

In 2022 the festival welcomed 35,000 ticket-holders for four days of fun-filled musical performances from some of the music industry’s biggest names, including chart-toppers Clean Bandit, indie icons, Kaiser Chiefs, and The Verve’s legendary frontman, Richard Ashcroft, and were accompanied by the likes of Basement Jaxx, Sigala, Example, Low Steppa, as well as breakout stars Mae Muller and Mimi Webb, plus many more.

To buy tickets for Highest Point 2023, please visit: skiddle.com/festivals/highestpoint-festival

For more information on Highest Point Festival, please visit: highestpoint.co.uk

Pierce Appoints Director to Forensic Team

Pierce Business Advisory and Accountancy Group located in Blackburn Lancashire has appointed George Horley as director of the firm’s Forensic Accounting Team.

George has taken up his new appointment at Pierce following a position at Menzies LLP in London, for the past three years managing a team of four.

Training and qualifying as a chartered accountant in 2017, George has experience in civil and criminal litigation on matters including business valuations, contract, and commercial disputes, loss of profits claims, and consequential loss claims.

In addition, George has extensive knowledge in the preparation of

expert reports in criminal cases of fraud, theft, and money laundering.

The introduction of George follows a successful 2022 of employment for Pierce, with expansion across each department to manage the continued growth of new clients.

George said: “I am extremely pleased to join Pierce at a time of significant growth. I have specialised in forensic accounting for the last 10 years, 5 of which have been in London, and I am excited to see what the future holds at Pierce.

My background in commercial damage calculations, company valuations, and post-acquisition disputes lends itself to the interesting work currently undertaken by the Forensic Services team. My experience will present the opportunity for further growth as we look to take on appointments of varied nature

and complexity.” Managing Director James King added: “We are delighted to be welcoming George to the Pierce Team but particularly to our wellestablished Forensic Department. In our dedicated long-term plan to strengthen our company, the knowledge and expertise George has to offer will ensure the highest quality of service will continue.”

The highly skilled forensic accountants at Pierce have extensive experience in carrying out forensic accounting services and investigations in a wide range of cases from relatively small personal injury cases to multimillion-pound commercial disputes.

If you would like to join Pierce, please ask about current vacancies by emailing enquiries@pierce.co.uk or checking the Careers page at: www.pierce.co.uk

The Best Of British Beauty

Beauty pageant historian and judge Sally-Ann Fawcett looks back at 75 years of Britain’s oldest national beauty pageant, which began on the very site of the forthcoming Eden Project North in Morecambe.

When the Sunday Dispatch newspaper joined forces with Morecambe & Heysham Corporation to create a new tourist attraction for the town, few would’ve bet more than a shilling that it would still be going strong 75 years later.

But the Miss Great Britain pageant celebrated its Diamond Anniversary in 2020 and has cemented its status as the country’s longest-running beauty contest.

When recalling its history, it is little mentioned that Eric Morley - the creator of the Miss World contest - was instrumental in the origins of the Miss Great Britain pageant. As publicity officer for Mecca, the huge dance hall and bingo entertainment group, he agreed that some of the weekly heats could be held in his ballrooms, thus bringing new audiences to his venues, and instant prestige to the pageant.

But on 29th August 1945 there were no such luxurious surroundings for the contestants in the very first National Bathing Beauty Contest, as it was originally named. Watched by a crowd of 4,300 people, the finalists paraded round the windswept lido in a continuous downpour.

Morecambe’s Super Swimming Stadium had opened in 1936 and was said to be the largest outdoor pool in Europe. Built to rival Blackpool’s South Shore Swimming Coliseum, it

provided the perfect backdrop for the weekly heats and grand final of Miss Great Britain until the site’s closure in 1975 and subsequent demolition.

As Charles Eade, then editor of the Sunday Dispatch, explained, “Britain was still at war at the time and many of her loveliest girls were in the Services, but we decided to run a contest that year on modest lines and test the public’s reaction. Male members of the Forces were known to have more than passing interest in ‘pin-up girls’,

Above: Lydia Reid Miss GB 1945

Left: Sally Ann Fawcett with her Miss Great Britain book

Line up for first Miss GB in 1945

so it was agreed to let them judge the preliminary heats.”

Lydia Reid, a civil service typist from Morecambe, made history by becoming the first winner of the famous silver rose bowl, along with the other prizes: seven guineas and a swimsuit.

“Even buying a bathing suit back then was difficult as clothing coupons were so precious,” Lydia recalled many years later. “Luckily, my mother was a dressmaker and was able to run up a swimsuit for me out of a piece of white satin.”

As the pageant grew in popularity and prestige, as did the prize money, and by the early 70s the winner was taking home a cheque for £3,000.

One of the most famous faces to take the title was Violet Pretty from Birmingham who, after reigning as Miss Great Britain 1950, soon became known to the world under her stage name, Anne Heywood. She appeared in dozens of movies throughout her career and was nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe in 1967, for her role in The Fox, one of the first Hollywood films to portray a lesbian couple.

Anne is fit and well at the age of 88 and living in Beverly Hills with her second husband.

Another winner who would become a household name was 1957 victor Leila Williams, who went on to become the first female presenter of Blue Peter in 1957.

The first big scandal had hit the pageant two years earlier in 1955, when married winner Jennifer Chimes sensationally left her husband for one of the judges, comedian Max Wall. Their union didn’t last when Jennifer left the comic a few years later, causing the Miss Great Britain organisers to rethink their policy of allowing married women to compete.

They decided that, despite the controversy, the rule should stand, and to this day the contest welcomes single, married and divorced women on stage, the only major British pageant to do so.

Actress Anne Heywood Miss GB 1950

Miss GB Super Swimming Stadium

The top entertainers of the day were recruited to judge, coinciding with their summer season appearances at the local Morecambe theatres: Morecambe & Wise, Lionel Blair, Frank Ifield, Tommy Cooper, Bob Monkhouse, Les Dawson, Cannon & Ball, to name just a few.

Miss Great Britain finally burst onto the small screen in 1970, following negotiations with Yorkshire Television to broadcast the contest across the independent television network. The agreement remained until 1980, when the contract was transferred to the BBC.

The televised show didn’t always run smoothly. In 1975, some of

the contestants stormed off stage when the winner was announced, convinced the results had been fixed. The producer had to try and persuade them to return to the stage so they could re-record the crowning glory without their protest.

1985 marked the end of an era. Michael Grade, at that time the BBC’s Controller of Programmes, banned beauty pageants from the airwaves, calling them, “anachronistic, bordering on the offensive”, resulting in Jill Saxby - the future wife of the late snooker star Willie Thornebecoming the last Miss Great Britain to be crowned on national television.

Soon, the rumblings of political correctness became deafening; in 1989 Lancaster Council voted to end its 45-year association with the contest, and put the title up for sale.

Over the next three decades, the pageant changed hands several times, but still managed to stay in the headlines, courtesy of some newsworthy winners: Danielle Lloyd, the 2005 winner and Celebrity Big Brother contestant sacked due to her relationship with judge and footballer Teddy Sheringham; Zara Holland,

who lost her 2015 crown following her antics on ITV’s Love Island; 2014 Miss Great Britain Shelby Tribble, who went in to star in TOWIE, and Leilani Dowding, the 1998 victor who featured on The Real Housewives of Cheshire.

The biggest tragedy in the pageant’s history came with the suicide of Sophie Gradon, Miss Great Britain 2009, who took her own life after an appearance on Love Island and the ensuring mental health challenges that followed.

In the decades before the advent of reality TV, the winners sought fame via the quiz show hostess route. Susan Cuff (1975) was a longstanding hostess on Mr & Mrs, Marilyn Ward (1974) and Dinah May (1976) updated the It’s A Knockout scoreboard, while 1983’s Debbie Greenwood presented breakfast television alongside the late Frank Bough.

The 75th Miss Great Britain, crowned last year in Leicester, was 26-year-old Jen Atkin, from Grimsby, who made headlines by losing eight stones to win the title. She was also the first married winner since Debbie Greenwood in 1983.

Wendy George Miss GB 69 Swimming Stadium

Miss GB 87 line up

Alongside Jen, the very first Ms Great Britain was crowned, a new category for women over the age of 28. The winner was April Banbury, a bridal wear designer from Londonan apt-enough victory considering she had finished second in the Miss section twice before!

2021 brought yet more innovations to the contest, the creation of Classic Ms Great Britain, for women aged 40 and over, thus earning its reputation as being the most inclusive beauty pageant in the country.

The reigning Miss Great Britain is Amy Mesiak from South Lanarkshire, whose mum Laurie finished first runnerup in the Classic section that same night.

Miss Great Britain has come a long way since that first line-up of young women stood shivering in the Morecambe rain, but with entries for the contest reaching new heights of popularity, we raise a glass to the next era of Britain’s oldest and best known beauty pageant.

Miss Great Britain 1945-2020: The Official History, by Sally-Ann Fawcett is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Blackwells. To enter Miss, Ms or Classic Ms Great Britain 2023 go to www.missgreatbritain.co.uk 

Below: Morecambe’s last Miss GB Amanda Dyson 1989

Left: Sally Ann Fawcett with Amy Mesiak, Miss GB 2022

The Assheston Arms REVIEW

The Assheston Arms is back and if you have been before we think you will agree that it is better than ever. Sat in the picturesque village of Downham, wherever you have traveled from, the beauty and stories of this 16th century building is just waiting to be explored.

We were greeted by our lovely host, a down to earth Lancashire lass from Wigan who made us feel right at home. The locals were in the pub enjoying a bit of banter in the comfortable and traditional country pub atmosphere.

We were taken through to the dining room with dark wooden seating, a roaring log fire and a smell of something delicious in the oven.

The pictures hanging on the wall of country pursuits looked like they had been hanging there since yesteryear. Hunting, shooting and fishing scenes, horses and dogs, past times of many patrons of the Assheton Arms then and now.

This is the kind of place you could sit comfortably for a long time enjoying the homely atmosphere. There was a chunky specials board with lobster and oysters, smoked salmon, prawn cocktail and treats galore. The main menu had all the classics that you could want on a chilly night in

February. We had driven quite a way and felt really hungry so it was easy to choose. Also, we were able to talk as the tables are spread out to give diners their space to enjoy without others too close.

A great venue for people watching we noticed that the other diners were also having a lovely night. From Blackpool we really should not have indulged in the fish and chips, but we did and we were not disappointed. A lovely light and crispy batter surrounds a light fish which is large in size. The chips at the Assheton Arms are exceptionally tasty, triple cooked with the perfect amount of crunch, the peas were really nicely done, just the right consistency and

flavour. The home made tartar sauce was a great touch and added a bit of extra indulgence. Of course we had salt and vinegar sprinkled on top and cleared our big plates too quickly ,enjoying every mouthful.

To start with we had the home made mushroom soup with a big chunk of bread and butter (you are given a choice of brown or white) and the salt and pepper cauliflower with sweet chilli sauce. The soup I am told was fantastic, I had guessed from the number of times the spoon scraped on the bowl, but it was good to get the feedback from the horse’s mouth. The chef is definitely a crunch expert as the cauliflower was also cooked to perfection, with a strong unusual

flavour which did not have too much spice and heat, so it was extremely enjoyable and on the plus side hoping that there were one or two nutrients left in there.

Dessert was a difficult decision as again the stars of the pudding world were all on offer, creme brulee, sticky toffee pudding, cheesecake, crumble and the list goes on. We both went for the rhubarb bakewell off the specials board, with a lump of creamy vanilla ice cream on top. The bakewell was not too almondy or too sweet, it was a huge hit with enough Jam to know you are on to something sweet that you want a second helping of, but not too much that leaves you feeling like you have over done it. We were

tempted to get the truffles as well but we drew a line and decided to wait for next time to induce the food coma.

We had a lovely little trip, the menu is plentiful, the food is locally sourced where possible, the prices are reasonable and the service is spot on, not to mention the warmth of the hearty and relaxing environment.

If you are travelling from further than Blackpool take advantage of one of the Assheton’s 12 bedrooms.

As part of the Assheton estate you’ll find a lot to explore plus Pendle Hill if you are interested in the folk lore.

For bookings at Assheton Arms:

n 01200 439699

m Assheton Arms, Top Row, Downham, Clitheroe, Lancashire, BB7 4BJ

d asshetonarms.co.uk

ONLY 3 PLOTS REMAIN

Bowled Over!

By Lucy Newton

Covering 312 square miles of rural North East Lancashire and parts of Yorkshire, there is plenty on offer in the picturesque area of Bowland. Here writer Lucy Newton describes her experience of a day in the delights of Bowland and it’s safe to say, has been completely bowled over!

Bowland; It is an area I had heard plenty about but also an area I had visited very little despite living only 50 minutes away by car. It is difficult to imagine how this vast, beautiful area of countryside could be

overlooked, particularly by someone who prides themselves on exploring the outdoors. However with national parks such as the Lake District and Yorskhire Dales dominating magazines and social media pages, I had missed this unassuming part of the Lancashire countryside and I am so glad to have discovered all it has to offer. After visiting, I was hardly surprised to learn that it is voted the ‘number 1 area of outstanding natural beauty’ within Lancashire on the ‘All Trails’ website, with nearly six and a half thousand four star reviews.

After much deliberation and research I decided to dip my toe in the Bowland delights on a Saturday

lunchtime. My partner and I agreed to visit for a pub lunch and a walk along a river with our furry companion, Wally. Within the Bowland area there are 10 rivers, wyre’s and brooks to walk along, spanning across moorlands, lowland, cloughs and valleys. With ‘All trails’ offering 155 trails within the area with elevation gains ranging from 63 to 2,415 metres, we really were spoiled for choice!

With plenty of well established and decorated pubs and eateries to choose from including the ‘Inn at Whitewell’, ‘The Green Man’ and ‘The Fleece Inn’ I planned a circular route starting and ending at the ‘Parkers Arms’ located in Newton in Bowland after seeing it

deep history this town has on offer, I made a mental note to revisit Clitheroe for the day to take a trip to the likes of Clitheroe Castle and Whalley Abbey. Further on towards Newton in Bowland, we were treated to rolling fields, picture perfect landscapes and idyllic stone cottages which would look perfectly in place in a period drama.

Upon arrival at the Parkers Arms, I was firstly taken aback by the sheer size of their beautifully surrounded summer beer garden. With views over Bowland and the River Hodder, and a total of 20 picnic benches, I made yet another mental note to visit on a Summer’s day where a homemade cocktail would go down a little too well! The windows are adorned with their many awards including a nomination for the ‘Dog Friendly Pub’ award in 2017 and their most recent accolade ‘Number 1 Gastropub in the UK’. Through our greeting with front of house AJ, brother to owner Cathy, it is clear as to why this family run pub has such a well decorated front window. AJ was warm, inviting, informative and most importantly, extremely amenable to our furry companion! The pub exuded a warm and cosy atmosphere with a log burner fire, wooden tables and chairs and a small bar with a selection of Bowland Brewery beers on tap.

We were sat in the dog friendly area of the pub, nearest the bar (the dog free area is in an adjacent dining area). AJ explained that the menu is a three course menu for £45. There is no option to have just one course,

appear on the local news for winning Number 1 Gastropub in the UK and reading a number of impressive reviews.

With 13 years of business under its belt, and the last 8 of those years having been in the top 50 Gastropubs in the UK (2013-2023), I was extremely excited to visit this renowned family run pub.

The drive from West Lancashire to Newton in Bowland took us through the historical town of Clitheroe, driving past Northcote Manor, another well celebrated establishment, and past the impressive Royal Clithroe Grammar School. Fascinated by the

View from Clitheroe Castle

however I was very happy to oblige. For those who do not want the three course dining experience, there is an option to just order bar snacks. The

menu is short and seasonal as the Parkers Arms prides itself on using locally sourced, seasonal ingredients to deliver the freshest and tastiest

dining experience. A plethora of cocktails, both alcoholic and non alcoholic, were on offer including a sloe gin and rhubarb gin fizz. I settled on a ‘Rhubarb Sparkle’, a drink made from the premises’ own homemade fresh rhubarb syrup mixed with soda water and lemonade. As for the starters and main courses, the menu ranged from charcoal grilled cuttlefish, malay spiced gurnard, pheasant and mushroom pie and a 48 hour cider brined pork cutlet with rhubarb ketchup. With the pub being nominated for the ‘Game Awards’ in 2018 we thought it rude not to try the pheasant and what an excellent choice it was. The highlight of the culinary delights however had to be the dessert; a homemade ‘Wet Nelly’ tart. A pastry tart filled with dried fruit, nuts and syrup served with homemade marmalade ice cream.

The whole experience was a real treat, with exemplary food and five star service all while exuding warmth, comfort and friendliness and not the slightest air of pretentiousness.

Upon leaving the Parkers Arms we undertook our 7.5km circular route along the River Hodder, one of the main tributaries of the River Ribble.

Bridge Crossing River Hodder at Newton in Bowland

Ingleborough Cave

Not only does it provide a beautiful, tranquil setting in order to walk along, it also is home to Atlantic Salmon, Brown Trout and critically endangered European Eel, making it a desirable fishing spot (so long as the fish are returned!). The route takes walkers through rolling fields, riverside trails, bridleways and the quaint village of Slaidburn, home of James Radley (1884-1959) who was one of the first English aviators. The walk winds up back in Newton in Bowland, where walkers could then decide to visit the beautiful Browsholme Hall, a grade 1 listed building dating back to 1507. It is one of the oldest family homes in England and its outstanding hall and gardens are now open to the public. Visitors can delight in antique furniture and paintings, a 3 acre lake along with outstanding views of the nearby Fells.

This visit to Newton in Bowland and the Parkers Arms Pub provided a mere glimpse into all that the area of Bowland has to offer. If walking and eating doesn’t take your fancy, the Bowland area also has plenty of other alternative

activities including a visit to Bowland Wild Boar Park, located in Chipping. This park includes indoor and outdoor play centres, tractor rides and a number of animals to feed ranging from llamas, peacocks to (perhaps, obviously) wild boar! A fantastic day out for adults and children alike with 4.5 stars on TripAdvisor. Mrs Dowsons Farm Park, a renowned dairy farm supplying ice cream all over Lancashire, also offers a unique farm visit with activities such as ‘Goat Yoga’ and ‘Lambing Live’ which provides an opportunity for visitors to help hand feed orphaned lambs.

Alternatively, with attractions such as Ashton memorial and Ingleborough cave, both located in Lancaster, Beezley Falls and Scaleber Force Waterfall, Sawley Abbey and Lancaster Cathedral, there is surely something to tickle your fancy in the area of Bowland. It is safe to say that this beautiful area of Lancashire has not seen the last of me yet and I look forward to discovering more of this unassuming, charming part of the UK.

Scaleber Force

TEN NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS - From The North-West

By Margaret Brecknell

The prestigious Nobel Prizes have been awarded each year since 1901 for outstanding intellectual achievement in the field of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. An additional award, for economics, was introduced in 1968.

The awards were the brainchild of Swedish scientist and entrepreneur, Alfred Nobel, who made his fortune from inventing dynamite during the early 1860s. Upon his death in 1895, he left instructions in his will stipulating that the bulk of his estate be used to establish a set of awards. They were to be given annually to those who, over the preceding year, had “conferred the greatest benefit to mankind”.

Despite the odd controversial choice over the years, it is still considered a huge accolade to win a Nobel Prize. Each year, one hundred or more nominations for each of the six categories are received from across the globe. Here are ten notable Nobel Prize winners to have come from here in the North-West.

J.J. THOMSON (1856-1940)

The son of an antiquarian bookseller from Cheetham Hill in Manchester, Joseph John “J.J.” Thomson was just 14 years of age when he was first admitted to Owen’s College (now the University of Manchester) as a student. It was the beginning of an illustrious academic career. Not only did Thomson himself win a Nobel Prize, but also, in his role as Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge University, he taught

several students who subsequently went on to win the prestigious award.

Through his study of the properties of cathode rays, Thomson became, in 1897, the first scientist to discover the subatomic particle that is now known as the electron. This breakthrough is regarded as the beginning of modern atomic physics.

He received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1906 for his work on the conduction of electricity in gases. Later, his son, George, would also win a Nobel Prize. The Thomsons form part of a very select group of fathers and sons to have both won the award.

JJ Thomson

Credit - “George Grantham Bain Collection/Library of Congress”

WILLIAM BRAGG (1862-1942)

William Bragg was born in Wigton, Cumberland (now Cumbria), in July 1862. Having studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, his mentor, JJ Thomson, recommended him for the vacant position of Professor of Mathematics and Experimental Physics at Adelaide University. Bragg moved to Australia, aged 23, where he married and had a family, and did not return to the UK for over thirty years.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1915, in conjunction with his son, Lawrence, for their pioneering work at Leeds University in connection with the X-Ray analysis of crystal structures. The mineral, braggite, was subsequently named in honour of the two men, as it was the first to be discovered with the assistance of X-rays.

CHARLES BARKLA (1877-1944)

Widnes-born Charles Barkla studied at Liverpool University, before moving to Cambridge to continue his research under the tutelage of JJ Thomson. By his midthirties, Barkla was highly regarded in his own right and the influential physicist was appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy at Edinburgh University.

Barkla’s research focused on the use of X-rays to reveal structural and atomic information about chemical elements. Using a technique known as X-ray scattering, Barkla’s work into the characteristic X-rays of elements won him the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1917.

JAMES CHADWICK (1891-1974)

Born in the small Cheshire town of Bollington, James Chadwick studied at Manchester University under the man known as “the father of nuclear physics”, Ernest Rutherford. Having completed his master’s degree, he left England for Berlin in 1913 to work under Hans Geiger (of Geiger counter fame). Chadwick had been living in Germany for barely a year when World War I broke out and he spent the duration of the war in the Ruhleben internment camp.

After war ended, Chadwick returned to the UK and joined his former mentor, Rutherford, at Cambridge University. Here, in 1932, he made a breakthrough which was to transform nuclear science forever. He proved the existence of neutrons – subatomic particles without an electrical charge. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics three years later in recognition of this work.

Chadwick’s discovery would later pave the way for the creation of the atomic bomb. During World War II, he worked in the USA alongside American scientists on the Manhattan Project, which led to the development of the world’s first nuclear weapon. During the summer of 1945, he witnessed the detonation of the first atomic bomb at a test site in New Mexico.

NORMAN HAWORTH (1883-1950)

At the age of 14, Chorley-born Norman Haworth joined a local linoleum factory, where his father worked as manager, with a view to learning the trade. The manufacture of linoleum involved the use of dyestuffs and, in later life, Haworth would claim that he first developed an interest in chemistry through learning about this process.

William Bragg

James Chadwick Credit -“Los Alamos National Laboratory”

Despite opposition from family and friends, Haworth decided to further his education with lessons from a private tutor in Preston. His hard work was rewarded when he passed the entrance exam for Manchester University in 1903 and subsequently gained a first-class honours degree in chemistry. His studies continued in Germany under eminent chemist and Nobel Prize winner, Otto Wallach.

In 1912, Haworth was invited to become a lecturer at St Andrew’s University and this is where he began the research into carbohydrate chemistry which would shape his future academic career. He is probably best remembered today for his pioneering research at Birmingham University into the molecular structure of ascorbic acid, or Vitamin C. He became the first scientist to

manufacture Vitamin C synthetically. This groundbreaking discovery meant that scurvy (caused by a lack of Vitamin C) could, for the first time, be treated simply and effectively through Vitamin C tablets. In recognition of this work, Haworth was given the 1937 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, the first British organic scientist to win the award.

John Cockcroft Credit - “Dutch National Archives - CC BY-SA 3.0nl”

SIR JOHN COCKCROFT (1897-1967)

John Cockcroft was born into a family of cotton mill owners from Todmorden, just over the Lancashire/ Yorkshire border. After serving in the Royal Artillery during World War I, he studied electrical engineering at Manchester College of Technology. Like James Chadwick, he then moved to Cambridge to work under Ernest Rutherford at the Cavendish Institute.

In 1932, Cockcroft designed a particle accelerator, together with his long-time research partner, the Irish physicist, Ernest Walton. Known as the Cockcroft-Walton generator, this pioneering piece of equipment enabled the two men to transform the nucleus of an atom by bombarding it with artificially accelerated particles. This process has become popularly known as “splitting the atom”.

Their achievement was only belatedly recognised by the Nobel Prize Committee in 1951 when they became joint recipients of the Prize for Physics. The accompanying citation noted that their pioneering research had “profoundly influenced the whole subsequent course of nuclear physics”.

RODNEY PORTER (1917-85)

Born in Newton-le-Willows, Rodney Porter studied biochemistry at Liverpool University. He graduated just before the start of World War II and spent the war years serving as an officer in the Royal Engineers. When peace returned, he continued his research at Cambridge under noted biochemist, Frederick Sanger, who is one of only a handful of people to win the Nobel Prize twice.

From early on, Porter focused his research on the chemical structure of antibodies. By understanding how they functioned, Porter paved the way for the use of antibodies in the development of vaccines. He was awarded the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with US scientist, Gerald Edelmann, for their related, but independent, work in this important area of research.

MICHAEL SMITH (1932-2000)

The 1993 Nobel Prize for Chemistry winner, Michael Smith, emigrated to Canada in 1956 and subsequently became a Canadian citizen, but he was born and educated here in the North-West.

Born in Blackpool, the first hint of Smith’s academic prowess came at the age of 11 when he won a scholarship to the local independent Arnold School. His working-class parents would have presumably been unable to afford the school fees otherwise. Following school, he went on to study at Manchester University, where he subsequently gained a PhD in Chemistry. At this point he moved to Vancouver to begin his research into the molecular structure of DNA, which he would continue for the rest of his life.

Smith pioneered a new technique which allowed scientists to discover the effect of a single mutant gene on an organism through the development of synthetic DNA. This new technology enabled researchers to alter genes deliberately and thus change the characteristics of an organism. This, in turn, led to improved diagnostic methods and treatments for genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis and sickle-cell disease.

The scientist was known for his generosity and gave away all the money he was awarded for winning the 1993 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Smith donated half of it to researchers working on the genetics of schizophrenia. The other half was divided between the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology and Science World in British Columbia.

SIR TIM HUNT (1943-)

The son of a lecturer at Liverpool University, Tim Hunt was born in Neston on the Wirral Peninsula. Following the end of World War II, the family moved south when his father took up a new role at the Bodleian Library in Oxford and this is where the young Hunt was educated. Following school, he studied natural sciences at

Clare College, Cambridge and then, in 1964, began his scientific career at the University’s Department of Biochemistry.

For any organism to function properly, cell division has to take place at an appropriate rate. Beginning with his study of sea urchins in the early 1980s, Hunt conducted groundbreaking research into how this cycle of cell division is controlled and discovered proteins which are broken down during different phases of the cell cycle and perform important functions in its control. Subsequently, he worked with Cancer Research UK, undertaking vital research into what makes cells go cancerous.

Together with Leland Hartwell and Sir Paul Nurse, Hunt was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery “of key regulators of the cell cycle”.

SIR PETER RATCLIFFE (1954-)

Morecambe-born Peter Ratcliffe attended Lancaster Royal Grammar School, before going on to study medicine at Cambridge University.

Through his research at Oxford University and the Francis Crick Institute in London, Ratcliffe has made invaluable discoveries regarding the way in which the cells of the human body react to hypoxia (which, in layman’s terms, means an inadequate supply of oxygen). He shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, jointly with US scientists, William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza, for their collective part in aiding the “understanding of how oxygen levels affect cellular metabolism and physiological functions”.

Ratcliffe’s findings are already leading to the development of new treatments for a range of diseases including anaemia and kidney failure. Tumours are known to thrive under hypoxic conditions, so Ratcliffe’s findings have also considerably enhanced scientists’ understanding of cancer. 

Meet your next door nature

We all live next door to nature and a new campaign is helping people to understand and help the wildlife on their patch..

The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside is introducing a fantastic new project called Nextdoor Nature –which does exactly what it says on the tin – works with people and the nature closest to their home.

Our parks and gardens are full of fascinating wildlife, from robins and sparrows to foxes and the occasional passing roe deer, but what can we do to encourage and help them?

Project officer Fiona Sunners said: “Nextdoor Nature is helping communities to improve their local park or outdoor space and connect people with nature and each other.

“The project will provide communities with the tools required for them to take action both now and in the future helping wildlife on their doorsteps.”

Nextdoor Nature is a Wildlife Trusts initiative across the UK, and Fiona will be working with people in the south Sefton areas of Bootle, Litherland, Seaforth, Netherton and Waterloo.

This is a mainly urban area, however scattered throughout are many open places, from local parks and recreation grounds to Rimrose Valley Country Park.

Fiona said: “These places mean something different to everyone, whether enjoyed for a quiet walk, a

The Wildlife Trusts

The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside is dedicated to the protection and promotion of the wildlife in Lancashire, seven boroughs of Greater Manchester and four of Merseyside, all lying north of the River Mersey. It manages around 40 nature reserves and 20 Local Nature Reserves covering acres of woodland, wetland, upland and meadow. The Trust has 30,000 members, and over 1,200 volunteers. To become a member of the Trust go to the website at www.lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129

game of football, walking the dog or meeting friends. This project can help people make a difference, making them better for you as well as the wildlife that lives there. We want you to take action for nature where you live and work.”

“We all need to give nature a helping hand so I want to hear ideas for how you would like to improve your local area and give wildlife a boost, which will hopefully make you feel good too. Maybe you could create wild flower planters or a meadow, street planters

or create some wildlife-inspired art for your local community? It’s your ideas we want to help support.”

Nextdoor Nature is bringing communities together to help nature flourish where they live and work. Thanks to £5million funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Nextdoor Nature will provide people with the advice and support they need to help nature on their doorstep, and leave a lasting legacy to mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Fiona will be getting out and about in the community, in libraries, cafes and community centres in the coming months to meet people and chat about their favourite parks and find out what they enjoy doing there. She would like to hear from community groups that have ideas to help nature and she will come along and help them get their ideas up and running.

You can contact Fiona by telephone/ text/WhatsApp: 07546 687390 or by email: fsunners@lancswt.org.uk

The Wildlife Trusts

The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside is dedicated to the protection and promotion of the wildlife in Lancashire, seven boroughs of Greater Manchester and four of Merseyside, all lying north of the River Mersey. It manages around 40 nature reserves and 20 Local Nature Reserves covering acres of woodland, wetland, upland and meadow. The Trust has 30,000 members, and over 1,200 volunteers. To become a member of the Trust go to the website at www.lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129

REFRESH YOUR HOME WITH SUSTAINABLE HOMEWARE

Shop the PTES range of eco-friendly Gifts and Homeware. All profits from our shop go directly towards our conservation projects in the UK and overseas.

For our full range of gifts, homewares, books and greeting cards visit: shop.ptes.org

Woodland Bird Fridge Magnets Pack of 4

This dinky set of 4 woodland bird fridge magnets by Rachel Hudson will certainly brighten up your fridge. These original illustrations of a Great Tit, Jenny Wren, Blackbird and Robin feature as colourful magnets, produced in the UK with high environmental and ethical standards. The set will make the perfect small gift

£6.00

Ice Grey Fish Cork Trivet

Set aside your hot pans on this beautiful three fish trivet, inspired by the Cornish coast.

Made with sustainable cork, an eco-material that’s renewable and recyclable. The cork has been naturally smoked with ink, producing the beautiful marble-effect, meaning every piece is unique.

Cork has natural insulating properties and water permeability, making it an ideal heatproof material. Cork Oak Forests provide home and shelter to many endangered species of animals, birds and plants. Cork continues to absorb CO2 even as a trivet sat on your worktop – amazing.

LIGA is a British family-run business committed to sourcing sustainable materials to make affordable eco products for everyday living.

£18.00

Fish & Crab Eco Dishcloths

Bring the spirit of coastal living to your kitchen with this pack of two super absorbent environmentally friendly dishcloths. Printed with two coastal designs, fish and a crab, these dishcloths are perfect for those looking to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Just pop in the dishwasher to clean and put in the compost to break down when they’ve done all the scrubbing they can!

£7.50

Green on Blue Spot Eco Shopping Bag

This striking, sturdy green on blue spot eco shopping bag will make your trip to the supermarket much more enjoyable! It’s got plenty of room for groceries and has long straps that helps the bag sit comfortably over the shoulder. It’s also made from recycled plastic bottles.LIGA is a British family-run business committed to sourcing sustainable materials to make affordable eco products for everyday living.

£4.00

Wild Press Stitched Notebook

Jot down your ideas in this beautifully designed pocket-sized notebook. It’s the perfect size to scribble down your shopping or to-do lists before heading out the door. Featuring a wrap around cover with a unique pressed fern leaf design, this notebook is bound together with contrast stitching.

£6.50

Red squirrel mug

Enjoy a hot drink in this stylish red squirrel mug by Creature Candy. This fine bone china mug features a beautiful hand drawn image of a red squirrel on one side and a description of the species on the other.

Creature Candy was created to raise awareness of Britain’s declining and protected wildlife species, to inspire people to take active roles in conservation and to help raise funds for the charities that endeavour to conserve our wildlife. After working for four years as a licensed consultant ecologist specialising in bats, Lizzie, founder and director of Creature Candy, found a gap in the market for a brand which not only offered a range of timeless, stylish, British-made products, but one that also raised awareness of Britain’s declining wildlife species and raised money for the conservation of these species.

£14.00

Rabbit & Cabbage Cosmetic Bag

Keep all your makeup and small cosmetics together in your bag with the Rabbit & Cabbage cosmetic bag. Made in the UK and printed on durable quality 100% cotton!

£7.50

Dog & Daisy Hot Water Bottle

Snuggle up with the Dog & Daisy hot water bottle. Made in the UK and printed on durable quality 100% cotton canvas, this water bottle comes with a 1 litre rubber filler, all tied together with a beautiful bow making this a gorgeous gift.

£28.00

Linen Eye Pillow Navy

Used hot or cold, the linen weighted eye pillow by Blasta Henriet, will soothe tired eyes and help you to relax. You can use it as a warm compress and natural pain relief to relieve dry eyes, sore neck, ear ache and migraines. Or use it cold and unwind on a hot day, help with puffy eyes or cool down if you’re having trouble getting off to sleep!

£17.00

Linen Wheat Heat Bag Yellow

Used hot or cold, the linen wheat bag by Blasta Henriet, provides natural pain relief for tired, aching muscles. Made from natural cotton and Cotswold wheat, this heat bag is a great environmentally friendly alternative to rubber hot water bottles. You can heat it in the oven or microwave, or cool it in the freezer. The inner bag is divided in 6 sections to prevent the wheat from falling to one side which means you get an even distribution of hot or cold. It’s naturally unscented too and suitable for sensitive skin, but you might like to scent your wheat pack for the use of aromatherapy, so you can add a few drops of essential oil to the inner bag after heating, or alternatively dilute a few drops of oil in warm water to spray onto the bag.

£28.00

Lemongrass & Rosemary Soap Bar 100g

A beautiful bar of luxury soap made lemongrass, rosemary and eucalyptus essentials oils.

Every soap bar has been made by hand in small batches in the heart of the Dorset countryside using 100% natural ingredients and decorated with beautiful botanicals..

£6.50

Mixed Placemats Set of 6

Set the table with this stylish set of six soft grey melamine placemats by Creature Candy featuring beautiful hand drawn images. This is a mixed set and each mat features a different animal – a brown long-eared bat, buff-tailed bumblebee, hedgehog, red squirre, a puffin and mountain hare.

£50.00

Robin Key Ring

This dinky little key ring/zipper pull/bag tag features a bright original illustration of a robin, Britain’s favourite garden bird. It can be used to hook onto your door key, favourite jacket or bag and makes a lovely gift for a nature lover of any age.

Produced in the UK with high environmental and ethical standards and comes on a 100% recycled card mount. The unique illustrations are designed by Rachel Hudson, a freelance illustrator based in rural Hampshire.

£2.20

Rabbit & Cabbage Tea Towel

Featuring a charming hand-drawn Rabbit & Cabbage design, this tea towel will bring a bit of countryside to your kitchen. Made in the UK and printed on durable quality 100% cotton, it’ll add a bit of fun back into drying the dishes.

£13.00

Blackbird & Bramble Apron

This bright and sumptuous Blackbird and Bramble apron showcases Thornback & Peel’s coveted celebratory British designs. Made from luxurious and durable tightly-woven cotton, it’s lovely to wear with soft cotton waist straps and fully adjustable neck strap.

£25.00

Rabbit & Cabbage Oven Glove

Featuring a charming hand-drawn Rabbit & Cabbage design, these double oven gloves will bring a bit of countryside to your kitchen. Made in the UK and printed on durable quality 100% padded cotton, it’s perfect for carrying master bakes to the table in style. They’ll also look lovely draped over your cooker rail.

£22.00

Water Vole Print

This signed giclée print features an endearing water vole holding a blackberry on the river.

It was designed by Rachel Hudson as part of The 100 Day Project where she illustrated 100 endangered species, in partnership with the People’s Trust for Endangered Species. (www. instagram.com/rhudsonillustration).

£20.00

Dormouse Lined Notebook A5

Ideal for keeping on your desk or in your bag, this spiral bound notebook is A5 sized and filled with 50 lined pages of FSC sustainably sourced paper. Featuring a beautiful hand drawn image of a dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius, this notebook is perfect for to-do-lists and journal notes.

£6.25

Hedgehog Bracelet Black

We need your support now more than ever to help fund our critical conservation work and spread awareness of how people can help hedgehogs on their doorsteps.

Buy one of our unique hedgehog bracelets today and wear it with pride, knowing you’re helping save one of Britain’s most loved species. 100% of the proceeds go directly to helping hedgehogs.

£12.00

Wild Wonders

Animal Height Chart

Keep track and record your children’s growth with this colourful Wild Wonders height chart.

Key Features:

• Height marker and note stickers included

• Measurements in feet and inches (up to 4.5 feet/135cm)

• Matching lunch bag available

£8.49

Hedgehog Tea Towel

Enjoy drying your dishes with our Creature Candy 100% cotton tea towel, featuring a beautiful hand drawn image of a hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus).

The text reads: Appearing from untidy garden corners after dark, the curious hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus scampers around gardens looking for unsuspecting beetles and worms. This prickly little ball is undoubtably one of Britain’s favourite garden visitors. Species of hedgehog in the UK: 1 This towel looks attractive hanging from its loop in the kitchen or draped over the cooker.

£12.00

Wildlife Collection Seed Boxes

A set of 6 beautifully illustrated seed boxes from Seedball each containing a mix of seeds to help and encourage wildlife into your garden. Each box (made from 100% recycled card) contains 6 seed balls, plus a little card insert to explain what the balls are and how to use them.

Incredibly easy to use – simply scatter on top of soil or compost and nature will do the rest! One box will cover 1-2 pots. Use 6 boxes per square metre in a garden. Best scattered in Spring or Autumn

£15.00

Dandelion Cork Placemat

A versatile design for your table, perfect for warm days in the sun as well as adding a sense of sparkle in winter.

Cork is a sustainable, eco material that’s renewable and recyclable. This placemat is heat resistant, water impermeable and easy to wipe clean. Pair this placemat with matching coaster, or mix and match from the range.

£6.00

Levens Hall Appeals For

2023 World Topiary Day to Celebrate Those Who Maintained the World’s Oldest Topiary Garden.

Just a few weeks after Horticulture Week named Levens Hall and Gardens’ Chris Crowder as one of the top head gardeners in the UK, the Cumbrian visitor attraction has created a guide to all 11 of the head gardeners who have held the post since the 17th century.

Much research has gone into trying to discover more about the characters who have held the position, with this exercise being part of the preliminary activity for Levens Hall and Gardens’ third World Topiary Day.

The celebration was created to help celebrate the fact that Levens Hall is home to the world’s oldest topiary garden, founded by the first head gardener, Monsieur Guillaume Beaumont, in 1694. Without the efforts of the other 10 head gardeners who succeeded him, it might not exist today.

The fact that there have only been 11 head gardeners in post at the Cumbrian heritage home is somewhat amazing, given that they have, between them, shared 329 years of clipping and pruning duties in the Topiary Garden alone. This speaks volumes about the length of time that many of them have been in the role, with Chris Crowder himself having held the position for more than 36 years.

Whilst we know much about Chris as the 11th head gardener, we know relatively little about Monsieur Beaumont. By focusing on all of the head gardeners, Levens Hall is hoping to find more information about all of them but is particularly keen to uncover the origins of Guillaume Beaumont.

Head Gardener Knowledge

Last year, it encouraged genealogists to come forward, if they knew anything about a man reputed to have trained at Versailles under Andre le Notre and to have helped create the gardens at Hampton Court Palace. No further information has yet been received. The presumption is that any descendants of his would probably be found in France, rather than the UK.

Levens Hall and Gardens’ owner, Richard Bagot, says, “We wish to celebrate our 11 head gardeners, without whom we would not have a World Topiary Day. Each left some kind of legacy here and some of them worked through difficult times, whether those were financial or wartime.

“We are sure there are relatives and friends out there, who could perhaps contribute some pictures and little bits of detail about our head gardeners. Photos could then be displayed on Sunday May 14, when we will open our doors and celebrate our third World Topiary Day. This will also be a day when gardens around the world will be participating, making the audience for our discoveries even bigger.”

Anyone who has any photography relating to the 11 head gardeners – or others who worked with them – can get in contact by emailing: WTD@catapultpr.co.uk

Further details about World Topiary Day 2023, can be found at www.levenshall.co.uk

One hundred years old! The great British invention that drove a transport revolution

A 100th birthday is being marked at the Lakeland Motor Museum for an unassuming little vehicle with a largely forgotten role in a transport revolution.

When people think of stylish scooters that lit up the Swinging Sixties – they think of Italian icons like Vespa and Lambretta. But they would have been nothing without an earlier pioneer on display at the Lakeland Motor Museum in Cumbria.

The Skootamota was designed just after the First World War and was one of the first ever motor scooters - the forerunner of those hugely popular scooters from the 50s and 60s - and the electric scooters which are now highly popular.

The example at the Lakeland Motor Museum was made in 1923 by the All British (Engine) Company (ABC). Skootamotas first hit the roads a few years before that - in 1919 - when there was huge demand for cheap motorized transportation for both men and women.

Women’s clothing in that era, heavy dresses and petticoats, made traditional motorcycles almost impossible to ride because of the positioning of the engine and fuel tank.

The Skootamota changed that with its light tubular steel frame, featuring a flat platform with a foot operated rear brake pedal. It had an adjustable sprung saddle and small spoke wheels on the front and back.

With a single-cylinder engine mounted horizontally over the rear wheel and a fuel tank above it there

Below: The 100-year-old Skootamota is tried out by Lakeland Motor Museum Assistant Elizabeth.

was plenty of space for women to ride regardless of what they were wearing. And some men preferred them too as they were less likely to crumple their suits than traditional motorcycles.

The Skootamota was designed by engineer Granville Bradshaw and showed great foresight as they eventually evolved into the highly popular modern motor scooter.

Its adjustable handlebars had controls for the throttle and the front brake on them. The single-cylinder engine was mounted horizontally over the rear wheel, with a fuel tank above it to gravity feed the carburettor. The motor has a capacity of 123cc, early engines were intake-over-exhaust

with later models using overhead valve engines.

Slowing the Skootamota down was accomplished with external contracting band brakes on each wheel. They didn’t need to work too hard as the top speed of the Skootamota was just 15 mph (24 km/h).

It proved to be a popular success and led to a host of similar, copycat designs which soon overtook it and led to its early demise. So, the impact this humble little scooter had on future personal transportation is often overlooked.

But cheap scooters with the same or similar basic architecture proved

hugely popular in Europe, Asia, and around the world. Even today, in many developing countries, the majority of the population uses a 125cc singlecylinder motor scooter for personal transportation.

The scooter has recently made a resurgence in urban areas, now with an electric powertrain and a removable battery pack that people take into their offices to charge during the day.

The Lakeland Motor Museum is open daily and there are more than 140 classic cars and motorbikes to see. 

Left: An advert for the Skootamota which was sold across the UK and in Europe

WHAT’S ON AT LYTHAM HALL March to August 2023

SUNDAY, 19th MARCH

MOTHERS’ DAY AFTERNOON TEA

Entertainment from the fantastic James Kennedy. From 2pm until approximately 4pm. Admission £29.50 per person. Book Online!

MONDAY, 8th MAY 4.30 pm

INDOOR STREET PARTY!

Join us to celebrate the Coronation weekend of King Charles III at our special Indoor Street Party in the Upper West Wing. Glass of fizz on arrival with entertainment, buffet party food and party games!

ADMISSION £20 - BOOK YOUR PLACE EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT

SUNDAY, 9th APRIL

EASTER AT LYTHAM HALL

Join in the Easter Fun - details to be confirmed.

SUN, 16th APRIL 2pm to 4pm

REGENCY REJIGGED. This workshop will teach you dances from the 17th and 18th centuries, so come and join the fun in what will be a memorable afternoon.

Admission £10 per person. Book Online.

SUNDAY, 21st MAY

CLASSIC CAR & MOTORCYCLE SHOW: 10am/4pm

The 14th annual Lytham Hall Classic Car and Motorcycle Show with large displays of classic cars, motorcycles, light commercial and exmilitary vehicles. Adults £9.00 and Children £4.00 Book Online

SATURDAY, 27th MAY 6pm

JANUARY BUTLER - THINK TWICE

The ultimate Celine Dion experience for all the family. Bring your picnic, chairs and tables. Admission £15.

Fundraiser for Lytham Hall.

SATURDAY 10th JUNE

7.30 pm

GALA DINNER WITH ARIT ANDERSON

BBC Gardeners World Presenter Arit Anderson - Gala Dinner

We are delighted to welcome one of the most popular BBC Gardeners’

World presenters to Lytham Hall. Enjoy a 3 course dinner, followed by coffee and mints, in the surroundings of the Upper West Wing and hear Arit’s fascinating horticultural stories, tips, and life on one of the most endearing British TV institutions. All tickets are only £35 each.

and retinue, marching bands and dancers, decorated floats, classic cars and more besides. After the parade, the day continues at Lytham Hall. Enjoy an afternoon and evening of entertainment, games, food stalls and fun for all the family.

SATURDAY, 24th JUNE

LYTHAM CLUB DAY

The event is a whopping 129 years old this year. The event begins with a procession through the beautiful town of Lytham. It features the Rose Queen Elect

SUNDAY, 2nd JULY

MINI MEET - 10.00 am to 4.00 pm

Around 14 Mini Car Clubs from all over the country will be descending on Lytham Hall. There will be a mix of over 250 classic Minis and BMW Minis on display for you to come and marvel at!

THURSDAY, MAY 25th

11 am to 3 pm

FREE ANTIQUE VALUATION DAY WITH TENNANTS AUCTIONEERS

Tennants’ experienced valuers will be pleased to appraise silver, ceramics, paintings, books, jewellery, clocks, watches, books and collectables as well as value larger items from images or free home visits.

APPOINTMENTS NOT REQUIRED For information CALL 01423 531661 ADMISSION: FREE

SATURDAY, 6th AUGUST

VINTAGE BUS DAY 10.00 am to 4.00 pm

Ribble Vehicle Preservation Trust will be displaying vintage buses and coaches in front of the the Hall, as well as running a free bus service which will connect the Hall with Lytham Town Centre, Fairhaven Lake and onwards to St Anne’s Square.

WHAT’S ON AT LYTHAM HALL

Summer 2023

Friday 16th June - 6pm

Outdoor Theatre Sense & Sensibility

Heartbreak Productions will open the 13th open air theatre season at Lytham Hall with their stage production of one of Jane Austen’s most popular novels.

Gates open for picnics at 4.00pm.

Free parking close to the theatre lawn.

Refreshments and licensed bar available.

Admission: £15 Adult - £13 Senior/Student - £8

School child ages 5 to 18

Tickets on sale from the 1st March 2023

Friday 7th July - 6pm

Outdoor Theatre The Time Machine

London-based Ultraviolet Productions will make their Lytham Hall debut , as they present a brandnew stage adaptation by Tom Murray of H.G. Wells’ innovative novel ‘The Time Machine’.

A full house is expected for this science fiction classic, written in 1895 and long- requested here by Lancashire theatre and time travel enthusiasts.

Gates open for picnics at 4.00 pm

Free parking close to the theatre lawn

Refreshments and licensed bar available

Admission: £15 Adult - £13 Senior/Student - £8

School child ages 5 to 18

Tickets on sale from the 1st March 2023

Sunday 9th July - 6pm

Outdoor Theatre The Comedy Of Errors

Gloucester-based Rain or Shine Theatre Company make a welcome return to Lytham Hall with Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. The company celebrate 25 years of summer touring in 2023 and two sets of identical twin babies are a recipe for comedy and confusion in one of Shakespeare’s cleverest plays.

Gates open for picnics at 4.00 pm

Free parking close to the theatre lawn

Refreshments and licensed bar available

Admission: £15 Adult - £13 Senior/Student - £8

School child ages 5 to 18

Tickets on sale from the 1st March 2023

Friday 11th August

6pm

Outdoor Theatre Robin Hood

Fylde coast favourites Illyria bring this year’s family show to Lytham Hall with artistic director Oliver Gray’s production of ‘Robin Hood’. Meet well-loved characters such as Little John and Friar Tuck and enjoy tales of camaraderie, good against evil, riotous comedy…...and the audience archery competition !

Gates open for picnics at 4.00 pm

Free parking close to the theatre lawn

Refreshments and licensed bar available

Admission: £15 Adult - £13 Senior/ Student -

£5 Child ages 3 and 4 - £8 School child ages 5 to 18

Tickets on sale from the 1st March Sunday 13th August

6pm

Outdoor Theatre Twelfth Night

Illyria’s cast of five will double up in true summer touring tradition to present a drama which has been an entertaining open air favourite for over 400 years.

Artistic director Oliver Gray’s inventive production contains the mayhem and mischief of one of Shakespeare’s best-known and best-loved comedies, delivered in Illyria’s distinctive style.

Gates open for picnics at 4.00 pm

Free parking close to the theatre lawn

Refreshments and licensed bar available

Admission: £15 Adult - £13 Senior/ Student - £8 School child ages 5 to 18

Tickets on sale from the 1st March 2023dances from the 17th and 18th centuries, so come and join the fun in what will be a memorable afternoon.

Admission £10 per person. Book Online.

Sunday 20th August 6pm

Outdoor Theatre Pride & Prejudice

The finale of the 13th season of open air theatre at Lytham Hall sees Illyria presenting Oliver Gray’s stage adaptation of one of Jane Austen’s most popular novels.

Illyria bring over 30 years of outdoor summer touring experience to a waspish social comedy which includes some of Austen’s most memorable characters.

Gates open for picnics at 4.00 pm

Free parking close to the theatre lawn

Refreshments and licensed bar available

Admission: £15 Adult - £13 Senior/ Student - £8 School child ages 5 to 18

Tickets on sale from the 1st March

WHAT’S ON AT LYTHAM HALL

Courtyard Concerts - Summer 2023

Our early Sunday evening live concerts in our Courtyard are back from 6pm to 8pm! Enjoy some great music and a glass of summer punch on arrival, plus an interval supper

4th June & 30th July: 6pm - 8pm

Summer Courtyard Concerts with Kyle Passmore

KYLE PASSMORE - One of the Hall’s favourites with a host of modern classics.

Book early to avoid disappointment! This is a fundraising event for Lytham Hall.

Admission: £20.00 per person

11th JUNE and 23rd JULY: 6pm - 8pm

Summer Courtyard Concerts with Peter Anthony

PETER ANTHONY - Our very own! With over 35years in the music industry he needs no introduction.

Book early to avoid disappointment! This is a fundraising event for Lytham Hall

Admission: £20.00 per person

Sunday 18th June: 6pm - 8pm

Summer Courtyard Concerts with Jo Ashcroft

JO ASHCROFT - Another welcome return of this multi talented vocalist and musician.

Book early to avoid disappointment! This is a fundraising event for Lytham Hall.

Admission: £20.00 per person

Sunday 16th July: 6pm - 8pm

Summer Courtyard Concerts with Dave Lea

DAVE LEA - Direct from London, this fabulous vocalist and balladeer will definitely please. Book early to avoid disappointment! This is a fundraising event for Lytham Hall

Admission: £20.00 per person

National Pet Month Celebrating Our Pets and Educating Ourselves

by Hayley Hilton

just watching them compete in agility, flyball or working dog trials.

I have been privileged to see so much love directed towards the dogs who I have had as clients, from taking video calls so the owner can talk to their dog in real-time from their holiday because they are missing them, to receiving messages of utter thanks at the course of massages helping their dog enjoy walks again and acting more like their younger selves.

It feels to me that Quality of Life really is at the heart of it… learning to enjoy the most of every day together, free from mental and physical pain. And our pets give us that as much as we give that to them… as is often said, we rescue each other when we need it most.

From warm snuggles on the sofa, to giving you an excuse to “get out of your head” (and into nature if you own a dog) where you can park the stress for a bit and enjoy your time with them. In this time of mindfulness, our pets can teach us so much about being happy in this particular moment rather than “I’ll be happy when X is done”.

So last month we chatted about celebrating yourself as a pet parent for Mother’s Day, which leads nicely into this month being National Pet Month where you can find so many articles and video conversations on all aspects from Nutrition to Behaviour (I have even written one on Hidden pain in our pets that should be available at some point from April 1st to May 1st). Go check out NationalPetMonth.org.uk to see how you can get involved!

Gone are the days when we just see dogs, cats, rabbits, reptiles etc as “things” to keep the kids occupied, now we see them as family members

as they truly do turn a house into a home.

Personally, my Rottweiler Lola changed my life, healing a hole that I didn’t know was in my heart and helping me transition from a Clinical Research role to working with dogs, both as a Dog Home Boarder and then as a Canine Massage Therapist. Now I think about that, both professions are now widespread across the UK, along with so many other therapies and businesses, showing just how much our view of dogs (in particular) has changed over the years. There are even festivals devoted to having family fun with your dog, rather than

Education feels like it is key here and having an open mind to new possibilities is probably why there continues to be a wealth of information being produced from all areas of the pet world. So why not check out National Pet Month for yourself and let me know what you found most valuable, I’d love to hear your perspective.

Do you agree with Hayley’s thoughts? Do you have a question about the health or welfare of your dog? Feel Free to get in touch on: Hayley.Hilton@HandsOnHeart.dog to have a chat… she may work with dogs but she doesn’t bite!

Hands On Heart Clinical Canine Massage Therapy, reducing pain and discomfort in dogs and owners through Science and Intuition. HandsOnHeart.dog

The Beautiful South’s co-founder Dave Hemingway’s new band SUNBIRDS announce 2023 Shows coming to LANCASTER – Grand Theatre on Friday 21st April!

“Although a lot of the songs have an Americana feel” says Dave “they’re still about life in England. You’re going to feel a bit daft singing about pickup trucks and low down honky-tonks when you live in Yorkshire.”

Their debut album produced by cult producer Teo Miller, captures truthful, open-hearted, funny and sometimes painfully honest songs, turning the page to a new chapter for Dave Hemingway and The Beautiful South story.

album which helps us forget the pandemic and lust after the days where this amazing new band can deliver their songs live” - UK Music Reviews

“A highpoint of it’s rootier ilk” - We Are Cult

“Appealingly understated song writing” - Classic Pop Magazine

“An album with warmth to spare”MOJO Magazine

The man who once told us he loved us from the bottom of his pencil case, founder Beautiful South member Dave Hemingway returns with his new band SUNBIRDS announcing their dates for 2023.

Having retired from the live scene at the back end of 2016, Dave has been keeping busy together with erstwhile South colleague, guitarist/ songwriter Phil Barton, new discovery singer/violinist Laura Wilcockson and drummer Marc Parnell.

‘Cool To Be Kind’ was released in November 2020, on the independent label Nectar Records signalling the arrival of Sunbirds with new songs and a new sound.

Although born and bred in England, the band’s sound predominantly features the instrumentation of traditional American roots music combined with the occasional outburst of guitar heavy melody more associated with Seattle in the late 80’s/early 90’s.

However, you can only sing about what you know.

‘Cool To Be Kind’ is the result of a few transitional years in Dave and Phil’s individual personal worlds. It tells tales that cover contemporary themes as well as age-old matters of the heart and soul - all viewed through the bottom of a recently drained pint glass.

“Now we’re Sunbirds we’re free to dig a little deeper into ourselves”, says Phil “having said that, there’s no exact science here, we’re just enjoying ourselves and expressing whatever we want whether it’s about love, longing, depression or Gary Lineker’s crisp adverts”.

Fast forward to 2022 and Sunbirds’ new line-up released a brandnew single ‘Every Road’, a vintage sounding feel-good West Coast inspired gem. It features Eagles and Fleetwood Mac inspired guitar licks from Chris alongside the polished production of studio legend Steve Levine. However, it’s not quite all straight-forward Country Rock as you’d expect, as in places songwriter Phil’s love of Nirvana leads him away from the chord progressions of well-worn Country roads onto the trickier, darker more twisting roads of Alternative Rock.

‘Every Road’ is out now available on all digital platforms and also available via the band’s websitewww.sunbirds.co.uk

“Cool To Be Kind is a must-have

Sunbirds ‘Cool To Be Kind’ debut album is out now available on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Amazon UK & Music, all HMV stores and via the website - www.sunbirds.co.uk

Sunbirds are:

Dave Hemingway – Vocals

Phil Barton – Guitar

Laura Wilcockson – Vocals & Violin

Marc Parnell – Drums

Chris Offen – Guitar & Keyboards

Jerry Jobson - Bass

Sunbirds – April 2023 UK Dates:

Saturday 1 April

LEEDS – The Old Woollen

Saturday 8 April

LONDON – West Hampstead Arts Centre

Friday 14 April

SHREWSBURY – The Buttermarket

Saturday 15th April

MANCHESTER – Lion’s Den

Sunday 16 April

CHESTER – Alexander’s Live

Friday 21 April

LANCASTER – Grand Theatre

Saturday 22 April

BARNOLDSWICK – Music & Arts Centre

Tickets for all of the available shows are available from –https://sunbirds.co.uk/

ROCK ON TOMMY ‘An Evening With Tommy Cannon’

He’s a national treasure who became a household name as one half of Cannon and Ball. Tommy Cannon played the straight man to the late Bobby Ball as the double act dominated prime-time TV for more than a decade.

An actor, singer and comic, Tommy has lived an extraordinary life – most recently being lauded by rock star Robbie Williams, at a sell-out concert in Manchester.

Now he’s returning to the stage in Rock On, Tommy, a variety show featuring clips, incredible stories, tons of laughter, audience Q&A’s and more. Fans can meet the man who has provided laughter to millions since debuting in 1968 on the talent show, Opportunity Knocks.

ROCK ON TOMMY ‘An Evening With Tommy Cannon’ – Autumn / Winter 2023 & Spring 2024 UK Tour Nort Dates include:

2023 Dates:

• Sunday 15 October

LYTHAM ST ANNE’s – Lowther Pavilion

• Friday 20 October

CREWE – Lyceum

• Saturday 21 October

STOCKPORT – Romiley Forum Theatre

• Thursday 26 October

ALTRINCHAM – The Bowdon Rooms

• Thursday 2 November

WORKINGTON – Carnegie Theatre

• Friday 3 November

BARROW IN FURNESS – The Forum

• Saturday 4 November

BLACKPOOL – Pavilion

• Tuesday 7 November

ST HELEN’S – Theatre Royal

2024 Dates:

• Saturday 13 April

BLACKBURN – Darwen Library Theatre

• Thursday 2 May

RUNCORN – Brindley

Tickets for all shows above are available from: www.awaywithmedia.com/tours/tommy-cannon

Get Lost in Music at The Grand!

Say Thank You For The Music at Blackpool Grand Theatre with a whole host of magnificent live music shows on offer all the way through 2023. Snap up your tickets now for all these not-to-be-missed nights of high-kicking Country, riotous Rock, rhythmic Reggae, dynamic Disco, the sheer poetry of Simon & Garfunkel and even the return of the sensational songs of The Carpenters. You’ll feel on Top Of The World!

Kick off the marvellous live music nights with a sea of stetsons, boots and spurs as The Big Country Music Show rides on into town on Sunday 12 February with a two-hour extravaganza of handclapping, foot-stomping, boot-scootin’

singalong classics from the likes of Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Shania Twain and Garth Brooks. Yee-Haw!

It’s Yesterday Once More as outstanding vocalist Claire Furley and talented Musical Director Phil Aldridge perfectly re-create Richard Carpenter’s original orchestral arrangements in The Carpenters Story on Saturday 11 March in a musical journey through the glittering career of pop’s most famous brother and sister duo.

Queen Rhapsody bring A Kind of Magic to The Grand on Friday 31 March in an ultimate live concert experience featuring hits from every decade of Queen’s musical legacy with stunning accuracy in sound and vision, producing a high energy show which will rock the house!

Go Dancing in the Moonlight with Rock Icons on Easter Monday 10 April in a cracking hot rockin’ live music show that takes you on a breathtaking journey through the eras of some of the world’s greatest Classic rock bands and albums, featuring the music of Deep Purple, Free, Rainbow, Def Leppard, Thin Lizzy, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Status Quo, Van Halen and beyond.

Sip Red, Red Wine as renowned band Johnny2Bad beautifully recreate the music that filled the airwaves during the 80s and 90s and the million selling songs of the Reggae era in Absolute Reggae on Thursday 20 April. This hi-energy show includes a 3 piece horn section, 4 talented vocalists and the music of UB40, Aswad, Bob Marley, Big Mountain and Inner Circle.

Live music takes centre stage in 2023 as Blackpool Grand Theatre hits the top of the charts with a full line-up of hitmakers ready to get your toes tapping with joy!

Take a Bridge Over Troubled Water on Thursday 11 May for the critically acclaimed The Simon and Garfunkel Story about two young boys from Queens, New York, who went on to become the world’s most successful music duo of all time. Using state of the art video projection, incredible lighting and a full live band, this powerful concert features all the hits from Mrs Robinson, Homeward Bound and Scarborough Fair to The Boxer and many more.

Dress to impress for a great big glitterball of a night out with Lost in Music on Saturday 13 May celebrating magical 70s on a musical journey straight to the heart of disco! Celebrate Good Times and relive some of the greatest songs of all time from artists such as Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Earth, Wind & Fire, Sister Sledge and Chic. It’s the feel-good show of the year!

Still not playing your tune? The Grand’s glorious gig guide goes right throughout 2023 with something for every music lover:

Get ready for Dancing in the Dark as The Sound of Springsteen roars back down Thunder Road on Sunday 26 February to rock you with the greatest hits and deep cuts of The Boss himself; The Illegal Eagles bring a ‘masterclass in musicianship’ on Sunday 19 March as an all-star line-up brings the very best of The Eagles back catalogue; Roll Over Beethoven and relive the age of Glam Rock as ELO AGAIN pay tribute to the wonderfully crafted songs of Jeff Lynne and the Electric Light Orchestra on Friday 14 April, and Elvis is IN the building as the one and only Ben Portsmouth slides into The Grand with his jaw-dropping This is Elvis show on Sunday 25 June that has to be seen to be believed. Thank you very much…

Sizzling Summer Sounds include the Crocodile Rock-ing Elton John Show on Sunday 2 July; Steve Steinman’s Dead Ringer of a night out Anything For Love on Friday 7 July; the biggest party of the year at the Magic of Motown on Friday 4 August; the Super Trouper Thank You For The Music Abba tribute on Saturday 19 Aug; the extraordinary Think Floyd travel to the Dark Side of the Moon on Saturday 11 Nov and the Bon Jovi Experience are Livin’ On a Prayer on 14 Nov. And that’s just to name a few!

Music has the incredible power to boost your wellbeing, soothe your soul and make your body move! Grab your tickets now for fabulous feelgood nights out at The Grand!

Please call the Blackpool Grand Theatre Box Office on 01253 290190 or visit www.BlackpoolGrand.co.uk for full listings, bookings and further information on all our live music events.

m Grand Theatre, 33 Church Street, Blackpool FY1 1HT

n 01253 290 190

d blackpoolgrand.co.uk

f @blackpoolgrand

t @Grand_Theatre

i grandtheatrebpl

Peatland Restoration Success Story Praised By Defra

A huge peatland restoration project at Howesyke Farm in the Yorkshire Dales has been praised as an example of how to achieve landscape-scale moorland conservation and carbon capture.

Experts from Defra and the Environment Agency visited Howesyke Farm, a member of the Moorland Association, to examine the successful peatland restoration work, one of the largest such projects undertaken in the north of England.

The restored area covers more than 950 acres (equal to about 600 football pitches), across Thoralby Common, Stake Moss, Gayling and Newhouse moors and has enabled healthy vegetation and mosses to take root in areas that were previously bare.

Vital for storing vast amounts of carbon in the fight against climate

change, peatlands are also home to a wealth of rare wildlife, help purify water and can reduce flood risk by slowing the flow of water downstream.

When peatlands are in a good state of repair, they are highly effective at carbon sequestration. But when they are degraded, they can start to emit the carbon they have stored and potentially add to the effects of climate change.

The peatland restoration work was facilitated in partnership with the Yorkshire Peat Partnership.

Robert Brown, of Howesyke Farm said: “In the past you could see the areas of bare peat, a sign of degraded peatland that is drying out and emitting carbon into the atmosphere. In the winter the moors are pounded by high winds and rain, washing peat into the river and further exacerbating the problem. Reversing historic damage is time consuming and incredibly laborious. It has been

wonderful to partner with Yorkshire Peat Partnership and benefit from their expertise.”

Stuart Dent, Headkeeper at Howesyke, explained that a wide variety of innovative techniques were used during the restoration:

The Moorland Association

“Helicopters were the most effective way to transport stones and timber up to the hilltop to create site-specific dams and restore the hydrology of the land. Natural coir matting was installed over bare areas to help prevent erosion and plugs of sphagnum moss and cottongrass were planted to help kickstart the process of revegetation. It has taken several years but the result is incredibly impressive. We run shoots throughout the season and all our visitors have commented on the transformation. It is a brilliant example of how shooting and conservation go hand in hand.”

Robert Brown said “We are absolutely delighted with the results. A good mix of moorland vegetation is now well established, with natural ponds and areas of blanket bog. A wide range of invertebrates will thrive in these habitats, and birds will also benefit from the increase in insect life. It’s a great result for the biodiversity of the area and to enable carbon capture as well.”

Moorland ‘grips’ or drains were installed on many moors in the postwar period to enable more of the uplands to

be suitable for sheep grazing. Today there is greater understanding of the hydrology of upland areas and the crucial role of peat in carbon storage, so these grips are being removed and the land restored to preserve blanket bogs and slow the flow of water from the top of the hill to lower lying areas.

Managed for grouse shooting, Howesyke has thriving populations of Curlew, Lapwing, Golden Plover, Redshank and Ring Ouzel. In addition to peatland restoration, the owners Robert and Helen Brown have undertaken a series of conservation programmes over the past ten years including planting 100,000 trees, river management to create salmon spawning pools, and new ponds for waders.

BLACKPOOL ILLUMINATIONS EXTENDED AGAIN FOR 2023 SEASON

Blackpool’s annual Illuminations display will once again be extended by two months after another dramatic rise in visitor numbers over the winter months.

Blackpool Council has announced that the Illuminations season will start on Friday 1 September and run until Monday 1 January, 2024.

The decision follows the release of new figures showing an 18 per cent increase in promenade footfall during November and December over what was a spectacular performance in 2021. The footfall also shows an increase of almost 60 per cent compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019 when the Illuminations season ended in the first week of November.

The latest figures reveal that the Christmas By The Sea event also proved an invaluable boost to Blackpool’s tourism economy. Promenade footfall for the period of the Christmas event (November 18 to January 2 inclusive) was recorded at over 6 million, an increase of more than 10 per cent compared to 2021 which was again an exceptional year in terms of growth in visitor numbers.

Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “The figures demonstrate the very significant economic impact of the Illuminations extension coupled with the Christmas By The Sea event.

“All of the statistical and anecdotal evidence from tourism businesses, with some reporting record levels of trading during the winter months, suggests that we have found a winning formula to extend Blackpool’s season. That is something we very much want to sustain and build upon.”

The Christmas By The Sea campaign, which ran on the Tower Festival Headland, included a free skating rink, artificial snowfalls, light projection shows, log cabins, and large-scale light installations. It was sponsored by TalkTalk and Blackpool’s Tourism Improvement District.

Cllr Williams confirmed that discussions were already underway with potential sponsors to facilitate the return of Christmas By The Sea in 2023.

The event has been shortlisted in the Large Event Of The Year category in the Lancashire Tourism Awards due to be staged at Blackpool’s new Conference & Exhibition Centre on February 7.

The Illuminations extension is the latest addition to a programme of major events already lined up for the coming year including the return of the two-day Air Show on August 12 and 13; Ride The Lights on August 29; the Illuminations Switch-On celebration on September 1; World

Fireworks Championship Blackpool on September 16, 30 and October 20; and Lightpool Festival from October 20-28. All are free to access.

Plans for the annual Illuminations Switch-On ceremony on Friday 1 September will be unveiled over the coming months.

For full details and updates for this year’s Illuminations season, go to www.visitblackpool.com

Blackpool Grand Theatre Nominated In The Stage Community Project of the Year Award!

Blackpool Grand Theatre celebrates its local links after being nominated in the Community Project of the Year at The Stage Awards 2023.

Adam Knight, Grand Theatre CEO, said: “I am delighted that all the theatre’s hard work and determination in continuing to forge important community links and working so closely with our local and regional schools, has been underlined with such a special recognition. Being nominated for a Stage Award at the beginning of 2023 will, I am sure, be a highlight of our year ahead!”

Blackpool Grand Theatre takes the spotlight as it delights in being Nominated throughout the UK for the ‘Community Project of the Year ‘at the prestigious Stage Awards 2023!

A team from The Grand were thrilled to attend a stunning ceremony at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London (January 30, 2023) for the annual The Stage Awards in association with Tysers Insurance Brokers and were delighted to be nominated for this year’s 2023 ‘Community Project of The Year Award’ title for the theatre’s innovative Story-led Resilience Programme.

Celine Wyatt, The Grand Theatre’s Head of Creative Learning, said: “We are absolutely delighted that our Story-led Resilience Programme has been recognised nationally and by such a prominent theatrical publication. The Programme has been developed over the past six years and I want to thank my team, Blackpool’s young people and partners who have supported myself and Blackpool Grand Theatre on this transformative journey.”

In addition, the Grand Theatre along with all UK theatre’s Front of House team members were presented with the accolade of ‘Unsung Hero’, sponsored by Kindred Partners

Think of Blackpool and you think of the Illuminations, candy floss and holidaymakers enjoying themselves. But behind the bright lights is another story of a place where young people can face considerable challenges as they grow up in a town where there are high levels of deprivation and more children entering the social care system than in any other part of the country.

Blackpool Grand Theatre has been addressing these issues with the awardwinning Story-led Resilience Programme which harnesses the power of stories and storytelling. The project also emphasises the importance of telling your own story to build capacity to cope with life’s challenges and helps show young people how to better express themselves and their feelings.

The Grand draws on the stories the Programme creates and uses them as a way into drama-based activities and theatre and dance residencies and leads to participants presenting their stories on the Grand stage, within the community

and on digital platforms. But the transformation runs deeper than that, creating increased confidence, greater resilience, and better skills.

The theatre has worked with a wide range of artists and theatre companies to deliver these activities, and more than 700 young people have benefited from an initiative that has been rigorously evaluated and proves that this project is no ‘sticking plaster’ but embeds real change.

For further information on the Blackpool Grand Theatres vital education and community work please visit:

www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk

Grand Theatre, 33 Church Street, Blackpool FY1 1HT

n 01253 290 190

d blackpoolgrand.co.uk

f @blackpoolgrand

t @Grand_Theatre

i grandtheatrebpl

The life of Di

A monthly column by Di Wade, the author of ‘A Year In Verse’

THREE MORE GREY HAIRS THAN YESTERDAY

Ican safely say I’ve never lost a day to bad hair, botched eyeshadow, or a broken fingernail. I’ve also managed to maintain my equilibrium through the horrors of untimely pimples, three more grey hairs than yesterday, and the mother of all ladders on a mission to reach the top of my tights. I did spend a couple of minutes cursing when, dining out with friends recently, I contrived to drop a forkful of gravy-soaked sausage onto the sparkly jumper I’d only just donned.

However, it was more a case of the principle of the thing than anything - that and the garment’s being handwash only. Mostly, I’m as perturbed by such mishaps as a night in front of the TV, though I realize I’m in the minority with this: I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been merrily chatting away to someone only to have them suddenly interrupt with the unrelated, “You’ve a crumb to the left of your mouth”: then, ten minutes later, after much dutiful application of tissues, amid an undiminished flow of wit and wisdom from yours truly, “ it’s still there! - and what’s more, you’ve a Bogey up your left nostril”. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not ungrateful for such info, I mean it’s nice to know and all that. It’s just disconcerting to find that while you might have been disclosing the secrets of the Universe, all your audience has actually taken in is the stray bit of lemon drizzle currently residing on your upper lip, and something even less flattering loitering up your hooter.

I was similarly nonplussed upon a sensation caused by a friend turning up to work in odd shoes. OK so one was brown, and one bright blue, but so what? She wasn’t at a wedding, the Ritz, or on live TV. She was in fact in a private office, which to my mind made her gaffe as newsworthy as Mandy having lost four pounds on account of eating nothing but lettuce all week – while grounds for mortification there were none.

Could be the key thing is I’m as blind as a bat so can’t see what anyone looks

like. I’d hope not, and that my mind would always be on higher things. Either way however, suffice to say that cosmetic or wardrobe hiccups hold all the appeal for me of 24 hours of Prime Minister’s Questions.

I AM however increasingly impressed at the little it takes to have one’s spirits lifted like a crisp packet on a howling gale, or dropped like a hot brick. I’ve had plenty of experience of the latter lately thanks to a steady stream of technological meltdowns and assorted tussles with technicians – not to mention the need to placate a poor guy up a pole grappling with my landline – while cats, dogs, and possibly elephants pelted him from all sides. None of it were owt ultimately, but it equally didn’t exactly send my spirits sky-high. On the other hand, arriving back from Bispham Kitchen recently to find a previously undiscovered delivery of new braille books was enough to have me shrieking with delight as though Christmas’d returned in full force – and had my friend returning like Usain Bolt from the end of the street to see what all the fuss was about. I’ve been similarly calmed, cheered, or inspired by Robert

Galbraith’s latest novel, the prospect of the Six Nations, a mid-week cappuccino at the Atrium café, our historic bobsleigh silver medal in the world championships, you name it.

Then there were the local seasonal attractions: The wonderful wintry walk via Wardleys Creek, (till it became too much a case of Dancing on Ice – for hopeless beginners), and the more stable one by the river Wyre, in the company of swans, ducks, geese, and moorhens, new gorse offering a gleam of gold from the wayside.

Today, I haven’t even ventured that far afield, but though it’s only 7 February, there were still plentiful patches of sunshine yellow crocuses, with even the odd daffodil inching its head above the parapet. Robson Green in his recent “Weekend Escapes” series was extolling the virtues of flowers, saying that they unfailingly made one feel better. It’s true – and not just in the north-east in summer. Indoors or out, and whatever the season, flowers are pleasing, cheering, and affirming – and at any rate sure beat bungled hair or face paint, or even mismatched footwear.

imitating the dog to premiere daring new production of Macbeth at The Dukes

From imitating the dog, the Lancaster-based creators of critically acclaimed and UK Theatre Award winning productions, comes Macbeth, an audacious and dazzling new retelling of William Shakespeare’s tale of ambition, betrayal, and downfall.

Fusing live action with striking video technology, for which imitating the dog are internationally renowned, Macbeth will run at The Dukes from February 28-March 4.

imitating the dog brought their production of Dracula: The Untold Story to The Dukes in 2021, which went on to win the UK Theatre Award for Best Design, and the company are also well known in Lancaster for their striking projections at Lancaster Castle during Light Up Lancaster each November.

In Macbeth, three mysterious figures enter the stage. They talk of the hurlyburly, of thunder and lightning, and of a young couple who believe they can overthrow the old regime. They conjure the Macbeths, placing them in a dangerous new world where paranoia, betrayal, and brutality rule.

imitating the dog’s daring retelling of Macbeth is a neon noir thriller where Shakespeare’s original language collides with startling new scenes, stunning visuals, and a powder-keg intensity. Age guidance 14+.

The new production’s cast will feature Benjamin Westerby (All’s Well That Ends Well and Wars of the Roses, (Royal Shakespeare Company) as Macbeth and Maia Tamrakar (Spring Awakening, Almeida Theatre and Rock, Scissors, Paper, (Sheffield Crucible) as Lady Macbeth. The cast will also feature Stefan Chanyaem (Living Archive, Royal Court Theatre), Matt Prendergast(Dracula:The Untold Story) and Laura Atherton ((Night of The Living Dead™ - Remix, imitating the dog), as the Witches/Ensemble.

Andrew Quick, Macbeth CoDirector and Artistic Director of imitating the dog said: “Macbeth is an extraordinary play. Shakespeare’s exploration of power, ambition, violence, and love seems so relevant to today. We’re excited to be bringing Macbeth to The Dukes. It is a unique take on the original play, a Macbeth as you have never seen before, but still with Shakespeare’s story at its heart.”

imitating the dog have been making ground-breaking work for theatres and other spaces for 25 years. Their work, which fuses live performance with digital technology, has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people in venues, outdoor festivals, and events across the world.

Past productions have included Hotel Methuselah, A Farewell to Arms, Heart of Darkness, Night of The Living Dead ™ - Remix, Dr Blood’s Old Travelling Show and most recently Dracula: The Untold Story.

Last year, the company staged Cinema Inferno, a ground-breaking new show for the Parisian haute couture house Maison Margiela, based on an original concept by creative director John Galliano, for Maison Margiela’s Artisanal 2022 collection as part of the official Paris Haute Couture Calendar.

Macbeth will be at The Dukes from February 28-March 4. For more information and tickets visit: www.dukeslancaster.org or call: 01524 598500.

Pick a Card...

By Helen Donald

Do you need a little ‘inspiration’, ‘acceptance’, ‘trust’ or ‘focus’, a few words to help you balance the day and take a positive step forward?

Kathryn Taylor has created the perfect pack of cards to help you do just that.

Packaged in a neat box which can fit nicely in a daily bag, or by your bedside; pocket sized positivity you can carry by your side whenever you chose.

You can take a card from the deck, be it a random pick in a moment when needed, or a card you have already selected for the day ahead, as Kathryn herself says, ‘There is no right way, Just your way!’

These cards may be a neat tidy little stack, but they are packed with powerful motivation, each card with its own stunning scenic and artistic image, created by a strong woman who has learnt how to balance a hectic life herself.

Please view - lnkd.in/d_uT4QgB to find out more and to purchase.

A mum, wife, counsellor and coach, from a background of juggling a busy life, with her determination to achieve her own personal goals, whilst working as a senior executive in a large organisation. Someone who found success by first finding self-belief.

These cards allow Kathryn to share her expertise and experience with you, her own motivational mentality expressed through quirky quotes on each of the cards. The images chosen to fit alongside each, accompany the words they are matched with perfectly; be it a woodland, or a seaside, the nature helps to nurture and enhance the positive power of the words.

This deck of cards is ideal for any fan of daily quotes, of spirituality, of a desire for self-growth, the pack is very tactile, the messages are so relatable, the price is very reasonable, overall; they are stylish, compact, beautifully designed and there is something in there which can suit any mood, on any day, all in an uplifting way

BALANCE Moments of Inspiration by Kathryn Taylor

THE RAKE TAPAS RESTAURANT, BAR & BOUTIQUE HOTEL

We believe in serving beautiful tapas, with the freshest ingredients from local producers. Our pizza oven creates the most mounth-watering pizza to tantilise your tastebuds. We have a excellent drinks menu, with local ales, mediterranean wines and we’re also quite partial to a G&T. If you’d like to stay with us, we offer four superb rooms with access to a private outdoor area. The Rake is an exceptional place to eat, drink and stay, especially with The Quay Side fish and chips shop located next-door!

JUDY & LIZA MUSICAL IS STEPPING OUT ON A SPELLBINDING SPRING TOUR

Dazzling musical showcases iconic careers of Garland and Minnelli featuring West End Stars Emma Dears and Helen Sheals -The tour visits Lancaster, Bolton, Oldham, Sale, Ulverston

A dazzling and heart-warming stage show charting the careers and relationship between Hollywood mother and daughter Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, is stepping out on a UK tour this spring at venues across the UK.

Captivating audiences for over a decade, Judy & Liza will embark on a tour in March and April 2023 visiting venues in Lancaster, Bolton, Lowestoft, Oldham, Barnstaple, Sale, Ulverston, Ilkley, Cheltenham, Milford Haven and Cardiff.

Judy & Liza is produced by Bill Elms Productions and On Song Productions; created and written by West End

performer Emma Dears who appears as Liza Minnelli; with Francis Goodhand as musical director.

Emma performs alongside Helen Sheals, who plays Judy Garland. Together they belt out timeless classics with uncanny resemblance of Judy and Liza, bursting with their unrivalled and elusive star quality.

The incredible talents of two of the biggest names in Hollywood showbusiness – mother and daughter Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli – are reunited thanks to this sensational musical experience. This dazzling production tells the turbulent tale of the stars against the backdrop of their infamous 1964 London Palladium concert. Audiences are taken on an emotional rollercoaster journey as they

discover the uncanny parallels between some of Judy and Liza’s most iconic songs and their own personal lives.

The show features performances of iconic songs including Cabaret, Maybe This Time, Over The Rainbow, The Man That Got Away, The Trolley Song, and Together Wherever We Go.

Liverpool-born actress Emma Dears self-penned the musical biopic to critical acclaim. Emma’s acting career began at the age of nine when she toured the UK in the title role of Annie. She later headed to London to join the Italia Conti Academy for Performing Arts, however she left before completing the course as she was offered a part in the tour of Les Miserables performing in Dublin and Edinburgh. Emma’s West End roles have included Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, and Oliver. Television roles include Emmerdale, Nice Guy Eddie, Shameless, Hollyoaks, Brookside, and Second Coming.

Helen is widely known for her roles in Coronation Street and Downton Abbey. However, Helen is no stranger to portraying Judy Garland having previously played the title role in the West End musical Judy! at The Arts Theatre in London. Her extensive theatre roles have included Mistress

Quickly in Merry Wives and Goneril in King Lear for Northern Broadsides, directed by Sir Jonathan Miller; Mari Hoff in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Hull Truck and UK Tour); and Shirley Valentine. Helen’s TV credits include Brookside, Meterosexuality, Family Affairs, Last Tango in Halifax, Silent Witness, Holby City, Casualty, Doctors, Dalziel and Pascoe, and Mrs Wigan in three seasons of Downton Abbey.

Producer Bill Elms commented: “We are thrilled to announce another UK outing of the sensational musical Judy & Liza, it’s a show very close to my heart as I worked on the very first run over 10 years ago. We can promise audiences a memorable experience as they rediscover the joy of live entertainment through this captivating show.”

Writer and actress Emma Dears added: “It is with pure excitement that we can take Judy and Liza’s emotional and iconic story on the road. Whether you’re a fan of Judy or Liza, or both, their story is unique. The show is full of love, heartache, and passion, and Helen and I have worked tirelessly to make sure we get every tiny detail just right. Join us for an evening with the mother and daughter who really did put the ‘show’ into showbiz.”

LISTING INFORMATION

DUKES THEATRE, LANCASTER

Friday 17 March at 7.30pm

www.dukeslancaster.org

OCTAGON THEATRE, BOLTON

Monday 20 March at 7.30pm

www.octagonbolton.co.uk

MILLGATE ARTS CENTRE, OLDHAM

Saturday 25 March at 7.30pm

www.millgateartscentre.co.uk

WATERSIDE ARTS, SALE

Wednesday 5 April at 7.30pm

www.watersidearts.org

THE CORO, ULVERSTON

Friday 7 April at 7.30pm

www.thecoro.co.uk

Introducing our Unique Lady of the Month

Communication or Case Study’, Theo Paphitis’ #SBS Winner and several local awards. Emma and her small team managed to cover 567 adults, 563 children and 61 ‘bumps’ in 2022, her best year yet!

Q & A with Emma

Which Unique Ladies group(s) do you attend?

Started off attending the Hyndburn group, but mainly Ribble Valley now, but I still try to get to Hyndburn and Blackburn when possible

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE…

…holiday destination?

A California RV road trip was my favourite, but we like to go to a different place each time!

…food?

I make a great Chicken Fajitas!

…music?

Totally random, whatever suits my mood on the day. A new found love for country!

Will you share an interesting fact about yourself?

Emma Astley Cover My Bubble

Emma Astley is the founder and director of Cover My Bubble Ltd, a family life insurance broker based near Accrington, Lancashire. Together with her husband Chris and best friends Jo-Anne, Gemma and Sara they provide personal protection insurance to mainly families.

Having lost her daughter Lillie-Beth in 2006, her young family suffered financially, as well as emotionally for years to follow. They firmly believe that if they had known about the insurances available to them and been advised on the benefits, they could have grieved and supported their family better.

Years on, Emma was determined to make a career for herself. A chance

opportunity came about at a local insurance firm where she rose quickly within the team. After a few years there, Emma was keen to start her own business and do it “her way”.

Cover My Bubble was set up in 2018 with Emma’s passion to cover ‘bubbles’ with suitable and affordable insurance and to raise awareness to young families about the importance of it. The company is in memory of her daughter and Emma says, “Lillie is my rainbow covering your family”.

She is proud to now call Cover My Bubble a multi award winning business; Protection Guru’s ‘Above & Beyond’ and ‘Best Claim

I’ve camped in the Romanian forests with the Romanian Army, whilst being one of the first UK girls in the ‘boy’ Scouts.

What words of wisdom would you give your younger self?

Believe in yourself and do whatever makes you happy!

Favourite Quote

“Make someone smile everyday”

One Thing you couldn’t live without?

Corny, but my hubby, Chris. He’s got my back with everything we do as a family & business.

To attend the group and for more information call:

N 07794 143171 or email

E kathryn@uniqueladies.co.uk

Lake District Coast is Perfect Location for Family Friendly Running Festival

The stunning Lake District coast is the venue for a new multi-terrain running festival to be staged in May.

“Run the Edge” will feature two main events over routes which take in the breath-taking scenery of the Duddon Estuary and Lakeland fells. There’ll also be a family fun run and other activities.

The Run the Edge festival includes:

• An 11.4km (seven mile) race for entrants aged 16+

• A 5km (three mile) race for anyone over 12

• A 1km (0.6 mile) family friendly fun run

The festival celebrates the England Coast Path – new stretches of which have recently opened up on the Lake District coast. Both main races will follow parts of the coastal path.

It’s organised by Millom Striders Running Club on behalf of Copeland Borough Council and takes place on Sunday, May 21.

“It will spotlight our amazing coastline as a unique destination for anyone who loves the outdoors,” says Mike Starkie, Copeland’s Elected Mayor.

“This coast is a hidden gem and I’m delighted we’ve attracted funding for events like this - it benefits locals but also showcases the area to the rest of the UK and beyond. It supports jobs and businesses and promotes healthy activity – I hope people come from far and wide to take part.”

Andrew Rigg, Chairman of the Millom Striders, said: “Both events will take in scenic views of the Duddon Estuary (an SSSI site) and of the Lake District’s southern fells towards Black Combe, White Combe, Coniston Old

Man and Scafell Pike. Both events will be chip-timed and will, in the main, follow the Cumbria Coastal path.”

Both race routes will be signposted and include km markers. A safe storage area will be available along with various refreshments, and there will be a water station on the longer route.

Pre-booked entry to each of the two main events costs £16, or £14 for affiliated athletes. Entry on the day is £16 for everyone. Competitors will receive a T-shirt, medal, neck warmer and eco-friendly water bottle on completion. Entry to the fun run costs £2 and participants will receive a goodie bag. Entries to the fun run will only be taken on the day.

To sign up for Run The Edge visit: www.runbritain.com/entries/ EnterRace.aspx

Redrow Steps In To Protect Neighbours

KNUTSFORD Rugby Club is onto a winner after scoring support from neighbours Redrow to purchase post protectors.

The homebuilder gifted Knutsford Rugby Club £1,000 from its Knutsford Community Fund, a voluntary scheme linked to the Tabley Park development. In total Redrow has shared £10,000 amongst good causes in the area.

Club president Tony Evans said: “The pitches we use at Knutsford Academy for all matches is only about 200 metres from the Tabley Park development, on the opposite side of the A5033.

“As a local community sports club we need to raise money to maintain and improve our facilities and equipment for the benefit of our players, both senior and junior. We applied to Redrow for help and received £1,000 which we’ve put to good use by purchasing post protectors. Safety covering of the goal posts on the rugby pitch is essential to protect players from injury and we’re grateful to Redrow for their support.”

KRFC has around 300 members including juniors from age six. Its first team plays in the NOWIRUL The Right Broker Division 2 South league.

Redrow area sales manager Amanda Hollins said: “The voluntary community fund programme is part of our commitment to creating thriving communities and building responsibly, helping support the growth of the neighbourhoods we operate in. With Knutsford Rugby Club playing so close to our Tabley Park development it was an obvious choice to support. We’re happy to be helping keep players safe while enjoying the sport they love.”

Along with new homes, Redrow’s Tabley Park development will also include the creation of a large area of open space, a football pitch, allotment areas, orchard and children’s play area, enabling residents of the growing community to enjoy the outdoors close to home..

For more information about homes at Tabley Park, visit the show homes, open daily from 10am to 5.30pm, call 01565 859509 or see www.redrow.co.uk/tableypark.

left: Redrow’s Melanie Ferris pictured at Knutsford Rugby Club, where the homebuilder has funded new post protectors

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Appeal For Jukebox Memories In Lancaster and Morecambe

Listen up! Jukebox memories from the Fifties and Sixties are needed for an exciting new project planned for Morecambe and Lancaster..

The history of jukeboxes is relatively undiscovered, yet in the Fifties a British jukebox industry, based largely in Blackpool and Lytham, flourished.

Jukeboxes were central to the growth of youth culture in the Fifties and the awardwinning Lancasterbased charity, Mirador, is looking for a small group of people in Lancaster and Morecambe to share their memories and help create an outstanding artistic and heritage programme of events and activities celebrating this era.

The project will be supported by funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund and Mirador, along with its partner, Lancaster University Library, want it to be a fun celebration of people’s life and times.

It will include a series of original artistic, participation and heritage events to reveal how the distinctive British jukebox was created on Lancashire’s seaside coast.

If you lived through this key period of social change in the middle of the Twentieth Century and grew up listening to jukeboxes, Mirador wants to hear from you.

To find out more about the project and have a chat, contact Mirador trustee, George Harris, at: George@miradorarts.co.uk

Left: A Young Cliff Richard pictured with guitarist, Burt Weedon

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Joss Arnott’s stunning TIN MAN at the heart of powerful contemporary dance season

Fall in love with Joss Arnott’s bewitching tale of the TIN MAN this April as part of Blackpool Grand Theatre’s captivating new contemporary dance season. It’s a fantastical family adventure!

Follow the yellow brick road to an enchanting reimagining of the TIN MAN on Tuesday 11 April 2023 from Joss Arnott Dance as part of Blackpool Grand Theatre’s exciting contemporary dance season

This visually stunning new live production for families and children aged 7+ presents a magical new telling of a classic story, seen through the rusty eyes of the TIN MAN and their journey to finding their heart and happiness.

TIN MAN explores a re-imagined story of this much-loved character’s encounters with the Witch in the deep dark wood, and the fantastical new friendships they form with a Scarecrow and a Lion along the way.

Told with brilliant humour and touching pathos, TIN MAN thoroughly entertains both children and adults alike with its

magical storytelling and dramatic choreography along with spectacular costume and lighting designs, all accompanied by newly commissioned music from award-winning composer Anna Appleby.

Don’t miss your chance to see this incredible new work from one of the UK’s most thrilling contemporary dance companies. Joss Arnott Dance is based in the North of England and its talented dancers and musicians bring adrenaline-fueled dance productions that excite and inspire audiences regardless of their dance experience and knowledge, through founder Arnott’s extraordinary choreographic style. International award-winner Arnott has an artistic vision to create a portfolio of work for a diverse range of audiences and has a trademark, athletic choreographic language that is grown from classical and commercial techniques, shaped by contemporary aesthetic and inspired by music.

There’s no place like The Grand for cutting edge contemporary dance… Book now!

Attention! The unmissable, fivestar work 5 Soldiers from top contemporary dance choreographer Rosie Kay offers no moral stance on war, but instead questions what it is that we ask of our soldiers and offers a necessary glimpse into a world we mostly prefer to ignore. One enthralled audience member said: “5 Soldiers was an extraordinary experience. I can’t think of anything else I have ever seen that spoke directly to me on a physical level. I found myself both interpreting the performance mentally and literally feeling it.

The deeply realistic new dance piece explodes into The Grand on Friday 12 May exploring how the human body remains essential to war, with Kay’s trademark intense physical and athletic dance theatre. In 2008, Kay joined the 4th Battalion The Rifles, to watch and participate in full battle exercises, and visited the Defense and National Rehabilitation Centre for our Armed Forces. The performance will be followed by a post-show discussion with the company, community members and local military representation.

Just love dance in all its forms?

Partner up with Strictly champ Giovanni Pernice as he packs up his famous dance shoes and invites you to join him and an outstanding ensemble of dancers and singers on Friday 10 March in Made in Italy; Northern Ballet will pirouette into The Grand on Friday 21 April with Hans Christian Anderson’s charming

fairytale Ugly Duckling, offering the perfect opportunity for your little ones to enjoy live ballet for the first time; expect jaw-dropping performances from internationally celebrated poppers, lockers, b-boys and b-girls in the welcome return of the ground-breaking Breakin’ Convention hip hop festival on Saturday 10 June, showcasing local talent alongside global sensations, and feel the immense power and thunderous rhythms as Irish Dance and Modern Tap combine to soar into the 21st century with Emerald Storm on Tuesday 10 October. Set to a soundtrack of some of the most famous Irish bands of all time, Emerald Storm takes the audience on a journey of rivalry and turmoil. Can a forbidden love unite the two clans?

Dance into The Grand in 2023 for a stunning contemporary dance season and much more.

For further information and bookings for Joss Arnott’s TIN MAN and Rosie Kay’s 5 Soldiers, or any dance shows at Blackpool Grand Theatre in 2023 please visit blackpoolgrand.co.uk or call the box office on 01253 290 190.

LISTINGS

Joss Arnott’s Tin Man

Tue 11 Apr 2023 at 7pm

Rosie Kay’s 5 Soldiers

Fri 12 May at 7.30pm

Giovanni Made in Italy

Fri 10 Mar at 7.30pm

Ugly Duckling

Fri 21 Apr at 2pm & 4pm

Breakin Convention

Sat 10 Jun at 7pm

Emerald Storm

Tue 10 Oct at 7.30pm.

Grand Theatre, 33 Church Street, Blackpool FY1 1HT

n 01253 290 190

d blackpoolgrand.co.uk

f @blackpoolgrand

t @Grand_Theatre

i grandtheatrebpl

New Homes Deliver £2 Million Boost To Halewood Community

MORE than £2million has been handed over to the Halewood community linked to Redrow’s two developments in the town.

To coincide with the first residents moving in at The Finches at Hilton Grange, off Lower Road, Redrow has made several contributions towards local healthcare, nursery and education provision as well as public transport and green spaces.

Redrow is building up to 730 new homes in Halewood, and the community funding was agreed as part of the planning process.

The largest contribution of more that £700,000 will go towards creating new primary school places in Halewood, while in excess of £167,000 will ensure new full-time nursery or childcare places are created locally.

Almost £671,500 will be used to make improvements to local highways, including the removal of an existing roundabout at Higher Road and Bailey’s Lane and installation of new traffic signals, while two junctions at Lower Road and Greensbridge Lane and Church Road and Bailey’s Lane will be integrated.

Over £100,000 will subsidise new or diverted bus routes to serve the new developments.

Finch Woods will be enhanced, managed and maintained with a payment of more than £156,000 and the outdoor sports provision at Halewood Leisure Centre will benefit from funds in excess of £175,000 for improvement works.

The Knowsley Clinical Commissioning Group will identify healthcare and dental facilities to utilise a contribution of more than £32,000.

The payments have been made by Redrow as part of its section 106 agreements with Knowsley Council, with further contributions to be made as building work progresses and more new homeowners move in.

Redrow is creating two brand new developments in Halewood

– The Finches at Hilton Grange and Grace Fields at Hilton

Above: Builder Book Project Natalie Reeves Billing, Sofia Delgado and Jude Lennon

Grange, off Greensbridge Lane. Homes at both locations are now on sale and The Mayor of Halewood, Cllr Barbara Dunn recently opened show homes at The Finches.

Claire Jarvis, managing director for Redrow (Lancashire), said: “Our two new developments form a significant part of the East Halewood Sustainable Extension – a masterplan to provide high quality new homes in the local area. We’re so pleased to welcome our very first new residents at The Finches and make these financial contributions towards new facilities for the local community.

“Part of our commitment to building responsibly is to ensure that our neighbours in the surrounding community are valued. Further to the contributions made through the planning process we have awarded a further £6,000 to local good causes as part of a voluntary community fund.”

Above: The Finches development in Halewood

Left:

L to R Volunteer Alison Shacklady, The mayor of Halewood Barbara Dunn and Redrow’s Julie Madden

Redrow is building a wide range of homes in Halewood. Grace Fields features one, two and three-bedroom apartments and three and four-bedroom terraced, semi-detached and detached properties, while The Finches includes three, four and five-bedroom detached houses.

A quarter of the homes will be affordable properties to meet local need. The developments are expected to take between five and seven years to complete.

For more information on the homes available visit: www.redrow.co.uk/developments/the-finches-at-hiltongrange-halewood or www.redrow.co.uk/developments/gracefields-at-hilton-grange-halewood

Casting Announced for Rsc Production of Julius Caesar

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has today announced casting for its forthcoming production of Shakespeare’s political thriller, Julius Caesar, running between 18 March – 8 April 2023 in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, before a nine date tour of England between 20 April – 24 June.

This visceral new production is directed by Atri Banerjee, and will feature Thalissa Teixeira as Brutus and Kelly Gough as Cassius, in the roles of the leaders who plot to kill Caesar. Talking about the production, Atri Banerjee said: “I’m thrilled to be welcoming this extraordinary cast to our production of Julius Caesar. In particular, I’m delighted that audiences will get to see Thalissa Teixeira and Kelly Gough as, respectively, Brutus and Cassius. Along with several other parts across the company, we’ve re-imagined these roles to tell a story about power today: who holds it, who wields it, and who gets to challenge it.

“Julius Caesar is the perfect play for our age of emergency, asking uncomfortable questions about today. When asked to imagine a better future for us all, what resources do we have left? What are the limits of peaceful activism? How far would you, personally, go, to make the world a better place?

“By thinking of the roles in this play across intersectional lines - gender, race, class, disability, among otherswe’re inviting audience members to think of their own place within the status quo and what might be at stake for each of us within it.

“Thalissa and Kelly are two formidable actors and I’m so excited for their take on this central character relationship, within the context of an extraordinary cast of 19 from across the nation. I can’t wait to show audiences, both in Stratford and on tour, Shakespeare’s searing political tragedy, as pertinent now as it ever was.”

Thalissa Teixeira makes her RSC debut as Brutus. Thalissa earned an Ian Charleson award nomination for her role in Electra at The Old Vic, and in 2021 she was named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow. Other theatre credits include Dr Semmelweis (Bristol Old Vic), Women Beware Women, Othello, The Broken Heart, The Changeling (Shakespeare’s Globe), Blood Wedding (Young Vic), Yerma (Young Vic, Park Avenue Armoury), Julie (National Theatre)

and The Night Watch (Manchester Royal Exchange). On television she has played Gemma in Trigonometry (BBC Two), DI Emily Baxter in Ragdoll (Sid Gentle/AMC), and Madge Shelton in Anne Boleyn (Channel 5), as well as appearing in The Musketeers (BBC), Too Close (ITV) and Two Weeks To Live (Sky). Most recent projects include the short film We Met Before, which Thalissa wrote and directed. Also appearing with the RSC for the first time is Kelly Gough as Cassius. Other theatre credits include The House of Shades (Almeida Theatre), the one-woman show Harm (Bush Theatre), A Streetcar Named Desire (English Touring Theatre), Don Carlos (ARA), Macbeth (Second Age), All In The Timing (Iris Theatre), Big Love (Abbey Theatre), Falling Out of Love (Yew Tree Theatre), Macbecks (Long Road Productions), Pilgrims of the Night (Rough Magic), Playboy of the Western World (Druid Theatre), Phaedra, Vinegar Tom, Terrorism, Three Sisters, Twelfth Night and Yeats Trilogy (Samuel Beckett Theatre). On film Kelly has appeared in Tarrac, Out of Innocence, Kill Command, Jump and Belonging to Laura. Television credits include Grace, Marcella, Shadow and Bone, Call the Midwife, Broadchurch, Vera, Casualty, Law & Order and Raw. Kelly speaks fluent Irish and was nominated for Richard Harris Actor of the year at the Oireachtas Irish language media awards in 2014 for her portrayal of Alix in BBC Northern Ireland drama Scúp.

William Robinson makes his RSC debut as Mark Antony. Other theatre credits include Britannicus (Lyric Hammersmith), Bacon (Finborough Theatre) and Romeo and Juliet (Young Shakespeare Co.) Television credits include Masters of the Air (Apple TV) and Cuffs (BBC). William has appeared in the feature film God’s

Atri Banerjee - Director of Julius Caesar

Spy, and the short films Femme (Agile Films) and Queens (Orange Door Productions).

Nigel Barrett (Julius Caesar), Nadi Kemp-Sayfi (Portia) and Jimena Larraguivel (Calpurnia) all make a welcome return to the RSC.

Nigel Barrett’s previous RSC credits include: Kingdom Come and Richard III - An Arab Tragedy. Other theatre credits include Kidstown (National Theatre Wales), Little Bits of Ruined Beauty (Pentabus), Britannicus (Lyric Hammersmith), I Am Kevin, 100:Unearthed (Wildworks), Living Newspaper (Royal Court), Pops (Edinburgh/High Tide Festival), The Mysteries (Royal Exchange Manchester), Party Skills for the End of the World (Manchester International Festival/ Shoreditch Town Hall), Margate/Dreamland (National Theatre/ Shoreditch Town Hall), Get Stuff Break Free, The Eye Test (National Theatre) and The Passion (National Theatre of Wales). Film and television credits include Doctors, Casualty, The Mysteries, Coast, The Lens, Crimewatch (BBC) and England My England (Film 4).

Nadi Kemp-Sayfi’s previous RSC credits include The Whip, A Museum in Baghdad and King John. Other theatre credits include Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights, The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare’s Globe), War with the Newts (Knaïve Theatre), Wake, Mittwoch Aus Licht, Life is a Dream (Birmingham Opera Company), 101 Dalmatians, Between The Two, Three Wheels on the Wagon, The Witches’ Promise, Under The Stars (Birmingham Rep), Hijabi Monologues (The Bush Theatre), Phone Home (Upstart Theatre & Creative Europe), Save our School Dinners… Jamie! (Belgrade Theatre Coventry & Old Rep) and Burning Books and She (Arena Theatre). Radio credits include The Archers and Words and Music.

Jimena Larraguivel’s previous RSC credits include Day of the Living. Other theatre credits include A Fight Against (Royal Court Theatre), Dear Elizabeth (Gate Theatre), Love in the Time of Corona (Jermyn Street Theatre), Queen of Mexico (Omnibus

Theatre), Faces in the Crowd (Gate Theatre), Shakespeare Walks and Shakespeare within the Abbey (Shakespeare’s Globe) and The House of Bernarda Alba (Cervantes Theatre). Television credits include Apple Tree Yard, and film credits include SpiderMan: Far From Home.

The full cast is: Jamal Ajala (Lucius), Mercedes Assad (Marullus/ Artemidorus), Annabel Baldwin (Soothsayer), Nigel Barrett (Julius Caesar), Matt Ray Brown (Cicero), Matthew Bulgo (Casca), Ella Dacres (Octavius Caesar), Joshua Dunn (Cinna The Poet/Popilius/Carpenter), Katie Erich (Caius Ligarius/ Cobbler), Niamh Finlay (Pindarus), Kelly Gough (Cassius), Gina Isaac (Decius Brutus), Robert Jackson (Flavius/Cinna The Conspirator), Tom Kanji (Metellus Cimber/ Lepidus), Nadi Kemp-Sayfi (Portia), Jimena Larraguivel (Calpurnia), Pedro Leandro (Trebonius), William Robinson (Mark Antony) and Thalissa Teixeira (Brutus).

After its run in Stratford-upon-Avon Julius Caesar will visit nine venues across the country including RSC Partner Theatres. This marks the beginning of an ambitious threeyear programme to expand the reach of the Company’s national touring footprint. The focus is on co-creation with the communities the RSC serves at the heart of its theatre-making, and is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

The production will also feature a Community Chorus. There will be a different group of people playing the Chorus in each venue the production visits, with each group made up of community leaders, workers and volunteers from the local area. This production of Julius Caesar explores questions such as gender in leadership and power, and the Chorus will provide a commentary on the politics of the play from the perspective of identities that have been marginalised, either at different points in history or in our world today. Recruitment is currently taking place, and the RSC anticipates that those participating will include teachers, support workers, campaigners and faith leaders.

Director, Atri Banerjee won The Stage

Debut Award for Best Director, and a UK Theatre Award nomination for his production of Hobson’s Choice at the Royal Exchange Manchester. Other credits include The Glass Menagerie (Royal Exchange Manchester), Britannicus (Lyric Hammersmith), Kes (Octagon Theatre, Bolton/Theatre By The Lake, Keswick), Harm (Bush Theatre, also broadcast on BBC Four), and Utopia (Royal Exchange Theatre). Last year Atri was named in The Stage 25 list of theatre-makers to look out for in 2022 and beyond, and in November 2022, along with Rachel Bagshaw, he was awarded a Peter Hall bursary by the National Theatre, which will support Atri in developing work for the NT’s stages.

Atri’s role was recruited through OpenHire, a new initiative which aims to improve transparency and access to freelance creative jobs in theatre.

Joining Atri on the creative team are: Rosanna Vize (Set Designer and CoCostume Designer), Tomás Palmer (Co-Costume Designer), Lee Curran (Lighting), Jasmin Kent Rodgman (Music), Claire Windsor (Sound), Jennifer Jackson (Movement), Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth CooperBrown (Fights), Alison Bomber (Voice and Text) and Matthew Dewsbury CDG (Casting).

The RSC’s Julius Caesar heads to the Blackpool Grand Theatre on Tuesday 16 to Saturday 20 May 2023. For more information or to book, please go to blackpoolgrand.co.uk

THE HIGH KINGS announce June 2023 UK Tour Dates

Coming to MANCHESTER – The Lowry on Friday 16th June and LIVERPOOL - Epstein Theatre on Wednesday 21st June 2023.

After 15 years at the top of their game, The High Kings are still selling out venues around the world to an ever- growing army of loyal fans.

Having already surpassed a million listeners on Spotify as well as 2 platinum albums in their time, The High Kings are celebrating 15 years together by releasing 15 brand new tracks to their fans as well as an 8-date tour of the UK.

Widely regarded as the standardbearer for their genre The High Kings continue to surprise and delight and “The High Kings XV TOUR” together with 15 newly reimagined tracks is just the beginning of their electrifying plans for 2023.

In their time together, ‘The High Kings’ have charted across the world and performed for hundreds of thousands of fans, as well as in many prestigious situations including for the Prime Minister of England ( 2011), Barak Obama( 2012) & George W Bush (2009 at the White House and at The Pentagon (2015). Notable performances include Glastonbury, the Isle of Wight (3 times – headlining in 2015), They appeared in Time Square & also headlined the St Patrick’s Day concert in Trafalgar Square London (2015).

The High Kings continue to set the bar extremely high for Irish folk bands across the world and 2023 will be no different.

Speaking about The High Kings – UK 2023 Tour the High Kings said: “It’s been an amazing journey so far, and to be celebrating such a milestone with a huge Irish tour is amazing. We can’t wait to bring our brand-new stage show, and our new music to

our Irish fans – and we have a few surprises too!”

The High Kings are Finbarr Clancy, Darren Holden, Paul O’ Brien and Brian Dunphy.

• 7 Studio albums

• 2 top 10 albums in the American Billboard charts

• Debut album reached No. 2 on Billboards worldwide charts, No. 3 in Ireland, no. 11 in the UK and no. 7 in Germany. The album spent a total of thirtysix weeks on the BILLBOARD chart.

• Their follow up album also reached no.2 on THE WORLDWIDE Billboard CHARTS.

• A total of 6 studio albums

CHARTED top 10 in the Irish charts

• 2022 saw the High Kings hit over 1 million monthly Listeners on Spotify

• Massive fanbase across Ireland, UK, Germany & the USA with back-to-back sold out shows across the USA, UK & Ireland 20/21/22

THE HIGH KINGS

June 2023 UK Tour Dates include:

Thursday 15 June

ILKLEY

Town Hall

Friday 16 June

MANCHESTER

The Lowry

Saturday 17 June

EDINBURGH

Queens Hall

Sunday 18 June

SUNDERLAND Fire Station

Tuesday 20 June

BRISTOL

St George’s

Wednesday 21 June

LIVERPOOL

Epstein Theatre

Friday 23 June

BIRMINGHAM

Town Hall

Saturday 24 June

LONDON

O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire Tickets for the above shows are available from:

www.thegigcartel.com/Artistsprofiles/The-High-Kings.htm

YOUNG NETBALLERS

INTRODUCED TO GAME IN NORTHWICH

A NETBALL team aimed at children aged between five and nine has been set up in Northwich after a housebuilder donation.

Northwich Sapphires Netball Club received £1,000 from Redrow’s community fund that’s been used to set up Bee Netball, a programme that will introduce younger children to the game.

Lauren Watson, head coach at Northwich Sapphires, said: “Bee Netball is a programme designed by England Netball and gives younger children the chance to learn the sport and principles of the game in a fun way. They can then progress into the junior section of the club and participate in competitive league matches. It’s great that Northwich

Sapphires can now work with even more netball fans in the community.”

Northwich Sapphires currently has 185 members and 18 teams.

Lauren added: “Netball is the largest team sport for women and is growing in popularity. Participation levels are at an all-time high, with 1.4 million women and girls taking to courts across the country in a typical week during the netball season. We’re really pleased we can offer this sport to so many girls in our community.”

The donation was used towards court hire, equipment and training for coaches to deliver the programme.

Area sales manager for Redrow NW, Caroline Thompson-Jones, said: “Grass roots netball is a brilliant opportunity to get children active, meet new friends and be part of a

team whilst nourishing their love for a sport that they can continue playing into adulthood. Redrow is really pleased we were able to help Northwich Sapphires set up this new team.”

The community fund donation is linked to Redrow’s Hartford developments, Weaver Park and Water’s Reach. Both located on Woods Road they currently have a selection of three and four-bedroom properties for sale.

For more information call the sales team at Weaver Park on 01606 369800 or visit www. redrow.co.uk/weaverpark or www.redrow.co.uk/ watersreach

The team train on Fridays between 5-6pm at Hartford High School. To find out more about Northwich Sapphires follow them on Facebook: Northwich Sapphires Netball Club.

Ready to Dig, Dig, Dig

By Harold Cunliffe

It was following the publication of one my features, what I refer to as ‘ramblings,’ in that whatever comes to mind I relate in these columns, that a message arrived from a man I first met in the 1960’s, a friend of a friend called Nigel, who now lives in Newbury and is a regular reader of the this magazine which he appreciates because it reminds him of his childhood and brings back memories of growing up in this part of Lancashire. We chat frequently via email and in one of his messages he commented that I seem to have an interest or ‘fetish’ for the industrial scene and in particular mill chimneys.

I suppose he is correct in his assumption. From an early age being born and spending the first six years of my life living in Newton Heath I was exposed to industry. My dad, referred to by his siblings as the “eld (old) fella,” and being a member of a family with horticultural associations knew members of the allotment society, then on occasions I would accompany him to obtain vegetables when there was a glut of them from the allotment holders. The path to the allotments which were once located next to the massive Newton Heath Loco, and the busy railway repair shop and sidings also gave access to the site where the wakes fair was held. I suppose all the smoke and soot kept the greenfly at bay.

Hundreds of men found employment at the ‘Loco’ many of the employees were to be seen going ‘to and fro’ their work as they used the footpath alongside the allotment. Judging by the expressions on the smoke blackened faces of the workmen as they passed us wearing a black leather cap for protection, making their way home under the clatter of hob-nailed boots were men who did not seem that happy with their daily task. They looked worn out, which always made me think twice when I would hear talk about

the “Golden age of Steam.” Then as a teenager, working through the night assisting a boiler repair specialist that brought in extra cash, also gave me a good insight in to the working of a steam boiler.

Fifty or so years later I found that I was mentioned in a book, ‘Rivet Lad’ written by this expert boiler maker and restorer. For those readers who remember the Ealing film comedy “Titfield Thunderbolt,” the engine featured in the film is at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry shows a brass plate giving details of the firm of boilermakers who worked on the engine, noting that it was repaired and restored by Alan McEwen, a boiler specialist from Yorkshire and my old mate, now in retirement.

As soon as I was able to walk I would follow my dad around the place where he worked, this was a place totally unsuitable for a young child, it being the Liver and Simpson galvanising company.

Inside the works were long tanks of very hot bubbling vats of thick liquid, similar to the lava emitted from a volcano. My dad would walk around these brick built vats with a wheelbarrow filled with coke, then with the aid of a large shovel would spread shovelfuls of this fuel on to the surface, which would then be consumed, and in the process give off a toxic gas. It was a good job that the place was well vented.

Next to the hot vats were other tanks

which were also constructed from bricks which held water. I would play for hours with a plank of wood, which was in my juvenile eyes a battleship. Giving the plank a good push it would just about make the distance to the opposite end of the tank. I would run alongside the tank to watch my ‘battleship’ in action.

It was a warm summer’s day, around 1957 when a new bit of kit arrived in the office, which my dad thought was amazing. Upon my next visit, which was always out of office hours, my dad demonstrated the new bit of kit; in fact it was an intercom.

I was instructed to sit next to the speaker in the next office to watch and wait. This I did for several minutes, but all I heard was the sound of puffing and blowing. Being bored I left the office to see what the old fella was up to, he was smoking a cigarette and puffing the smoke into the intercom “Is it coming through at the other end! he enquired. No dad, not a bit of it.

Our home, a two bedroom terraced house was two streets away, so with my dad being close to the works he was given the job of being on call, attending to the stoking of the vats, keeping the lava active and ready for action, which entailed frequent visits to the works at all times of the day and night. I remember nights when he did not go to bed.

To save disturbing his family which consisted of a wife, daughter and three sons, plus the creaking Victorian floorboards, dad chose to sleep in the

Above: Liver Galvanising ephemera

kitchen, on the floor and in front of the coal fire which he did not seem to object to. I suppose he had the benefit of being the closest family member to the outside toilet. We siblings had the use of the ‘Edgar Allan.’

Life changed dramatically in 1958 when the Manchester council rehoused our family to a three bedroomed house at what was called, ‘an overspill estate’ close to Ringway Airport. A memory exists in my mind of being with my sister on the day of the move, both of us being placed in the back of the furniture van, peeping over the tailboard observing the scenery as we made our way along the Manchester highways, constantly keeping a watchful eye on the furniture we were placed next too, especially the heavy wardrobes as they dangerously swayed about in their loose lashings as we travelled the 14 mile journey to Wythenshaw. Moving to a house which had a bath and two inside toilets was a luxury.

I can well remember the odd occasion when my dad had a bath, but the bath was a ‘dolly tub.’ In a way I am glad that he did not have that many baths because the family had to vacate the house, stand in the street when dad was partaking his ablutions in front of the kitchen fire, it was reminiscent to a scene from Steptoe and Son, in fact dad looked a bit like Albert Steptoe and used the same type of language.

On the day we moved house the sadness was clearly visible on my face, I was losing my old friends, then of the workmen bought me a bottle of

pop, Dandelion and Burdock, what a treat that was, especially with a penny back on the return of the empty bottle so everything was fine. Looking back to my short period in growing up in Newton Heath I find that it was not a happy period, life was hard, and sleeping three in a bed, two boys and a girl, ‘top and tail’ method and then as we grew older awaking each morning to find your sisters foot on your pillow was rather bazaar, but not as bad as having her foot accidentally up your nighty.

But one happy memory stands out. In the form of a young girl who was in my class at school, a picture of her exist today in the family album, captured in a school photograph, taken just prior to my leaving the district.

The girl’s Christian name was ‘Clerk’ a girl I had a design on marrying when older, even though I was only around five years of age. My reason for the matrimonial attraction was that her family owned the bakers shop “Clerk’s” located on Oldham Rd, Newton Heath.

My next encounter with this shop was when Mr Clerk wanted my dad to repair his car. My late father was a wizard with machinery and also repairing vehicles, having had instruction in the war. One Saturday morning we were both on our way back home from the galvanising works and in taking a route along the back passages of the terraced houses we happen to be passing the rear of the bakers shop, then taking us both by surprise the door opened, it was Mr

Clerk, he had spotted dad, “Raymond, can I have a word?” he then invited the pair of us inside.

Mr Clerk had a car with two steering wheels, no doubt to teach people to drive. Then, once inside the heart of the bakery my eyes lit up, what a fascinating place it was for a young man to explore. Along with the lovely smell of fresh bread were huge barrels of ingredients, all those goodies were dotted around the place including large blocks of chocolate stacked in a neat pile.

My favourite chocolate was “Five Boys” made by Fry & Co, but the catering blocks were the biggest I had ever seen. I stood mesmerised as the grown-ups held their conversation, a conversation I did not understand. Then, Mr Clerk, without a word spoken, or any eye contact placed his left hand into a barrel of raisins then scooped up a handful, then held out his hand and offered them to me. I instinctively cupped both of my little hands together to receive this bounty. They were delicious, moist and sweet, and my thought was, “What a kind caring man he was. He would make a great father-in-law.”

I found out that dad was a secret sweet eater, and it was haircut time at the barbers that made me arrive at this conclusion. Visiting the barbers was an experience. As you entered the ancient salon, a salon which had never been upgraded since the Victorian period, it reminded me of a bar in a western. Leather seating was fitted around the room, and the pungent smell of burnt hair would be present.

Back in the 1950’s the barber would use a lighted taper to cauterize the hair once cut. It was thought that the hair would bleed once cut and your resistance was lowered so customers were at risk of catching a cold if the weather was cold and damp.

Normally I would be the first in the chair for a trim which was adapted to suit my size. It was when my dad was having his hair trimmed that something suspicious would happen, something that would make me pay attention. Watching this act of secrecy I noticed that when Joe the barber had completed dad’s haircut, he would brush away the hair from his shoulders he would ask him a question in a low voice, “Anything for the weekend Raymond.”

Above: Five Boys Chocolate

If dad gave a positive reply, this being a quick ‘nod’ of his head, Joe would then attract my attention by throwing a sweet under the seating in the distance, then as I rushed to retrieve my booty he would slip a small packet into dad’s top pocket. I had spotted these ‘treats’ on the counter, but my juvenile mind did not show much interest; the packets only contained three sweets!

On The March

In the mid 1960’s the drivers who were employed by the cabinet making company in which I was employed would regularly patronise a transport cafe located on the moorland hill above Oldham to enjoy early morning breakfast when on route to Yorkshire, the café was a couple of miles away from the village of Marsden.

In the shadow of the former drivers rest building, on the hillside, visible today are the 132 year old twin brick built railway tunnel shafts which were originally constructed to remove the spoil from the tunnel excavations which when completed linked Oldham to Marsden. Looking back to the time in the 1890’s when the London and North Western Railway Company made preparations for the excavation of the double track railway tunnel through the Pennine hill, we

find that local farmers living in the north of England noticed many groups of men in conservation and making their way over the fields and highways heading in the direction of Oldham. It was estimated that 600 men were required to carry out the excavation work.

Offices were built at the tunnel end and a barracks built to house the 600 navvies on the moors high above Oldham, many of the men who were seeking employment made their way from Wales arriving at what must have looked like a new wooden village at Marsden Moor. It would seem that the place on the hillside became a hive of activity with lorry loads of tools, provisions and steam engines arriving daily.

A number of medical people were employed in preparation to attend to the sick and wounded. Special machinery was erected at the shaft site to hoist the spoil from the underground excavations which are visible today. Stables were built to house the squadrons of horses which were seen being run up Marsden Moor by their keepers. The workmen must have had a rough time due to the cold winter which set in shortly after their arrival, 1890-91 and it was noted that it was one of coldest periods for many years.

No doubt stiff drinks were supplied to employees to make life a little more bearable, used as a type of anaesthesia but no doubt handed out with caution, too much of the hard stuff was not beneficial to your health. On the Chadderton side of Oldham a thirty year old man became so inebriated he decided that if he was to walk home the exercise would do him the world of good, it would sober him up and he would not be in trouble with his wife, but partaking in a brisk walk during the big freeze over a distance of five miles became exhausting, then when at the half way point of his journey his legs felt the strain so he decided to have a rest by sitting on a low wall near the canal and railway bridge at a place known as Mills Hill. Unfortunately the poor chap fell fast asleep and as a result froze to death.

At 8.am the following morning an insurance agent who was making his way to work along Oldham Road spotted the body of a man on the footpath and attempted to revive him, but to no avail. He went at once to a house to summon assistance then returned to carry the man to a nearby public house, the ‘Rose of Lancaster.’ There they found that the man, named John Whitehead was not quite dead.

Double Shafts at Marsden

New homes across Lancashire

Club, who were Football Association members took part in a match by fixing their goal posts into the ice and not wear irons on their boots enabled them to entertain the crowd to a slippery football match to the sound of the music played by the Buckley Hall Orphanage band, who attended to entertain those on the ice, whilst boys from the Orphanage went round

How very Redrow

We pride ourselves in building quality homes throughout Lancashire

One newspaper related that hot food was available on the ice, black peas and a hot potato van was spotted near the Beach Hotel, the newspaper stated that “The vendors did a roaring trade too,” the food being cooked on

caused the massive lake to become a playground. In one report it was stated that on the first day of the big freeze around 3,000 persons put in an appearance to enjoy the sport of skating on the lake.

Past the Pole

Redrow strive to create environments that will stand the test of time, where people can appreciate and enjoy their surroundings. We create homes that are designed for the way we live today, yet are rooted in the time-honoured traditions of craftsmanship and care.

the loud report to find that the hat factory belonging to Messrs. Richard Whittaker & Sons, Wickentree Lane was ablaze. Upon closer inspection one of the walls had been blown down and the brickwork being scattered over the pavement and highway. The fire was soon brought under control but not before considerable damage had had been done to both rooms and the destruction of hats in course of manufacture. Upon investigation the pipe from the stove in one of the rooms became so heated that it ignited the gas which arose from the use of spirits of wine used in the manufacture of the hats. Fortunately none of the workmen were injured, being noon they had just left the premises for lunch.

Maybe the people from Wales who were seeking employment on the moors overlooking Oldham made their way to the moor by walking along Oldham Road, Manchester, then passing Newton Heath and

During the big freeze the canals came to a standstill. At nearby Hollinwood tragedy struck in mid-January. Two valuable horses belonging to the Chamber Colliery Company were engaged in drawing

An urgent message was sent requesting a doctor to attend; next several attempts were made to pour warm liquid in to the poor fellow. Upon the arrival of the doctor, Doctor Graham, death had already occurred. Whitehead lived at Werneth, Oldham , who was married and had five children. He was employed at the engineering firm of Platt Bros & Co works, Featherstall Road

A Frozen Fairground

At the time that the navvies were employed setting up camp at Marsden Moor, we discover that just over the hill is Rochdale where the bitter cold weather, the coldest spell for over ten years had caused Hollingworth Lake to freeze over, and the sub-zero temperatures had caused the lake to be covered in ice to a considerable depth. We find that the Victorian population were quick off the mark to take advantage of this situation. Several newspapers covered the news of the arrival of the icy blast that caused the massive lake to become a playground. In one report it was stated that on the first day of the big freeze around 3,000 persons put in an appearance to enjoy the sport of skating on the lake.

A space was cleared on the ice for a five mile handicap race also many spectators were entertained by some fancy skating. With the intense frost giving even lower temperatures the numbers who took to skating on the lake increased. People travelled from Manchester and Yorkshire in which added to the numbers of Rochdale folk saw the total number of pleasure seekers on the ice increase to around 12,000 persons.

Figure skaters attended the lake with added attractions being the ‘Speed skating’ where championships of Lancashire were decided. What was amusing was when the Clifford Club, who were Football Association members took part in a match by fixing their goal posts into the ice and not wear irons on their boots enabled them to entertain the crowd to a slippery football match to the sound of the music played by the Buckley Hall Orphanage band, who attended to entertain those on the ice, whilst boys from the Orphanage went round with collection boxes.

One newspaper related that hot food was available on the ice, black peas and a hot potato van was spotted near the Beach Hotel, the newspaper stated that “The vendors did a roaring trade too,” the food being cooked on coal fired ovens.

Past the Pole

Maybe the people from Wales who were seeking employment on the moors overlooking Oldham made their way to the moor by walking along Oldham Road, Manchester, then passing Newton Heath and

Failsworth, which the latter for many years has been famous for its ‘Pole,’ once made from a ships mast, and also for the manufacture of caps and hats. As a child I remember almost every workman and football fans wearing a cap. Two of our images show the staff at the Failsworth Hat Company, many of the employees look very young. It is said that Jackie Stewart, the former racing driver once wore caps manufactured at this factory.

Explosion

At noon on the 10th of October a loud explosion was heard in the district of Failsworth. Startled inhabitants rushed from their homes upon hearing the loud report to find that the hat factory belonging to Messrs. Richard Whittaker & Sons, Wickentree Lane was ablaze. Upon closer inspection one of the walls had been blown down and the brickwork being scattered over the pavement and highway. The fire was soon brought under control but not before considerable damage had had been done to both rooms and the destruction of hats in course of manufacture. Upon investigation the pipe from the stove in one of the rooms became so heated that it ignited the gas which arose from the use of spirits of wine used in the manufacture of the hats. Fortunately none of the workmen were injured, being noon they had just left the premises for lunch.

During the big freeze the canals came to a standstill. At nearby Hollinwood tragedy struck in mid-January. Two valuable horses belonging to the Chamber Colliery Company were engaged in drawing

Hollingworth Lake when not frozen over

Above: Failsworth Pole

an ice-boat along the canal. On the return journey the keeper decided to call in a public house, the Bay Horse, located near the canal. He left both horses chained together on account of the slippery state of the path; both had their nosebags on, filled with bran. One horse lost its footing and fell into the canal, dragging the other with it. The incident was attended to very quickly with plenty of willing hands, but the horses were dead before they could be rescued.

Tommyfield became Battlefield

The towns of Bury and Oldham are well known for their markets. At Oldham the market is named, “Tommyfield.” Looking to the period when the men from Wales were making their way to Marsden Moor we find that a disturbance took place at Oldham market. The folk from Wales took no part in this incident; we are relating events which took place on the route the navvies possibly took to Marsden Moor.

In the weeks before Christmas many traders stood on wooden orange boxes enticing customers to purchase their goods which would give incredible results and miracle cures, all the dealers were keen to promote their wares. A well-built black man arrived who sold hair restorer. He claimed that it would turn grey hair black again, and also restore hair in places that had become bald.

A large crowd gathered around this vendor. An old soldier arrived to sell silver-plating polish and proceeded to set up stall where there were plenty of potential customers, this being in front of the black man’s pitch. The black man remonstrated with him for being too close, but the old soldier took offence and began to abuse him, commenting that he would cause actual bodily harm to the black man. Newspapers in the day used language which is totally unacceptable today, so this account is edited. It would seem that many of the customers too objected to the way that the old soldier had treated and threatened the man and they began to jostle him. This caused the crowd to become

more involved and the stalls nearby became a target. The roughs started throwing the wooden orange boxes about the market with some shoppers receiving cuts to their head. In close proximity to the vendor of hair restorer was a trader from Preston, “Pill Joe” who sold his ‘cure all’ quack cures in various white cardboard boxes, circular in shape.

During the heat of the moment he was knocked off his stand along with the lamp, money and pills, which became trampled upon. Pill boxes were thrown about the market used like snow balls. The old soldier in fearing for his life took off his belt, which sported a heavy brass buckle. This he swung around at speed to keep the roughs at bay. This practice he maintained as he made his way via Lord Street which was blocked. The market was a scene of total confusion with a potato engine being overturned. Next the old soldier met up with the quack that was also being pursued by the mob. Both vendors made it to safety at the Market Hotel. He explained the situation to the manager commenting, “That he had never witnessed a scene more like Sebastopol in his life.”

Left: Interior at Failsworth Hat Co.

Staff pose for the camera at the hat factory

Balloon Bloomer

In the raising of funds for the Mossley branch of the Band of Hope a gala was organised. Unfortunately all did not go to plan and most of the takings that day were paid out in compensation. From what I can gather a number of brightly coloured paper balloons of a reasonable size were set off as an added attraction.

The gentle wind was blowing in a westerly direction and the “balloon ascents” as listed in the programme could be seen from a distance. They gave a picturesque vision as they floated in to the sky. It was when the candle in one of the balloons did not provide enough thermal up lift that it alighted on Buckton Moor.

The paper construction of the balloon ignited causing a blaze which set fire to the moorland heather which was visible from Mossley. A party set off to extinguish the burning heather which was spreading. The keepers of the moor also attended and in consequence the fire was extinguished before too much damage was done. The head keeper afterwards went to the parties responsible to claim damages including the workmen’s expenses for putting out the fire which were paid in full. A few years ago

there was a similar type of balloon for sale in the shops. This paper balloon consisted of a wire frame and a small fuel block, similar to a fire lighter which once ignited the heat would elevate the balloon to a considerable height. I remember spotting dozens of them in the sky at New Year’s Eve some years prior.

I think they are not popular today for not being environmentally friendly. The following New Year’s Eve I too decided to send up a balloon. At the stroke of midnight I released my illuminated paper balloon, then at the

same moment a gust of wind caught hold of it sending it speeding away in a horizontal instead of vertical plane. Moving at a good rate of knots it proceeded along my driveway, crossed the road, and made a perfect ninety degree turn at the house opposite where it came to rest in tree close to the property, which it at once set on fire. That year I started my New Year by standing on the footpath in my dressing gown holding a hosepipe extinguishing a fire at the top of my neighbour’s tree. Never again!

Tommyfield Market, Oldham

Workmen wearing caps image courtesy of Mrs Boardman

From Star Wars To Swift! The Movie Prop Maker Now Making Waves On Windermere

James Morgan spent most of his working life creating props and models for blockbuster movies like Star Wars and The Avengers.

But today you will find him helping Lake District visitors create memories to last a lifetime by taking them cruising on the stunning waters of Windermere.

He’s one of the new Windermere Lake Cruises’ crew members who’ve just started work following its latest recruitment drive.

“It’s great to get the chance to work here on Windermere and enjoy, every day, the sort of scenery people travel across the world to see!” says James.

Born in Kendal, the 52-year-old spent 25 years working in London and at major film studios as a prop model maker. He helped create items like light sabers for stunt men on the Star Wars films.

“The first movie I worked on was Judge Dredd with Sylvester Stallone back in the 90s,” says James. “After that, I worked on Star Wars films like The Phantom Menace and Attack of The Clones. I worked on prop models,

prosthetics and even some special effects.”

He moved back up to Cumbria in 2015 to care for his mother who had cancer. Since then he’s worked as a joiner and a painter and decorator but decided to try his hand as a Windermere Lake Cruises’ crew member after seeing a television news report about working on Windermere’s cruise vessels.

“I was looking for something that enabled me to have a good work life balance and I thought this looked great,” he says. “I’m loving it! It’s great to get to meet so many people

and help give them a wonderful experience.”

He’s currently working on the company’s newest vessel MV Swift –alongside its other experienced crew members.

“It’s going great so far,” he says. “I’ve done a lot of physical work previously but this is really nice in that its more customer-facing.

“It’s also wonderful being in this scenery every day! I’ve climbed all these Lakeland mountains many times throughout my life. Now, when passengers ask where they can go for a great walk, I know where to send them. I also know all the great local restaurants so can give them a few tips there too!”

All the new crew members have received training and will continue to gain experience and learn the ropes from the many crew members who’ve been with Windermere Lake Cruises for many years.

February – with its half term holidays - is always an exciting time at Windermere Lake Cruises as visitor numbers start to rise. Crew, who’ve been involved in essential winter maintenance programmes, finish that work and head back on to England’s longest lake.

“There is always a bit of a buzz at this time of year,” says Jennifer Cormack, Sales and Marketing Director at Windermere Lake Cruises.

“The weather starts to pick up and visitors can’t wait to get out and enjoy the wonderful Lakeland scenery. It’s a lovely time to enjoy this place.”

For the first time this year, the historic “steamer” MV Teal is now out on the lake and will be operating the popular Yellow Cruise between Bowness and Lakeside throughout the half term break (Sat, Feb 18 – Sat, Feb 25 – excluding Friday, Feb 24). Money-saving combined tickets are also available for the Yellow Cruise and a journey on the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Steam Railway which is also operating through the half term period.

And just in time for February half term, self-drive electric motor boat hire has also re-opened at Bowness Beach. Boat hire at Ambleside (Waterhead) opens on Saturday, February 18 and at Bowness Dock later in the spring. The self-drive hire boats are a perfect way to explore Windermere at your own pace. 

Lost from most of the UK, reds need help in areas where grey squirrels are currently not present

Establishing new red squirrel populations in Scotland

Large parts of the former range of red squirrels in Scotland remain unoccupied. As populations of the species continue to be threatened by grey squirrel expansion and disease, fresh hope may lie in efforts to establish new red squirrel populations safe from the threat of the greys.

The problem

Red squirrels were once the only squirrel species in the UK. They are a woodland species and only thrive when there are sufficient large tracts of woodland for them to occupy. Unfortunately, the dual threat of loss of woodlands and the accidental release of nonnative grey squirrels from North America, led to the devastation of our red squirrel population. Additionally, grey squirrels transmit a deadly

virus to reds, which means when they come into contact, red squirrels are likely to go locally extinct pretty quickly. Lost from most of the UK, reds need help in areas where grey squirrels are currently not present.

The solution

Becky preparing nest boxes for transporting red squirrels

The project, led by Trees for Life, aims to reintroduce red squirrels to two key regions –Morvern and the Dornoch Firth in the north and west Scottish Highlands. This is creating at least four new populations of red squirrels in areas well away from grey squirrel populations and the threat of squirrelpox virus. The work will also build on a previous wave of translocations

to other Highland regions. Our team is working with the local community to monitor the squirrels, both to ensure they are thriving and to feed into the creation of the first ever map of red squirrel distribution in the Highlands. We are also using this information to measure how far the red squirrels are moving from the release sites. This will therefore help us to understand better how red squirrels move and colonise new areas naturally, how long it usually takes and what distance they are able to move.

The project team are working hard to form positive relationships with landowners so that the most suitable release sites are chosen, ensuring the red squirrels have the best chance of survival in the future. It’s also important that the team can access enough donor populations to ensure that the supply of squirrels for translocation is sustainable. The continued health of donor populations from other regions of Scotland is a central focus of the project. The team are working closely with Scottish Natural Heritage to make sure that the areas red squirrels are taken from, continue to have healthy, robust populations.

Trees for Life are leading this project

This project is only possible thanks to our generous donors.

Red squirrel snoozing in nest box whilst in transit

The diary of an eagle research scientist

Preparing for the fieldtrip

It’s Thursday afternoon in early October2022, and I’m in Cotacachi, northwest Ecuador in the subtropical Intag valley. I’m meeting up with key members of our research team – Sonja Dillman, Milton Arcos and Armando Almeida – to plan next month’s activities. Then we’ll be conducting a three-day fieldtrip to look for the eagles and engage the local communities. In particular, we’re really keen to try and observe one of the juveniles which hatched from a nest inside our reserve in 2021. We’ll also prepare some talks for when we meet the local communities – explaining the importance of the magnificent bird of prey living in their environment, which is sadly in danger of extinction.

Volcanoes, crater lakes and eagle sightings

On Friday, October 14th, in Cotacachi, I wake to a very clear but somewhat cold morning. It’s 6:00am, and we’re ready to start the journey to Intag where the Neblina Reserve is located. As the journey starts, we can see the majestic Cotacachi volcano rising 4,960 meters above sea level and the three-kilometre-long Cuicocha crater lake. Waiting for Sonja and I, in an area known as La Delicia, is Milton, the main research assistant, and a key member of our team.

The first visit is to the community of Azabi de Mortiñal to the north of Neblina Reserve. There we meet with the leader of the community who tells us that several community members have seen both adult and juvenile eagles. We visit all the locations where the eagles were spotted,

UK WILDLIFE

using a GPS to take the coordinates. En route, we talk with Mrs. Martha, a lady from the Azabi community , who tells us that the young eagle is very curious, that it often comes very close to the houses and hasn’t learnt to be scared of humans yet.

Towards the end of the day we stop by one of the main trails leading into the Neblina Reserve to discuss what we’ve discovered. While we talk we’re incredibly excited and emotional to spot the two adult eagles flying over the forest.

Community champions

Continuing the field trip the next day, we decide it’ll be easier to travel by motorbike. Our first destination is the community of Puranqui. Here, there are a few wooden houses, pastures and large areas of granadilla cultivation – granadilla is a type of delicious passion fruit. The locals tell us that the week before they saw a juvenile eagle fly very close to their houses. So once again we visit each sighting location and collect the data with a GPS device. It’s late by the time we finish, and we return to get some rest.

Tashkin and the researchers travelled by motorbike to talk with local communities in the Neblina Reserve. Credit Rainforest Concern. Sunday dawns. By 7:00am it’s a very clear day, but it’s going to rain later. Today we’re travelling to the southern part of Neblina Reserve to a location known as K18. Nearby is an open-pit limestone quarry, and the reserve acts as an important refuge for flora and fauna in the area.

We have arranged to meet Mr. Ajavi, one of the forest guards for the Reserve. He’s ready and waiting for us at Kilometer 18. He tells us that he’s building a new chicken coop to prevent eagles from taking his chickens. He

explains that the eagles frequently visit his small holding, perching in a tree near his chicken coop. The news from Mr. Ajavi and Mrs. Martha is a worry – in some places eagles are killed by smallholders for taking their livestock, so it really demonstrates that education and socialisation are key in helping to protect the species. We need communities to get onboard and to become champions for the black-andchestnut eagle. We hope PTES funding will help us achieve this.

A rainy end to the trip

The communities in the Intag area are mainly subsistence farmers. Across the region there are large areas of pasture and smallholdings, which have replaced the native cloud forest. So in each community we visit, and with every person we meet, we talk about the importance of eagles in ecosystems, how rare they are and the need to protect them. The reserve’s forest guards, all residents of the nearby villages, are also our ambassadors in the communities, explaining the importance of the forests and the threatened species that depend on them.

The researchers tirelessly trek through the reserve, encouraging communities to become champions for the eagles along the way. Credit Rainforest Concern.

As the day progresses the rain starts to fall. We finish the three-day trip drenched, but pleased about the amount of information we’ve collected about the black-and-chestnut eagles living in the area, the contact we’ve made with the communities, and even more excited about this majestic species and the hopes we have for its future in and around Neblina Reserve.

North Road, Damside Street, (lower) Church Street, Chapel Street, Rosemary Lane and St Georges Quay, all experienced severe flooding. Most re-opened within weeks, others took several months whilst one, ‘Green Ayre’, never opened its doors again. Well, that was until the summer of 2020.

For nearly five years the former ‘Green Ayre’ pub stood empty whilst its owner, JD

By Paul Cusimano

Wetherspoon, batted about ideas on what to do with it. In the end, they decided one outlet was enough in Lancaster, and they sold the freehold.

‘Cunningham Jewellers’, which sits opposite the former pub, opened in 1885, and is one of the oldest businesses, and is the oldest jewellers, in Lancaster. Ben Gregg is the son of the current custodians of this fine family business, Anthony and Hilary.

Ben didn’t want to follow in the family business and took a different career path, before taking on the challenge of the former ‘Green Ayre’. Having had no real experience in the Hospitality sector, he left a successful, and secure, career for the perils and risks of being a self-employed businessman.

Storm Desmond hit the north of the City centre hard. Mine was one of the first businesses to begin flooding. Our lower sales area was transformed into a one point three metre deep swimming pool within a couple of hours.

Cunningham Jewellers

J Cunnigham Jeweller - Established 1885

Pool Hall - Games Galaore

Greens - The Bar Exudes Sport

After months of refurbishment, ‘Greens’ sports bar opened. This was a huge risk given it was his first venture

and it was fresh on the tail of the first Lockdown. ‘Greens’ is a success and has also increased the footfall, and colourfulness, in this part of the town.

Following the closure of the ‘DW Sports’ store that was located on the two floors above ‘Greens’, a new opportunity presented itself. Not one to miss out on an opportunity, Ben took over the Lease and has converted the first floor it into ‘Pool Hall’, continuing the sports theme; Ten ‘English’ 8-ball pool tables, two American 9-ball tables, as well as TV screens with surround sound. The second floor is still being redevelopment.

The ‘Pool Hall’ opened midNovember 2022, shortly before ‘Vinos’ (formerly the ‘Blue Moon’ Thai restaurant), which opened

in December last. Food, for those that follow our Facebook page, just happens to be my favourite topic. Over recent years, there has been a real explosion of people, and businesses, coining buzz words and phrases which are in turn used to, what I can only describe as, misrepresent their offering.

One global fast food chain actually classes itself as a restaurant. Technically, and according to the Cambridge University Press & Assessment, which defines a restaurant as “a place where meals are prepared and served to paying customers”, it is indeed a restaurant. But, it’s not the type of establishment that my mind conjures up when thinking of somewhere to take my wife, or family, out to dinner; or want to hold a special celebration.

Pool Hall - Time To Play

Greens - Different Zones

Pool Hall - It’s All In The Name

Pool Hall - Refreshments Whilst You Play

Greens - Different Corners

Vinos - Starters

‘Fine Dining’ is the latest term when talking food, and here, I can, with supreme confidence state, that Lancaster has comfortably over a dozen establishments where you can go to experience true fine dining, and that’s just in the City centre.

‘Vinos’ is a true fine dining restaurant. Every dish is meticulously thought through, and the ingredients are

individually sourced to ensure they are the best available. Nothing is left to chance. This is a business where even the smallest of errors, or oversights, are costly to your businesses reputation.

With this in mind, Ben had to ensure his appointments matched the ethos of Vinos. Great, passionate chefs are not ten a penny, and a lot of time was invested into finding the right Chef; get it wrong, and you’re finished before you start.

Kat Devine is very modest when referring to herself simply as Chef, offering “I am a 40+ young Chef, a wife, and a mother. My Chef career started 28 years ago in London and since then I have worked extremely hard to produce food that I am proud of, and that customers can enjoy.

I came to Vinos in December 2022 and met Ben, the Director, who wanted to launch it as a fine dining restaurant, and this is where my passion lies. We are together building a very prosperous future here at Vinos, weekly we get busier and have repeat custom who all love the food. We will be looking at winning awards in the future.”

Despite how it may read, Ben has not rushed anything. When he launched Vinos, for example, it was a soft opening. No big razzmatazz, media filled, celebrity opening – not at all Ben’s style – rather, open up, manage the bookings to ensure the high standards are achieved and maintained.

All too often places open with a bang and “teething” problems immediately emerge because the team, especially in the hospitality sector, have not had the opportunity sync, gel or indeed understand each other or their way of working under the intensity of a busy sitting.

Vinos - Starters

Vinos - Mains

Vinos - Mains

For Italians food is about pleasure; be that the making of or the eating of, it is not just sustenance. This is surely the essence of fine dining. Not to be rushed, you want fast food, then try somewhere else.

Although his previous employments took him away from Lancaster until 2020, he has chosen to invest himself back in his home town. In doing so, in a little over two and a half years, he has created 67 full and part-time positions. He is also expanding and taking the ‘Greens’ (sports bar) model to St Helens and Loughborough, but clarifies, “I continue to be committed to Lancaster as it’s a city that I love and create local jobs.”

The vision, the passion, and his methodical appointment of the right people, has been the key to this inspiring story.

• Greens & the Pool Hall 63 North Road, Lancaster

• Vinos

6 Rosemary Lane, Lancaster

Vinos - Dessert

Vinos - Celebrate Life

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Vinos - Dessert

NATALIE IMBRUGLIA ANNOUNCED AS SUPPORT FOR OLLY MURS AT TRENTHAM

LIVE 2023 ON SUNDAY 20TH AUGUST!

Currently working on new material Natalie will continue to tour and release music in 2023.

Tickets for the Olly Murs / Natalie Imbruglia – Trentham Live 2023 show taking place on Sunday 20th August are available fromhttps://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/ event/1F005D72B49C6307

For more information on Natalie Imbruglia, see links below: Website: natalieimbruglia.com/ Facebook @natalieimbruglia/ Twitter: @natimbruglia Instagram @natalie_imbruglia

Delighted to announce the support act for next year’s Olly Murs show at next year’s Trentham Live 2023 is the sensational NATALIE IMBRUGLIA performing at the stunning grounds of The Trentham Estate, Staffordshire on Sunday 20th August 2023.

One of the UK’s most loved pop artists, Natalie Imbruglia first stole our hearts over a quarter of a century ago with her chart-topping smash hit, ‘Torn’, the most played song on commercial worldwide radio, selling over 4 million copies worldwide in 1997 alone.

Since then, she has released six studio albums, her latest, the critically acclaimed Firebird, in 2021. Featuring the singles ‘Build It Better’, ‘On My Way’, ‘Nothing Missing’, Firebird went top 10 in the UK. Natalie has won 8 Aria’s, 2 Brit Awards, 1 Billboard Music Award and received 3 Grammy Nominations.

Most recently Natalie won the third series of UK Version of Masked Singer and made a surprise cameo on the final episode of Neighbours, reprising her popular role as Beth Brennan. Natalie recently toured Australia with the maestro that is Andrea Bocelli and his family as well as hosting and performing at the prestigious ARIA Awards.

Above: Olly Murs headlines Sunday night at Trentham Live

• Have you ever wanted to understand yourself on a much deeper level? Why you are the way you are? Why you act, or react, in the way that you do? Why you attract certain situations, or types of people, into your life?

• Have you ever wondered what your hidden gifts, skills and talents are and how to go about uncovering them?

• Have you ever felt that life should offer more than what you are currently experiencing?

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ASTROLOGY & SPIRITUAL LIFE COACHING CAN GIVE YOU THE ANSWERS AND DIRECTION YOU ARE LOOKING FOR.

Coaching with Astrology is much more than reading the horoscopes and generic life coaching - it is a deep dive into Self and Soul. We will analyse your unique birth chart and through the wisdom gained from self knowledge we learn how to become self empowered and begin to create a life with more meaning, love, passion and joy.

ROZANNE KAY IS AN ASTROLOGER & SPIRITUAL LIFE COACH – she combines Astrological wisdom with reality creation techniques to support you to begin to create the life experience you really want.

YOUR CRASH COURSE in Astrology!

Many of us enjoy the entertainment value and generalised predictions of horoscopes. However, there is so much more to Astrology. It is an extraordinary tool for self-development, healing and understanding ourselves in a deeper way. Your birth chart is calculated specific to you! It is a map of the sky at the exact moment of birth from the place you were born. Analysis of your chart gives insight into your personality, strengths, weaknesses, potentials, destiny as well as past life experiences!.

YOUR BIRTH CHART

Your birth chart is a map of the planets at the time/ place you were born. It is divided into 12 houses, each representing different areas of life. The placement of the planets within the houses gives insight into your personality, experiences and behaviours and how they are expressed in life.

The chart also includes important angles. These are powerful and sensitive points. They are where the planets rise, set, are at their highest point above and the lowest point below when we were born. They mark the intersection between an individual’s internal and external worlds.

The planet represents a form of energy, the sign filters how that energy is expressed, and the house represents the area of life which it is predominantly focused. Essentially, you are not just your star sign, we are all the whole of the zodiac expressed in unique and individual ways!

RISING SIGN

Of all the angles the Rising Sign is the most wellknown. The rising sign represents your expression into the world, your appearance, external identity and how you come across to others – it is our metaphorical front door! Calculated from time and location of your birth, it represents the zodiac sign rising on the eastern horizon at that moment.

SUN

Most of us know our “star sign”. The sun represents our life force and sense of objective. It is associated with the ego and our perception of self. It represents our identity and purpose. The sun rules Leo and is associated with the 5th house of self-expression, joy, creativity, and children. It is also associated with father figures and authority figures, representing our relationship with authority.

MOON

Instinctual in nature, Moon represents our emotions, feelings, and intuition. Moon indicates how we express and process emotions, as well as our instinctual reactions and habits. Moon gives insight into our need for security and comfort, as well as our relationship with our mother and nurturing figures. Moon rules the sign Cancer and is associated with the 4th house of home, roots and ancestry.

MERCURY

Mercury represents communication, logic and intelligence. Mercury indicates how you think, process information, and express yourself. Mercury gives insight into your communication style, as well as interests and skills in areas such as writing, speaking, and learning. Mercury is also associated with short distance travel as well as business, commerce, and trade. It rules Virgo and Gemini and is associated with the 3rd of siblings, local neighbourhood and the mind and 6th house of health, daily routine and service.

VENUS

Venus, ruler of both Taurus and Libra represents love, beauty, the senses, material abundance and values. Venus indicates your approach to relationships, love, and romance. Venus also gives insight into tastes, aesthetic sense, and the things we value in life. Venus is associated with the arts, creativity, money and resources as well as social graces, charm, and diplomacy. The condition of Venus indicates levels of personal magnetism and charm, or lack thereof! Venus governs the 2nd house of earned income, personal resources and self-worth as well as the 7th house of relationships, marriage and open enemies!

MARS

Aries ruler Mars represents energy, ambition, drive and action. Mars gives insight into your physical energy and stamina, as well as your approach to competition,

assertiveness and how this may be expressed. Mars is also associated with sexuality, so its placement in your chart indicates your sexual energy and desires. Mars is considered a warrior spirit and governs conflicts, so a difficult placement can indicate someone with a quick temper, prone to anger and physical confrontations. Mars is associated with the 1st house of self.

JUPITER

Ruler of Sagittarius, Jupiter is associated with the 9th house of long-distance travel, higher education and philosophy. Jupiter represents expansion, growth, and good fortune. Jupiter indicates your capacity for growth, both intellectually and spiritually, as well as your potential for abundance and good luck. Jupiter is also associated with optimism, generosity, and a sense of adventure as well as wisdom, knowledge, and legal matters.

SATURN

Saturn rules Capricorn and the 10th house of career and ambition. The hard taskmaster represents responsibility, discipline, and structure. Saturn indicates your sense of responsibility, ability to take on duties and obligations, and the level of self-discipline. Saturn is also associated with restriction, limitations and time, so its placement in your chart may indicate the areas of life where you feel restricted or face challenges.

URANUS

Uranus represents innovation, change, and individuality indicating desire for freedom and unconventionality. Uranus gives insight into rebelliousness, need for independence and ability to think outside of the box. A well-aspected Uranus can indicate someone who is creative, innovative, and able to adapt to change. On the other hand, a malefic Uranus can indicate someone who is prone to sudden and erratic behaviour. Uranus rules Aquarius and the 11th house of friendship, social groups, networking and community.

NEPTUNE

Neptune rules Pisces and the 12th house of the subconscious, mysticism, the collective unconscious as well as institutions, endings and surrender. Representing spirituality, and transcendence, Neptune indicates your level of sensitivity, ability to connect with the divine, as well as potential for confusion, deception, escapism and addictions.

PLUTO

Pluto represents transformation, power and regeneration. Pluto rules Scorpio and the 8th house of sex, death and taxes. Pluto gives insight into your ability to transcend limitations, potential for power and capacity for intense emotional experiences.

Rozanne Kay is an Astrologer and Life Coach. You can find out more about her work and book a reading at www.rozannekaycoaching.com

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