Fantastic Things To Watch At The Dukes This June

From stories about the most successful woman you’ve probably never heard of, to innovative award winning theatre with music by UK music sensations The Staves, The Dukes, Lancaster has entertainment in its plentiful this June. Full English - Fri 3rd June Tickets £8-£15

WINNER: Best Stage Production 2021 - Asian Media Awards ‘Us kids aren’t English, they aren’t Pakistani. They’re ours. And we love ‘em for it” Full English explores personal histories from the Canterbury Estate, where Natalie Davies grew up, along with her mother and her Nan, Cath - a reggae loving, dance enthusiast. Back in the late fifties, migrant workers started to arrive from Pakistan and Bangladesh. These young men soon met and started to fall in love with local lasses, including Natalie’s Nan - Cath. Using first hand stories, Full English is a poignant, funny and life-affirming homage to the strength of women. Those who married Pakistani men and brought up mixed race children. Those who struggled with their identity. Those whom never really belonged to any particular culture or race. Those who constantly had to stand up against racists. Those who just didn’t care. Because, let’s face it, who is full English anyway? Just as Natalie becomes a mother herself, her beloved Nan is diagnosed with dementia. Full English charts Natalie’s journey as she attempts to piece together the fragments of her own identity through understanding the courage & tenacity of her Nan’s story. What emerges is a love letter - between young people who loved across the boundaries, to Natalie’s Nan, to Bradford and to the courage of women everywhere facing prejudice.

Beryl - Tue 7th - Sat 11th June Tickets: £10-£18

Beryl Burton: quite possibly the most successful woman you’ve never heard of. When actress Maxine Peake was given cyclist Beryl Burton’s autobiography as a gift she questioned why no one had ever written a play about Britain’s unsung sporting legend, and so she wrote it herself. The result is an inspirational tour de force fuelled by rhubarb, northern charm and fierce determination. As a child, doctors told Beryl that she could never take part in strenuous activities due to a heart condition. When she met future husband Charlie, and he introduced her to the local cycling club, her life changed forever. Proving that she can do anything she put her mind to, Beryl went on to become the greatest woman on two wheels, dominating the sport in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s: five times world-pursuit champion, thirteen times national champion, twice road-racing world champion, twelve times national champion, British record-holder, world-record holder, MBE, OBE. Sometimes it’s the stories that are true that are the most unbelievable. By Maxine Peake. An Oldham Coliseum Theatre production directed by Chris Lawson.

We’ve Got Each Other - Sat 16th June Tickets: £12

The almost entirely imagined Bon Jovi Musical. With the modern jukebox musical traditionally comes a multitalented cast, a live band (or orchestra if you are lucky), opulent sets and decadent costumes, extravagant dance routines, dramatic key changes and the odd hydraulic lift or two. We’ve Got Each Other has none of these things (they cost a lot of money), but Paul still tries to create this all singing, all dancing spectacle using the powers of your imaginations. We’ve Got Each Other is a laugh out loud show celebrating jukebox musicals, Bon Jovi, and the community that is formed when people come together and… believe. After all, we’ve got each other… and that’s a lot for love!

The Staves Write Original Song For New Theatrical Production Blood Harmony

BLOOD HARMONY

MEANING: the unique and beautiful sound created when siblings sing together A new live stage production created by Matthew Bulgo, Jonnie Riordan and Jess Williams Music by The Staves.

Indie folk trio, The Staves, are famous for their soulful harmonies. The band of three sisters wrote their most recent album, Good Woman, following the loss of their mother. Inspired by the music of The Staves, Matthew Bulgo (Last Christmas, #YOLO), Jonnie Riordan (Nigel Slater’s Toast, The Witchfinder’s Sister) and Jess Williams (The Boy With Two Hearts, Beginning) came together to create a powerful new play about love, loss and legacy. Music by The Staves will be woven through the show with exclusive new arrangements by Kate Marlais (Enter Achilles, Fatherland) sung live by the talented cast of three women. The band have also created an original song exclusively for this unique production.

Blood Harmony shares the story of a fractured trio of sisters, pulled back together with news that turns their worlds upside down. Tensions from the past and worries about the future leave them feeling paralysed. When it feels like your world has come to a stop, how do you find a way to keep moving forward? This is a powerful new play by award-winning theatre company, ThickSkin building on their successful partnership with the Lawrence Batley Theatre - the co-producers behind the five-star show, How Not To Drown (Fringe First winner and Hector Macmillan Award 2019). Blood Harmony is written by Matthew Bulgo, co-directed by Jonnie Riordan and Jess Williams, composed by The Staves, with musical direction and arrangements by Kate Marlais, design by Hayley Grindle, sound design by Lee Affen, and lighting design by Charly Dunford. The team deliver ThickSkin’s trademark physicality and cinematic style in this stunning new production.

Henry Filloux-Bennett, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the Lawrence Batley Theatre said “We are incredibly excited to bring Blood Harmony to the stage with ThickSkin. This will be our third collaboration and we can’t wait for the unique combination of The Staves’ music and ThickSkin’s extraordinary physical storytelling.”

Neil Bettles, Artistic Director of ThickSkin said, “I am thrilled that our ongoing relationship with the Lawrence Batley Theatre has made it possible for us to create ThickSkin’s first live show since How Not To Drown in 2019. Blood Harmony started its life at the beginning of the pandemic and it feels like we have been on such a journey to get here. It’s an incredibly moving and powerful play about sisterhood and the bonds that hold us together and I think it will speak to anyone who’s ever lost someone they love. I am also incredibly excited that the show features live singing, and uses original music by The Staves which is woven into the words to create a beautiful and atmospheric heartbeat to the show.”

Blood Harmony will tour to The Dukes on Fri 24th - Sat 25th June. Tickets from £10.

The Dukes Award-Winning Outdoor Theatre Returns With The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book - July 22nd - August 28th Tickets: £15 - £22.50

The Dukes award-winning outdoor walkabout theatre season returns to Lancaster’s Williamson Park this summer for a great Jungle adventure in Williamson Park. Following on from last-years sold out performances of Grimm Tales, The Dukes will delight audiences once again when it presents The Jungle Book from July 22-August 28. Step into the jungle of Lancaster’s Williamson Park as this adventurous story is told by our heroic wolves, cheeky monkeys and jungle creatures as our audience are led through all the twists and turns of this famous story adapted by Andrew Pollard. With the enchanting park as their backdrop, this epic setting for the story of Mowgli, Baloo and the infamous villains Shere Kahn & Kaa is told as the audience follow the drama by moving from one wonderful location to another. Full of catchy songs, wondrous characters and clever costumes, this laugh out loud adventure will sprinkle magic on your summer.

The Dukes has welcomed thousands of audience members over the years, take a look at some of the images below of our previous park show spectacles… DON’T MISS OUT ON THE JUNGLE BOOK THIS YEAR!

TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED

Online: D dukeslancaster.org Box Office: N 01524 598500 Email: E tickets@dukeslancaster.org

By Sarah Ridgway

The vibrant town of Bolton has been voted one of the friendliest places in the UK and is a colourful town with award-winning markets, historic buildings, and plenty of culture.

The once Lancashire town now a part of Greater Manchester also has quick access to the rural countryside of the West Pennine Moors. Despite being only a 15-minute train journey into Manchester City Centre the town has affordable properties with a good selection of excellent schools. The University of Bolton is well known for its courses in engineering and IT and 70% of its students are from the Bolton area and the North West. The town is home to Bolton Wanderers FC who in 1888 was one of the 12 founder members of the Football League and won the first-ever Wembley FA Cup Final in 1923. The multicultural town is also a fantastic place to head for a good curry. The Hot Chilli restaurant has won the crown of Best curry in the UK at the Asian Restaurant & Takeaway awards and there are plenty of other award-winning curry houses to choose from if you can’t get a table. The Ye Olde Man & Scythe is a great place for a pint and is one of Britain’s oldest pubs with the historic building dating back to around 1251.

Bolton’s rich industrial heritage began with Flemish weavers settling in the area in the 14th century founding a thriving wool and cotton industry. The then Lancashire mill town was at the centre of the industrial revolution as one of the country’s largest producers of cotton, at its height in 1911 the textile industry employed around 36,000 local people, in 1929 Bolton had 216 cotton mills. In 1779 Bolton inventor Samuel Crompton invented the Spinning Mule which would go to revolutionise the textile industry throughout the world, although he was never properly compensated for his invention.

Improved transport links boosted further Bolton’s textile industry including the arrival of the Manchester & Bury canal completed in 1791. The convenient route from Bury to Manchester could efficiently transport coal and other materials The Bolton and Leigh Railway started to transport goods in 1828 and was the oldest railway in Lancashire. In 1928 the railway began transporting passengers and the Great Moor Street station opened. Initially, the operating route connected Bolton to Leeds and the Liverpool Canal in Leigh before an extension in 1929 connected the Manchester to Liverpool Line.

Bolton was the third-largest engineering hub in Lancashire at the start of the 19th Century behind Manchester and Oldham and known as a boomtown. After the First World War, the cotton trade began to die out, and the textile industry was all but finished in Bolton by the 1980s.

In 1979 well-loved Boltonian steeplejack Fred Dibnah put Bolton back on the map when he was discovered after being filmed for the BBC news while working on the Bolton Town Hall. Off the back of his short news appearance, Fred went on to star in a film all about his unique profession. It was very unusual during this period for the subject of a television show to be a non-celebrity, but the Lancashire tradesman then aged 41 soon won the hearts of the nation. The documentary hit the screens in 1979 and won two awards. His Grade II listed home was lovingly converted into a heritage centre for fans to view his collection of tools and machinery but has since closed. The steeplejack went on to work continuously in the media and was awarded an MBE in 2003, the well-loved personality died from cancer in 2004 aged 66. Thousands of well-wishers lined the streets of Bolton for his funeral, and his son rode on a steam engine alongside the star’s coffin with Dibnah’s iconic flat cap laid on top of it. A statue in Oxford Street was constructed in his memory and one of the plaques at the base of the statue reads: “Steeplejack and demolition expert, intuitive engineer, steam enthusiast, a devotee of industrial heritage, raconteur and television celebrity, revered son of Bolton, 1938-2004” Behind Fred’s statue is a glass housed Corliss Steam Engine the perfect companion for the steam age enthusiast.

A HUB OF CULTURE

The Bolton Octagon was the first theatre to be built in the North West since World War One and was officially opened by Princess Margaret on 27 November 1967. Annie and Fannie was the theatre’s first production and was written by local playwright Bill Naughton.

Jim Cartwright, another local playwright, was the theatre’s writer in residence during the late eighties. Cartwright is now a multi-awardwinning playwright who has written and directed for the screen and stage. His works have been showcased on the West End of London and Broadway. After a financial crisis in 1999, the theatre’s right to keep producing its shows was maintained after gathering over 12,000 signatures for a “Keep theatre made in Bolton” campaign. 2017 marked the Octagon’s 50th year before the curtain came down in 2018 for a major £12 million twoyear refurbishment, performances continued operating in other venues across the town during its closure. Today, it produces professional theatre productions from a broad range of genres, including plays, musicals, and comedies and many are created and performed by local talent.

Albert Halls is another of Bolton’s entertainment hubs and began life in 1873 hosting concerts, exhibitions, shows and events in the town for over 100 years. In November 1981 the venue caught fire and thankfully some of the buildings managed to be saved. The structural premise of the building remained mainly intact, but the roof collapsed and most plasterwork, fittings and the Grand Organ were destroyed. Once the damage was surveyed it was decided to redevelop the Albert Halls into two new modern venues. The lower level was redesigned to include Festival Hall a more intimate venue for a smaller audience and the top level is the Albert Hall for larger performances.

Since 2017 the stunning Grade II building has showcased a varied entertainment calendar including pantomimes, musicals and stands up acts. The town’s favourite son Peter Kay has performed on its stage, and the building also accommodates weddings and conferences.

Rivington Pike and Winter Hill above Anglezarke Reservoir

Bolton has been a market town since 1251, today the town’s main market is located on Ashburner Street in the town’s centre with over 300 stalls spread across the indoor and outdoor location. The market’s new lifestyle hall has quickly gained a reputation as a top foodie location and won Best Food Market at the BBC Radio Four Farming Awards in 2011, Best Indoor Retail Market in 2010 by the National Association of British Market Authorities and Tourism Retailer of the Year 2009 at the Manchester Tourism Awards. The hall houses artisan coffee traders, a patisserie, and lots of delicious food vendors. The original Bolton Market Hall opened in 1855 and was known to be the largest covered market in the country at that time. In 1988 it underwent a £25 million refurbishment and was officially reopened by the Queen as the Market Place Shopping Centre which houses big retail brands such as Zara, Next and H&M. Shoppers can find the atmospheric Vaults Dining and Leisure Venue in the basement of the shopping centre. The historic vaults date back to the original market hall of the 1800s and have been carefully restored to house a variety of restaurants and makes a unique spot to dine at with a variety of restaurants to choose from.

NATIONAL TREASURE: PETER KAY

Peter Kay was born in Bolton in 1973 and has become one the most successful stand-up comedians in the country and still lives in the town. The proud Boltonian is the town’s national treasure and as a schoolboy, one of his first jobs was delivering the Bolton Evening News for a modest weekly wage of £3.50. The star often takes inspiration from his hometown and set his brilliant sitcom Phoenix Nights in a Bolton working men’s club. He left school with one GCSE and undertook a variety of menial jobs in a variety of places including, a toilet roll factory, a bingo hall, and the Manchester Arena before he went on to study Media, Music, and Performance at the University of Salford. He began to perform on the stand-up circuit part-time and won the North West Comedian of the Year award, in 1997 he won Channel 4’s So You Think You’re Funny contest. Kay’s show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival was nominated for a prestigious Perrier Award and after this newfound attention, he co-wrote That Peter Kay Thing for Channel 4. Off the back of this, he co-wrote Phoenix Nights with David Spikey who also co-starred in it, and the sitcom ran for two series winning a BAFTA award for best comedy. The comedian has also had huge success in the charts with three of his songs reaching number one, all were comedy songs to raise money for charities such as Comic Relief and Children in Need. Kay holds the Guinness World Record for the most successful comedy tour for his 2010/2011 where he tickled the funny bones of over 1.2 million people. His autobiography The Sound of Laughter was one of the UK’s best-selling autobiographies of all time. After an absence from our television screens, the comedian returned with Peter Kay’s Car Share starring just him and Sian Gibson who also co-wrote it. It ran for two series also including an unscripted episode for Children in Need and a final episode to give the series closure in 2018. Car Share won Best Comedy for three consecutive years at the National Television Awards and BAFTAS for Best Male Comedy Performance and Best Scripted Comedy. The comedian last

performed live in August 2021 for two charity shows at the Manchester Apollo. The shows sold out in 30 minutes and Kay performed them solely to raise money for 20-year-old Manchester University student Laura Nuttall’s brain cancer treatment. Laura and her family were in the audience.

THINGS TO DO IN BOLTON

Bolton Museum Art Gallery & Aquarium

Le Mans Crescent is a stunning Grade II listed crescent and home to the Bolton Museum, Art Gallery, Central Library and Aquarium. The museum houses an impressive collection of Egyptian artefacts and is a great spot to learn about the history of Bolton. Bolton’s original library on Victoria Square was one of the earliest public libraries that opened to the public in 1852 and the original library building still stands in Victoria Square. Greater Manchester’s only public aquarium is based in the building and first opened in 1941 with over 70 varieties of fish hailing from all over the world.

Bolton Food and Drink Festival

The popular food festival is held over the August bank holiday weekend and has become one of the biggest food events in the UK. It will return for its 17th year this August Bank Holiday weekend and world-renowned celebrity chefs such as James Martin, Ainsley Harriott and the Hairy Bikers will be heading back to Bolton. Throughout the day chefs will showcase their skills by performing cooking demonstrations for a live audience. Visitors can also enjoy an array of food and drink vendors, live music, entertainment, and lots of interactive activities for all the family to enjoy. Bolton Steam Museum

The Steam engine enthusiasts’ heaven sits on the old Atlas Mills site. The venue houses up to 30 stationary steam engines and the display includes some very rare and unique ones.

Smithills Hall

The Hall is one of the oldest manor houses in the region and one of the best-preserved. Visitors can wander through its historic corridors to soak up its Tudor and Victorian history, the hall is said to be haunted so keep an eye out for some paranormal activity.

Rivington Pike

Rivington Pike boasts one of the best viewpoints of the region, and the route will take walkers past a Japanese garden, Brere’s Meadow, Rivington Terraced Gardens, Lever Bridge amongst other notable sites dependent on the chosen route. Don’t forget a well-deserved ice cream from the van at Lower House Car Park when you finish.

Jumbles Country Park

Jumbles is a great place for an afternoon walk and the path around the reservoir is a popular walking trail. As you wander through the woodlands you will spot a variety of birdlife and there is a fishing area at the northern end of the reservoir.