Pick of the Week...

8:24am Friday 27th May 2005

Get ready for the Bank Holiday weekend...and week ahead...

MISCELLANEOUS...

MILLERBECK Light Railway, Staveley-in-Cartmel, will be open to members of the public on Sunday (May 29) and Monday (May 30) from 11am-5pm. Visitors will be able to ride steam, diesel and electric trains on the private miniature railway, which is not usually open to the public. For details, call 015395-30113.

KIRKBY Lonsdale Methodist Church is hosting a Flower, Craft and Music Festival from Saturday (May 28) until Monday (May 30), from 10.30am-5pm. There will be homemade refreshments, craft demonstrations, workshops and stalls. All proceeds will go to charity.

THERE will be 16 gardens open to the public in the village of Crosthwaite on Sunday (May 29) and Monday (May 30) from 10.30am-4.30pm. There will be homemade refreshments available all day at Crosthwaite Memorial Hall and also a plant stall selling bedding plants and hanging baskets. St Mary's Church will be holding a Songs of Praise evening on Sunday at 5pm.

DISCOVER the Art Deco heritage of Morecambe on a guided walk around the resort on Monday (May 30). The walk includes the Midland Hotel and Central Pier as well as the many public buildings and shop fronts. Meet outside the Platform at 2pm. For details, call 01524-420905.

CHILL out on the beach with a series of yoga workshops, art classes and guided walks at Half Moon Bay, Heysham, on Tuesday (May 31) from noon-5pm. The Low Tide Day event is being organised by the Morecambe Bay Partnership to celebrate the north Lancashire coastline. For details, call 01539-773449.

SPEND a day at the races with thoroughbreds of an altogether different kind at the Shetland Pony Racing Festival, which takes place at Ford Park, Ulverston, on Sunday (May 29). For details, call 01229-585542.

VISIT eight beautiful private gardens in the village of Troutbeck, near Windermere, on Monday (May 30) from 11.30am. Homemade refreshments will be served in the village Institute and all proceeds will go to charity. For details, call 015394-42141.

BROWSE through a varied and interesting selection of books at the Coniston Second Hand Book and Ephemera Fair, which takes place at the Coniston Institute from tomorrow, Saturday (May 28) until Tuesday (May 31) 10am-5.30pm.

LOCAL historian Roger Bingham will be a leading a merry band of walkers around the Milnthorpe on Monday (May 30) and will impart some of his expert knowledge on the history of the town, along the way. Meet at Milnthorpe Methodist Church at 9am.

FURNESS Clog Dancers will be demonstrating their traditional dancing steps in The Square, Cartmel, on Tuesday (May 31) at 8pm.

THE Cumbria Woodturners Association annual exhibition and sale takes place at the Rayrigg Rooms, Bowness, from today (May 27) until June 3. The exhibition features woodturning demonstrations and is open daily from 10am.

THE streets of Dalton-in-Furness will be transported back in time with an ancient medieval market, on Monday (May 30). There will be stalls selling all manner of period fare and historic live entertainment throughout the town centre.

SIMPLY Social, a group for non-smokers in their 30s to 50s, is holding a social evening at the Kendal Arms, Milnthorpe Road, Kendal, on Thursday (June 2) at 7.30pm. For details, call 07751-485131.

Green Close Natural Health Centre, Kirkby Lonsdale is offering a 20-minute consultation to enable people interested in alternative therapies to learn more about the benefits of acupuncture, aromatherapy and Reiki, on Thursday (Jun 2) from 9am-6pm. For details, call 07795-063107.

AUTHOR and raconteur Gervase Phinn will be sharing his hilarious experiences as a school inspector in the Yorkshire Dales at Morecambe Dome tomorrow, Saturday (May 28), at 7.30pm. For details, call 01524-582803.

DISCOVER the wide variety of bird life that Cumbria has to offer at the Lake District National Park Authority Centre, Brockhole, on Monday (May 30) at 10.30am. The bird hide will be manned by experts all day to help visitors to identify the various species that visit the grounds.

CONCERTS...

EXPERIENCE The Magic of Ireland, an exciting live spectacle of traditional Irish dance, music and song, at Forum 28, Duke Street, Barrow, today, Friday (May 27) at 8pm. For details, call 01229-820000.

FORMER teen idol and Westlife star, Brian McFadden, will be performing hits from his Top Ten album Irish Son, at The Sands Centre, Carlisle, on Saturday (May 28) at 7.30pm. For details, call 01228-625222.

EXHIBITIONS...

VISITORS to The Aquarium of the Lakes, Newby Bridge, can experience Midnight at the Waters Edge, a brand new nocturnal journey along the river bank after dark which mimics night-time conditions, allowing visitors to come face-to-face with normally secretive creatures such as water voles, harvest mice, frogs and toads, slow worms and brown rats, and witness activity not normally seen. For details, call 015395-30153.

TULLIE House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle, will be displaying a rare and historic violin that was made by the father of violin making, Andrea Amati, in Cremona, Italy, in 1564. The violin will be on display from tomorrow, Saturday (May 28). For details, call 01228-534781.

A NEW exhibition by Godfrey Tonks opens at Pinfold Gallery, Lake Road, Bowness, tomorrow, Saturday (May 28). On display will be a variety of Tonks work, including images of poppies in Tuscany and Blencathra. The exhibition runs until June 19. For details, call 015394-42929.

A PHOTOGRAPHIC exhibition by Irena Grajewska and Tim French opens at the Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, today, (May 27). The exhibition is inspired by the natural world and features an eclectic mix of landscape and close-up shots. For details, call 017687-74411.

ARNSIDE Art Group's annual exhibition opens at the WI Hall, Orchard Road, Arnside, on Saturday (May 28) and runs until June 4.

PAPERMAKER and printmaker Marie Wright will be giving an exhibition of screens and hangings at the Talent Gallery, Rheged, near Penrith from tomorrow, Saturday (May 28) until June 25. Wright's work is inspired by the landscape and ancient history of Cumbria and provides glimpses of the past in the ancient relics, Roman settlements and stone circles to be found in Cumbria.

ESKDALE Art Show opens at St Bega's Primary School, Eskdale Green, Holmrook, on Sunday (May 29) and runs until Monday (May 31). For details, call 019467-23259. CLAPHAM Art Group will be holding an exhibition at Clapham Village Hall from tomorrow, Saturday (May 28) until June 5. For details, call 01729-822445. THE Folly, Lancaster, is hosting an arts project by Grizedale Arts from tomorrow, Saturday (May 28). Romantic Detachment: What Fresh Hell is This? features exhibitions, live performances and events and runs until July 9. For details, call 01524-38850. GRANGE promenade will once again be home to a wide variety of art as the Prom Art event returns to the town on Sunday (May 29) from 10am-4pm.KENDAL Museum is displaying its entire collection of bird taxidermy for the first time in 25 years. Rare and Beautiful: The Victorian Bird Collection includes a diverse array of specimens from around the world, including rare and extinct species. The exhibition runs until December 23. ARMITT Gallery Museum and Library, Ambleside, is hosting an exhibition entitled Wild Lakeland by Marianne Birkby. The exhibition celebrates the rich diversity of Cumbria's wildlife and follows nature's journey from the mountains of the Lake District to Morecambe Bay and features 70 original artworks portraying wildlife such as otters, kingfishers, buzzards and dragonflies. Wild Lakeland runs until June 12.THE Lowry, Salford Quays, celebrates its fifth anniversary with a light, painting and video installation entitled Phantasmagoria by Brass Art. For details, call 0161-876-2000. IMPERIAL War Museum North, Salford Quays, is examining one of the major battles of World War One. Gallipoli: 90 Years On, by photographer Tony Linforth-Hall, records the Gallipoli battlefields and considers those aspects of the campaign that made it unique, including the landings from the sea, the disease and the wide range of nationalities represented in the armies. For details, call 0161-836-4000.JOIN the Shop Art Trail at Grange-over-Sands until May 31. More than 40 shops throughout the town are displaying works of art in their windows.BRONTE Parsonage Museum, Haworth, is holding an exhibition of the illustrations of the Bronte novels. On display will be a range of visual interpretations of characters and scenes, including early wood engravings and contemporary photographs. For details, call 01535-642323. ABBOT Hall Coffee Shop, Kendal, focuses on the work of Mike Walker, who is showing a selection from his series of linocut prints entitled Linden Sequences. The images on show include abstract works inspired by music. Linden Sequences runs until June 20.AN EXHIBITION of intricate Japanese fabric design, entitled Kimono: A Japanese Experience by Jill Clay and Katie Chaplin, is showing at Farfield Mill, Sedbergh. The exhibition runs until June 1 and includes a series of workshops on Japanese arts and a display of antique kimonos. For details, call 015396-21958.LANCASTER University's Peter Scott Gallery is hosting an exhibition of paintings, drawings and etchings by James H. Morton until June 3.THE latest exhibition at Lancaster's Storey Gallery looks at different artists' approaches to buildings and architectural spaces. Building Capacity explores the responses of artists to the buildings we inhabit, pass through, and imagine and includes Gordon Cheung's paintings of imagined buildings and landscapes and a video by Lucy Gunning, entitled Climbing Around My Room. Building Capacity runs until June 25.A NEW exhibition by revolutionary designer of book covers, Talwin Morris, a contemporary of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, is on display at Blackwell the Arts and Crafts House, Bowness. , Talwin Morris and the Glasgow Style features a variety of the book cover designs he created for publishers Blackie and Son. The exhibition runs until July 11. For details, call 015394-46139. AN EXHIBITION by Sean Scully, one of the most important abstract artists working today, is on show at Abbot Hall, Kendal. On display will be a selection of large-scale oil paintings, watercolours, pastels and etchings. Some works will be seen for the first time at Abbot Hall. The exhibition runs until June 25. For details, call 01539-722464. THEATRE...HERON Corn Mill Festival Week, a week-long festival of drama and events, opens on Friday (May 27). The festival includes the Beetham Community Play, with two plays entitled a Sting in the Tale and Hoodwinked, which will be performed by members of the community at the Heron Corn Mill on Wednesday (Jun 1) and Thursday (Jun 2). For details, call 015395-65027. RELIVE the heady days of the Northern Soul in its spiritual heartland. Once Upon a Time in Wigan tells the story of the 70s Northern Soul explosion through the experiences of four people who lived through it. Once Upon a Time in Wigan is appearing at Lowton Civic Hall, Hesketh Middle Lane, Lowton, near Wigan, until tomorrow, Saturday (May 28). For details, call 01942-825677. SPORT...KENDAL Cricket club host Netherfield CC for the traditional Bank Holiday derby match in the Surridge Northern Premier League on Monday. Wickets are scheduled to be pitched at Shap Road at 1.30pm with the Second XI match starting at the same time at Parkside Road. On Saturday, Kendal entertain Preston in the league, while Netherfield to go Leyland Motors.Cartmel Races have their usual Bank Holiday fixtures, starting on Saturday evening (first race 5.45pm). The popular meeting continues with an afternoon card of National Hunt racing on Monday.The Lyth Valley 10k Road Race takes place from Leven Village Hall on Wednesday, starting at the later than publicised time of 7.30pm.