Get out and about...here are some ideas...

8:06am Friday 8th July 2005

Take your pick of the week from this line-up!

MISCELLANEOUS...

SPEND an afternoon riding the historic steam trains at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway Steam Gala tomorrow, (Saturday) and Sunday (July 10). There will be up to four engines running to a full timetable. For details, call 015395-31594.

THE Lakeland Rose Show takes place at the Westmorland County Showground, Crooklands, tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday (July 10). As well as fantastic floral displays there will be a variety of entertainment and attractions including former presenter of BBC's Gardeners' World Nigel Colborn, live music and dog agility demonstrations.

THE Sedbergh branch of the Cumbria Wildlife Trust is organising a walk to Cautley Spout to explore the flora of the valley on Sunday (July 10). Meet at Loftus Hill car park, Sedbergh, at 2pm or at the Cross Keys at 2.15pm. For details, call 015396-21138.

UNCOVER the Secret of the Dragon's Tail on the Welfare State International July Picnic which takes place at the Grassy Amphitheatre tomorrow (Saturday). The day features a variety of workshops and performances including singing, drum-making and live music. For details, call 01229-581127.

MEET people and get fit on a leisurely cycle ride around Staveley with Simply Social, a group for non smokers in their 30s to 50s, today (Friday). Meet at the Mill Yard car park at 7.30pm. For details, call 07751-485131.

SOME of the world's most prestigious classic cars will be at Leighton Hall, Carnforth, for the Historic Vehicle Show on Sunday (July 10), 10am-4pm. The show features around 500 vintage vehicles and a variety of children's entertainment and attractions. For details, call 01253-407779.

INTERNATIONAL Centre for the Uplands Cumbria is holding an Upland Songs Poetry Reading featuring Josephine Dickinson, Geraldine Green, Maggie Norton and Meg Peacocke at the Bluebell Bookshop, Angel Square, Penrith, on Thursday (July 14) at 7.30pm.

GET fit and meet people on a series of Walking the Way to Health guided walks around Kendal. The group will be walking around Kendal Castle on Tuesday (July 12); Sedgwick on Wednesday (July 13), and from Kirkland to Fletcher Park on Thursday (July 14). For details, call 01539-729511.

SEARCH for red deer at the RSPB Nature Reserve at Leighton Moss, near Carnforth, on Tuesday (July 12) at 7.30pm. For details, call 01524-701601.

THE gardens of Gresgarth Hall, Caton, near Lancaster, will be open to the public on Sunday (July 10) from 11am-5pm. The open day also features a variety of attractions and plant stalls.

SHOP for some traditional Cumbrian goods at a summer craft fair which takes place in the beautiful grounds of Sizergh Castle, near Kendal, tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday (July 10). For details, call 015395-60951.

CONCERTS...

ENJOY some quality jazz music at High Cark Hall, Field Broughton, tomorrow (Saturday) at 7.30pm. The Lune Valley Jazz Men will be performing at a special Jazz in the Barn night featuring supper, bar and raffle. For details, call 015395-36540.

THE Music for a Summer Evening series of concerts continues at Hawkshead Parish Church with a performance by students from the famous Chethams School of Music on Tuesday (July 12) at 8pm.

ALLEGRI Singers and Players will be performing a programme of joyful Italian music by Pergolesi, Monteverdi and Vivaldi at Crosthwaite Church, on Sunday (July 10) at 7:30pm. For details, call 015395-52230.

FLUTE choir Flutes and Co will be performing at Crosscrake Church, near Kendal, tonight (Friday), at 7.30pm. For details, call 015395-60054.

KENDAL Millennium Youth Choir will be giving a Summer Concert at Stricklandgate Methodist Church, Kendal, tomorrow (Saturday) at 7.30pm.

GRANGE Concert Club presents the Phonetic Saxophone Quartet at the Victoria Hall, Grange-over-Sands, tonight (Friday), at 8pm. Tickets are available on the door.

EXHIBITIONS...

PICTURES of Innocence is a new exhibition exploring the portrayal of children by Georgian artists which opens at Abbot Hall, Kendal, on Tuesday (July 12). The exhibition includes works from some of the maor artists of the 18th century including Hogarth and Gainsborough, and runs until October 8. For details, call 01539-722464.

THE Highgate Art Group is holding an exhibition of the work of local artists at the United Reformed Church, Highgate, Kendal tomorrow (Saturday), 10am-4pm.

AN EXHIBITION looking at the history of girl guiding in Cumbria is on display at the Helena Thompson Museum, Workington, until Wednesday (July 15).

A MAJOR new exhibition from popular textile art group TAG opens at Farfield Mill, Sedbergh, tomorrow (Saturday). A Mosaic of Memories is inspired by a range of influences, from Rome to the local environment. The exhibition runs until August 10. For details, call 015396-21958.

A NEW exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War opens at Settle's historic Folly tomorrow (Saturday). On the Home Front: North Craven in Wartime, features many different aspects of life in Craven, including farming, rationing, civil defence, stories of evacuees, prisoners-of-war, entertainment and much more. For details, call 015242-51388.

THE Sultan of Lancaster, Brock Street, Lancaster, is playing host to an exhibition of works by artist Gill Marshall. Unwrapped runs until July 20.

BALTIC art gallery, in Gateshead, is hosting a groundbreaking exhibition which brings the work of Edward Kienholz and Nancy Reddin Kienholz to the UK for the first time. The exhibitions feature sculptures and walk-in installations and include some of the artists' most controversial work and runs until August 29. For details, call 0191-478-1810.

GET up-close and personal with some of the most fearsome predators that ever lived at the Museum Of Science and Industry, Manchester. Dinosaur Encounter features around 20 huge, noisy, animatronic dinosaurs, including the fearsome T-Rex, bringing pre-history to life. For details, call 0161-832-2244.

MANCHESTER Art Gallery, Mosley Street, is hosting a major retrospective of the work of reclusive art genius, Joash Woodrow. A Lost Artist Comes into the Light features 40 paintings, drawings and prints from the an artist who was a young prodigy at the Royal College of Art before disappearing from view for 45 years during which time he painted more than 5,000 pictures. Now 77 years old and living in sheltered accommodation in Manchester, Woodrow's works have been rediscovered and brought to a new audience. For details, call 0161-235-8888.

SECRET artwork produced by Lancashire prisoners-of-war will be shown for the first time in an exhibition at the Museum of Lancashire, Stanley Street, Preston. Nor Iron Bars features over 100 paintings and sketches produced by Japanese prisoners of war held in Korea during the Second World War. The exhibition also includes secretly drawn storyboard cartoons charting the fall of Singapore in 1942 and the appalling work and living conditions endured by the prisoners. Nor Iron Bars runs until November 14.

PINFOLD Gallery, Lake Road, Bowness, is hosting a new exhibition dedicated to the beautiful and rugged landscape of Northumbria. Northumbria Artists runs until July 24. For details, call 015394-42929.

WOLFHOUSE Gallery, Silverdale, is hosting an exhibition of monotone and sepia toned landscape photography by Mike Shephard and on display in the tearoom is an exhibition of contemporary art by Ulverston artist Steve Graham. For details, call 01524-701405.

INSPIRED by a visit to Auschwitz and her own family history, Jenny Stoltzenberg's ceramic shoes represent the atrocities that took place during the Holocaust in an exhibition Forgive and Do Not Forget at the Imperial War Museum North, the Quays, Trafford Park, until December 4. For details, call 0161-836-4000.

TIDAL Trails, an exhibition by renowned print maker Shelley Burgoyne, continues at Lanternhouse, in Ulverston. The prints are inspired by Shelley's explorations of Morecambe Bay and the exhibition includes sketches and source material collected around the Bay as well as the prints themselves, which range from small, intimate images to bold banners. Tidal Trails runs until July 2.

BARROW Dock Museum, North Road, is hosting the annual Summer Showcase of the Barrow Society of Artists featuring landscapes, portraits and sculpture. For details, call 01229-894444.

SALFORD City Art Gallery is hosting an exhibition entitled On the Home Front in Salford exploring memories of the Second World War through objects, photos, music and fine art. For details, call 0161-736-2649.

THE Harris Museum and Art Gallery, in Preston, has re-opened with a major new exhibition, Creative Tension: British Art 1900-1950. The exhibition features more than 130 paintings, sculptures and ceramics, including work by L.S. Lowry, and highlights the conflict in British art of the period and the tensions and crossovers between many different artistic styles.

TULLIE House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle, will be displaying a rare and historic violin which was made by the father of violin making Andrea Amati, in Cremona, Italy, in 1564. For details, call 01228-534781.

THE Folly, Lancaster, is hosting an arts project by Grizedale Arts until tomorrow (Saturday). Romantic Detachment: What Fresh Hell is This? brings together more than 50 artists to "explode haggis, drink tea, hero-worship and explore the collisions between traditional Romanticism and kitsch Romanticism from Rimbaud to Rambo". For details, call 01524-38850.

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.

THE Whitworth Art Gallery, Oxford Road, Manchester, is hosting an exhibition of works from the early years of The Royal Watercolour Society (1805-1855) including works from Turner. The exhibition runs until August 7. For details, call 0161-275-7450.

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 the First World War. 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.

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.

A NEW exhibition by revolutionary designer of book covers Talwin Morris is on display at Blackwell the Arts and Crafts House. Contemporary of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 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 Monday (July 11). For details, call 015394-46139.

THEATRE...

THE Dukes annual open-air theatre event opens at Williamson Park, Lancaster, today (Friday). Tom Thumb and Other Giant Stories features riddles, tales, parables and sagas from around the world and runs until August 14. For details, call 01524-598500.

RAZZLE Dazzle, a musical extravaganza performed by students from Kirkbie Kendal School, is being performed at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday (July 10) at 7.30pm. For details, call 01539-725133.

ABBEY Musical Society brings its annual Summer Show to Forum 28, Barrow, on Tuesday (July 12) and Wednesday (July 13) at 7.30pm. The musical extravaganza includes song and dance numbers from West End musicals. For tickets, call 01229-820000.

STUDENTS of the Michelle Stephenson School of Dance will be performing an evening of classical ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance at the Coronation Hall, Ulverston, on Thursday (July 14) and Friday (July 15). For details, call 01229-587140.

GRASMERE Players' summer production of the classic Ealing comedy The Ladykillers continues at Grasmere Village Hall on Wednesday (July 13) at 8pm. For details, call 015394-36237.

GANGLAND Chicago is brought to life complete with gangsters, molls and zoot suits in Queen Katherine School's production of Bugsy Malone which opens at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, on Wednesday (July 13) at 7.30pm. For details, call 01539-725133.

THE Lady Boys of Bangkok return to The Lowry, Manchester, with a new show called The Cabaret of Smiles. The show is being performed in an atmospheric Thai Pavillion on the Lowry Waterfront and runs until July 30. For details, call 0870-787-5780.

SEX, Chips & Rock n' Roll, the story of twin sisters Ellie and Arden whose drab lives are enlivened by the arrival in Eccles of a sexy rock star, runs at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, until August 6. For details, call 0161-833-9833.

SPORT...

CRICKET action in the Surridge Northern Premier League is out of town again for the second weekend running.

Netherfield's pursuit of leaders St Annes takes them to the coast to play Morecambe on Saturday, while Kendal also face a trip on the motorway to Leyland Motors (both 1.30pm start).

The Heysham Port Westmorland Cricket League throws up some interesting first division contests on Saturday, with Windermere hosts to Sedgwick, while a real derby atmosphere is expected when Milnthorpe are hosts to Arnside (both 2pm start).

Carlisle Races continue their summer programme of flat racing with an afternoon meeting on Friday, July 15, when the first race gets off at 2.10pm. For details, call 015395-36340.