Visit Lancashire

Review: Steve Messam, When the Red Rose in Preston

Taking as his starting point notions of space, scale, material and the temporal, Steve Messam’s site-specific installation When The Red Rose in Preston was delivered as part of the wider series of events in September’s Lancashire Encounter programme. Composed of tethered balloons of various sizes affixed to the walls of Surgeons Court and three other sites in Lancashire, the resulting work (and its sister works) serves to highlight this otherwise innocuous space, transforming or redefining the street from thoroughfare to a meeting place and site of meaning-production, and re-defining our function as citizens to what Margaret Morse, in her essay The Body, the Image and the Space-in-Between refers to as the active performers of a work of installation art.

Atkinsons Est. 1837. Re-booted 2005. New Roastery 2016

Atkinsons & Co - Tea & Coffee Specialists  are a fervent, quality-driven, coffee-obsessed, local-to-Lancaster, caffeine-fuelled family firm. Established in 1837 at the start of the Victorian Age they were rebooted in 2005 when Ian and Sue Steel took up the challenge of bootstrapping this local institution into the 21^st Century. So now, with their two sons, Maitland and Caspar, even though they are steeped in heritage, they are constantly pioneering new boundaries in their search for the elusive sweet spot of the bean. In this quest for the best-in-class, they scour the coffee world to source from small family farms, delving into deeper traceability & offering sustainability to encourage growth at either end of the value chain.

5 Things to do in the Autumn

The leaves are starting the turn, conker shells litter the pavements, fires are being lit and Halloween merchandise fills the shops. Allotments and farmers markets are bursting with ripe fruit and vegetables, whilst restaurant menus are filled with game and heartier food. It is officially autumn!

Here’s our top autumnal things to do

1. Find yourself a pub or inn with a log fire and settle in for the afternoon or evening.
Few things can beat the smell and warmth from the real fire and the experience can be enhanced with glass of real ale and a plate of seasonal food. We’re thinking venison, wild duck, squash, aubergines, lamb, plums….we could go on! The following all have real fires and tempting menus; The Millstone at Mellor, The Fleece Inn at Dolphinholme, The Royal in Kirkby Lonsdale, The Clog & Billycock near Blackburn, The Borough in Lancaster and the Shireburn Arms Hotel at Hurst Green in the Ribble Valley. 

Whats new at Samlesbury Hall for families

This weekend was my first non-working visit to Samlesbury Hall in quite a while and with the family in tow I spent a very pleasant sunny Sunday morning revisiting this very splendid medieval hall. There’s been lots going on at the hall in the last 12 months – new play area, new wafflery, new tours, new opening hours and there’s even brand new ‘glamping’ accommodation in the form of the Shepherd Hut Hamlet. So here’s my run down of the new stuff at Samlesbury Hall which we discovered during out visit.

Farmaggedon - 10 Years of Terror

Get the fright of your life this October at Farmaggedon scare attraction and prepare yourself for a spine-tingling and chilling experience.

Celebrating their 10^th anniversary of terror and scary antics, Farmaggedon is back bigger and better than ever! Buried within the bowels of ‘Terror on the Farm’ there is a new addition called The Foundry – a dark and damp factory swarmed with haunted howling’s and terrible stenches. But watch out for the resident zombies and faceless creatures that lurk around The Foundry within.

This dark and isolated farm looked haunted and bewildered as we approached the attraction. The aura of Farmaggedon felt chilling like you were walking into a real scary movie or what nightmares were made of. Suspense was building as we wondered what might be encountered on this journey of horror. Screaming was heard from afar in the farm and a real sense of mystery and suspense was felt.

Farmaggedon now has 3 interactive scare houses, Contagion 3D, Terror on the Farm and The Meat Locker plus paintball experience, Zombie Outlaw.

September in Lancashire

Walk through the Illuminations • savour a pint of real ale • enjoy one last ice cream • have a picnic in a sculpture park • send a postcard from the top of the tower • eat game pie • sing-along to a live musical • browse an antique centre • take a cookery course • collect shells on the beach

Event highlights

LIGHTPOOL, Blackpool, 2 Sept – 6 Nov
Running alongside the Illuminations, look out for a brand new 3D projection show on The Blackpool Tower, which this year features an astronaut exploring new worlds. There will also be a Lightpool Village on the Comedy Carpet and a special Festival of Light running from 28 Oct - 2 November

LANCASHIRE ENCOUNTER, Preston, 23-25 September
Immerse yourself in a bold and imaginative spectacle of Lancashire’s music, street theatre and art and discover a world of creativity around Preston city centre. Be part of the magic, see amazing performances and the illuminated procession.

 

Lancashire Light Shows

The evenings might be getting darker and day’s cooler but we’ve plenty of warming light shows to brighten things up over the coming months.

Blackpool Illuminations & Lightpool, 2 Sept – 6 Nov 
With 6 miles of spectacular lights the Blackpool Illumination is still the world’s biggest light show, and a firm family favourite after 103 years. Lightpool runs alongside the Illuminations - look out for a brand new 3D projection show on The Blackpool Tower, which this year features an astronaut exploring new worlds. There will also be a Lightpool Village on the Comedy Carpet and a special Festival of Light running from 28 Oct - 2 November. Find out more