BAGPIPES, melodeons, strings, recorders and the hurdy-gurdy will carry you away on a raucous trip around European folk music this weekend. Le Grand Bal Du Lancaster will perform at the Brewery Arts Centre on Sunday, July 21, between 12 noon and 4pm. Performing
TO HAVE your gigs included FREE of charge in the Gig Guide, telephone Beth Broomby on 01539-720555, or send a fax on 01539-720990, or drop a line to the Gig Guide, The Westmorland Gazette, 22 Stricklandgate, Kendal, LA9 4NE, at least TWO WEEKS before
TIME to dig out your rucksack and brush off your wellies because the smell of trampled grass is floating on the breeze and festival season is upon us. Kendal couple and self confessed music addicts Nisha Pannu and Rob Cocker are gearing up to put on Fieldtrip
HODDEN Grey - Herdwick wool in everything from shirt to socks, suits to skirts - did not invite bright colour. The one exception I can find was the bright blue of long stockings - which apparently was a characteristic part of Westmerian country dress
YEARS ago, scrambling up the sliding, slipping scree of the track alongside and up the great, splintered hump of Wallbarrow Crag, we paused for a breather. Suddenly, a jewel danced across and above the track, bursting forth from a writhing, horrific mass
WORK parties will spend the next six months making eroded upland routes less of an eyesore as part of a £2.6 million campaign to repair Lake District paths. Routes to be tackled include paths on Skiddaw; Cat Bells, west of Derwentwater; Harrison Stickle
TWO camping and caravan parks literally moved mountains to help with high-level footpath repair work on a popular stretch of path. Fallbarrow and Limefitt parks have been raising funds through their visitors to fund restoration work on the route between
What's in the shops with the emphasis, where possible, on locally-produced, seasonal and specialty foods. Watson & Woollard, Kendal: Kendal Rough Fell Lamb (from farmer Steve Dunning at Orton) mini leg joints - £2.25 per 1/2 kilo. Dales butchers,
Racing is back at Cartmel Steeplechases for its second and final race meeting of 2002. All of the action will take place on Saturday and Monday August 24 and 26 (bank holiday weekend). For 360 days of the year, Cartmel Racecourse is little more than a
LONSDALE Music is a new musical outfit in the area and on the basis of the concert at St Oswald's Church, Grasmere, it is certainly going to add something good to the local scene. The newly-formed Lonsdale Chamber Orchestra joined forces with the well-established
LOCAL nursery, Kindercare, has been bought by the Busy Bees childcare group. The acquisition makes Busy Bees the second largest provider of childcare in the UK with around 4,000 childcare places. As part of the deal Kindercare's founders, Stuart and Sarah
Sixteen members of the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team helped a 43-year-old Belgian off the fell after he sustained a broken ankle while walking with a party on Kepple Cove on Wednesday night. The walking party summoned assistance from Helvellyn Youth
A regular customer of Steadmans traditional butchers shop in Sedbergh has scooped the winning prize in the National Barbecue Week Grand Draw sponsored by North West Fine Foods. Tracy Thornton, of Bainbridge Road, won a new gas barbecue and tools, together
TAKE some meaty chunks of British White Beef steak, delicious damsons from the heart of the Lyth Valley, a generous helping of velvety red wine gravy then wrap it all in a tasty overcoat of melt-in-your-mouth pastry and you end up with a sure-fire hit
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) hosted a working breakfast during which local, regional and national businesses discussed ways of encouraging more people to 'think local, buy local and act local'. The breakfast was attended by Ann Winterton
Glossy images in books and magazines make the pots and tiles of William De Morgan look impressive, but when you see them in the flesh, wow, they are truly something else. If I said the rich colours of De Morgan's vases almost take you're breath away then
KENDAL'S Tokari School of Dance is heading across the English Channel to team up with hundreds of other UK dancers performing at the Fantasyland Theatre within Disneyland Resort Paris on July 23. The event is part of the Mardi Gras Magic Music Days, which
CONGRATULATIONS to the Amabile Girls' Choir for a fantastic result in a top singing competition. The young choristers flew the flag in grand style for Kendal and South Lakeland in the Senior Children's Choirs class at the Llangollen International Musical
NEXT Thursday (July 25) sees the opening of one of the region's finest art shows. And if the amount of artwork passing through the selection committee is anything to go by it promises to be another cracker. Open to amateur and professional artists alike
BROCKHOLE gardens have been in the press recently (even in the Gardener's World magazine if you please!) following the award of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The money is being used to pay for a whole series of surveys within the gardens and
GREAT-GRANDFATHER John Baines has notched up 76 years of nurturing fruit, flowers and vegetables on allotment gardens - and he has loved every minute of it. The retired carpenter and joiner has just celebrated his 90th birthday, but still walks down to
AN ALADDIN'S cave brimming with bargains awaits those who venture into Age Concern's warehouse, writes Naida Jefferson-Brown. Everything imaginable is packed into the partially-hidden sale room off Station Road, Kendal, from Retro furniture and Hornsea
Huddled around a rough wooden table high in the Diamond Mountains, hundreds of miles from anywhere, the locals nod, smile and timidly clap with delight as they chant their one and only word in English: "Beckham." Their questions are unrelenting but understandable
LANCASTER and Morecambe College's community sports and coaching centre is opening its doors to children aged eight to 14 this summer. The fun starts on Monday, July 22 and runs until August 30, with activities such as trampolining, tennis, football and
Morecambe still trail league leaders Darwen by one point after the East Lancashire side's victory over Lancaster. Darwen are on 133 points in what is becoming one of the tightest Northern Premier League race in recent years, while Morecambe's victory
LANCASTER could soon have a club in the Rugby League National Conference after a newly formed club announced its intention to apply for a place in the summer conference. Lancaster Rugby Club hopes to take their place in the 30 team Summer Conference,
COMMONWEALTH Games fever is set to take over the North West and to celebrate Boddingtons and Asda have teamed up to make sure you're fully equipped to watch the Games from the comfort of your own home with your favourite pint! Boddingtons and Asda are
THERE should be a whole lot of dancing in the streets this weekend when Lancaster and Morecambe outdoor theatre festival gets under way. Surreal behaviour and madcap soundtracks will be the order of the day when acts such as Rick, Dick and Vic Extreme
A POLL-WINNING saxophonist is set to appear at the Brewery Arts Centre on Thursday, July 25. Alan Barnes returns to the venue for his annual pre-Appleby Jazz Festival appearance. This year he performs as one of a quartet including pianist John Donaldson
WHEN a certain music mag suggested Hamsters play less Hendrix, the reply ended in "off". "It's the prerogative of a band with the combined age of 146, that needs to get up to pee three times a night, to play what the hell we like" explained Slim, guitar
Sunday, August 4: festival service at Ambleside Parish Church (2.30pm) including the the Pro Nobis Singers directed by Clive Walkley. Plus at 4pm the Summer Music Exhibition opening with watercolours, pastels and oils from the various brushes of Ambleside
FIVE years ago when the newly-appointed Lake District Summer Music administrator Andrew Lucas first popped into The Westmorland Gazette to see me, I was almost swept away by his enthusiasm for music. Bright-eyed and raring to go in his new post, he was
SUZANNE de Lozey's Flutes and Co, perform at Grange-Over-Sands United Reformed Church next Wednesday, July 24 (8.15pm). Tickets cost adults £3 / children £ 1.50. For further details contact 015395-60054.
A SUCCESFUL Lancaster University department has been given a £1 million grant to help engineering and manufacturing companies in Lancashire and Cumbria. The engineering department - rated the third best in the country - has been given the money by the
A top-level report into the failure of safety procedures during a major incident at Heysham 1 has been made public. Although there was no risk of a radioactive leak at any time during the incident on March 11, inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive
Booths will be serving up some tasty alternatives to traditional barbecue burgers this summer, following the launch of seasonal specialities. Using meat that has been sourced direct from each supermarket's local area. Booths has extended the choice of
Lovers of Indian cuisine will be delighted to learn that a new range of pickles and chutneys is now available from the Hawkshead Relish Company. You may remember that I was asked to test run some of Mark Whitehead's delicious concoctions when he featured
Begin by cutting sweet peas regularly to encourage more flowers to form. Similarly, dead-head roses every week to keep them looking good and to encourage new flowers. While greenhouses and cold-frames are relatively empty, take the opportunity to have
ON THE top terrace in the gardens at Brockhole, there is a commemorative bench with the inscription "sit ye down and mardle". I'm not at all sure what mardling is (perhaps someone can enlighten me). But I am quite certain that we gardeners don't do enough
