This week's happenings

MISCELLANEOUS

STEP back in time at a 1940s weekend at the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway this weekend (Saturday and Sunday). The station will return to wartime Britain with period costumes, brave troops on the trains being served tea by the ladies of the WRVS, and much more. For details, call 01756-710614.

THE Wordsworth Trust's series of Summer Poetry Readings continues on Tuesday (September 21) with award-winning poet Matthew Hollis. The reading will take place at The Thistle Hotel, Grasmere, at 6.30pm. For details, call 015394-35544.

THOUSANDS of glowing paper lanterns will be borne through the streets of Ulverston for the stunning annual spectacle of the Lantern Festival on Saturday. This year, invited artists and Furness folk have crafted wicker and tissue into huge birds, animals and fish in keeping with the 2004 theme of Fur, feather and scales. Three processions start from Croftlands Community Centre at 7.45pm; Ulverston Auction Mart car park at 7.55pm; and Hill Foot Hotel at 8.10pm. They converge in the town centre. The finale follows at 9.15pm in Ford Park with special effects, music and, of course, plenty of fireworks.

THE second Vintage Fishing Tackle Fair takes place at the Scotch Corner Hotel, at the junction of the A1 and the A66, on Sunday. The fair will feature a variety of second-hand and collectable fishing tackle available for sale. The fair will be open from 9am-3pm.

PUT your horticultural queries to a panel from BBC Radio 4 Gardeners' Question Time at Rheged, near Penrith, on Tuesday. The panel will include Bunny Guiness, Matthew Biggs and John Cushnie. For tickets, call 01768-860005.

FLOOKBURGH and District Amateur Operatic Society are seeking new members for their Gilbert & Sullivan opera practice evenings at Flookburgh Village Hall on Tuesday (7.45pm-9.15pm). For details, call 015395-34670.

COMEDY

STARS from Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights will be getting together for a night of variety and comedy at the Charter Theatre, Preston on Friday night. The Jumping on the Band Wagon Tour features Patrick McGuinness (aka Paddy the doorman) and many others from the show. The show begins at 8pm. For tickets, call 01772-258858.

CONCERTS

THE Lancaster Jazz Festival continues this weekend, bringing world-class jazz music to various streets and venues in Lancaster and Morecambe. Highlights include performances from Denys Baptiste and a celebration of Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream oration. For a full festival programme, call 01524-582803.

LANCASHIRE folk group The Houghton Weavers will be appearing in a charity concert at the Grand Theatre, Lancaster, on Sunday at 7.30pm. For details, call 01524-64695.

THE Riverside Jazz Band will be playing at the Holy Trinity Church, Bolton-Le-Sands on Friday night at 7.30pm. Tickets include a buffet supper and are available on the door or call 01524-824110.

EXHIBITIONS

THE complete body of Lucian Freud's published etchings are currently being displayed at Kendal's Abbot Hall Art Gallery. Including some rare early prints and several new and unpublished works, the 60 pieces cover a variety of subjects from portraits and nudes to studies of nature.

BLACKWELL, the Arts and Crafts House at Bowness, is now housing the Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau. This stunning new exhibition, featuring furniture and objects from the continentally-styled movement, explores the developments of the 20th Century modern design. Blackwell is open daily from 10.30am-5pm, 015394-46139.

ABBOT Hall Art Gallery in Kendal continues to draw the crowds with Walter Richard Sickert: The Human Canvas, a significant exhibition of 43 paintings by the father of modern British art. The exhibition is open from Monday-Saturday (10.30am-5pm).

BRANTWOOD at Coniston is hosting an exhibition of floral photography by Dave Marshall Ward. The exhibition opens on Saturday and runs until October 24. For details, call 015394-41396.

AN exhibition entitled Stitches in Time: Quilts since 1790, opens at Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle on Saturday. On display will be a variety of patchwork and quilting including the earliest exhibit made by Martha Jackson in Westmorland in 1790. The exhibition runs until November 7.

THE Witherslack Group of artists' 11th exhibition opens at The Old Schoolroom, Witherslack on Saturday. The exhibition includes work from Alvin Irving, a recent prize- winner at an exhibition in Athens to coincide with this year's Olympic Games. The exhibition runs until October 17 and is open from 10am-5pm daily.

The Musum of Lakeland Life, Kendal, is hosting an exhibition of glitzy and glamorous 1920s costumes evoking the perennially popular era. The exhibition, entitled Bright Young Things, also features paintings and furniture from the period. For details, call 01539-722464.

THE Lowry's Fantasy Architecture 1500-2036 exhibition ends at Salford on Sunday so it's your last chance to view the dreams, schemes and visions of extraordinary buildings and structures from Renaissance stage designs to 21st century master plans and the cities of the future depicted in science fiction films.

KENDAL Museum is currently hosting an exhibition on the Blue Streak Project, which looks at the development of the rocket at RAF Spadeadam in Cumbria. For details, call 01539-721374.

AN EXHIBITION by Toby Harrison opens at The Heron Theatre, Beetham on Friday night from 6pm-8pm.

VIRIDIAN Gallery, Keswick, is hosting an exhibition of Lakeland paintings by Marion Bradley. Aspects of Lakeland runs until November 7.

Theatre

The Brewery Theatre Company production of Oh! What a Lovely War continues at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, this weekend (Friday and Saturday). The show promises a spectacular combination of singing, music and dancing to celebrate comradeship and courage during the First World War. Performances begin at 8pm, for tickets call 01539-725133.

STAVELEY Amateur Operatic Society will be performing its 50th anniversary-production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado - which was the society's first production 50 years ago. The Mikado run ends on Saturday with a performance at 7.30pm. For tickets, call 01539-722277.

Boogie Nights 2 opens at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, on Monday. This vibrant musical is set to a pulsating beat featuring many 80s hits including anthems by Wham!, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Human League and many more. The cast includes 70s heartthrob David Essex and ex- Eastender Sophie Lawrence. For tickets, call 0870-401-3000.

NORTHERN Broadsides present Leopold Lewis's The Bells - a chilling tale of murder, remorse and retribution - at the Laundry Theatre, Bowness, on Tuesday. The performance is part of the Bowness Theatre and Film Festival and begins at 8pm. For tickets, call 015394-88444.

AWARD-winning comedy duo LipService visit The Charter Theatre, Preston, on Monday, with their version of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott's classic novel of four sisters making their own entertainment during the American Civil War. Little Women runs until Wednesday with performances at 7.30pm. For tickets, call 01772-258858.

THE Woman Who Cooked Her Husband is a culinary and cautionary tale of Kenneth - a man who wants to have his cake and eat it. New wife Laura has not the same skills in the kitchen as first wife Hilary and Kenneth seeks comfort back in familiar territory. The show appeared at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival and will be appearing at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool, from Monday to Wednesday. For tickets, call 01253-290190.

MIKE Leigh's comedy Abigail's Party opens at the Dukes Theatre, Lancaster, on Thursday. The play centres on an evening of entertaining in 1970s suburbia in the lounge of Beverly and Laurence. Beverly is hosting a little soiree for her new neighbours, Ange and Tone, and also Sue from number 9, and when the gin and tonics start to flow, so do the home truths. For details, call 01524-598500.

ENJOY an intoxicating evening of musical theatre at a production of Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow. Carl Rosa's production recreates the heady days of 1912 Paris with passionate voices and elegant waltzes at the Theatre Royal, Grey Street, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne on Thursday. For details call 0191-232-2061.

A NEW adaptation of the classic tale of love, dignity and survival in 1930s Salford, Love on the Dole, is appearing at the Lowry, Salford Quays, this weekend (Friday and Saturday).

Performances start at 7.30pm (Friday) and 2.30pm (Saturday). For tickets, call 0870-787-5780.

ENJOY the classic big band sound of the 40s at the Sounds of the Glenn Miller Era concert, at The Grand Theatre, Lancaster, on Thursday. The concert features the unforgettable music of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Ted Heath, Syd Lawrence and more. Performances begin at 7.30pm. For tickets, call 01524-64695.