MISCELLANEOUS

SPEND an evening in the company of comedian and star of Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights, Ted Robbins, at the Lancaster Grand Theatre, tomorrow (Saturday, January 29), at 7.30pm. The evening will also feature music from James Loynes. For details, call 01524-64695.

LAKELAND Horticultural Society is hosting a talk by Matthew Wilson entitled New Trends in Gardening, at the Ladyholme Centre, Windermere, tomorrow (Saturday, Jan 29), at 2.30pm. For details, call 01539-821060.

SIMON Yates, best-known as the man who cut Joe Simpson's rope in Touching the Void, will be giving a lecture and slideshow highlighting the memorable moments of his 20-year climbing career at Forum 28, Duke Street, tonight (Friday, Jan 28), at 7.30pm. For details, call 01229-820000.

ENJOY a fun whist drive and Jacob's Join supper evening with Simply Social, a group for non-smokers in their 30s to 50s, at Holly Lodge, Windermere, next Wednesday (February 2) at 7.30pm. For details, call 0775-485131.

URSWICK Recreation Hall, near Ulverston, is hosting a family fun day with stalls, crafts, activities and face painting, in aid of the tsunami appeal on Sunday (Jan 30) from 10am.

KENDAL Recorded Music Society will be holding a meeting entitled Vocal and Varied, by Stella Standish and Dorothy Standing, at Stricklandgate Methodist Church, next Thursday (Feb 3) at 7.15pm. For details, call 01539-722697.

ST GEORGE'S RC Church, New Road, Kendal, is hosting a coffee morning in aid of the Tsunami Appeal on Saturday, January 29, at 10am.

CONCERTS

KENDAL Midday Concert Club is hosting the Kandinsky Piano Trio at Kendal Town Hall, next Wednesday (Feb 2) at 1pm. The programme features pieces by Haydn and Ravel. For details, call 01539-725768.

THE Organist Entertains series of concerts continues next Thursday (Feb 3) with Ian Pattinson of Lancaster Priory, in concert at Lancaster Town Hall, at 12.30pm.

THE Grand Prix Club, Brough, is hosting The Forbidden Fruit of Eden concert showcasing some of the most promising bands in Cumbria, including Kirosecuro, Colourblind and Legohair tonight, Friday (Jan 28) at 11pm.

EXHIBITIONS

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gatehead is hosting the first ever UK solo exhibition by Italian artist Carol Rama. The exhibition features more than 100 works in a range of media including drawing, watercolour, sculpture and print. For details, call 0191-478-1810.

ABBOT Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, is hosting an exhibition entitled Sculpture, Drawing and Light by Nicola Hicks. Hailed as one of the foremost sculptors of her generation, the exhibition features pieces in a variety of media including charcoal drawings, which explore the physicality and psychology of people and animals. For details, call 01539-722464.

A PHOTOGRAPHIC exhibition of images from the industrial North of England entitled Perspectives on the Industrial North, by Christian Shaw, is on show at the Brewery Arts Centre's Sugar Store Gallery until March 6.

IMPERIAL War Museum North, Salford Quays, is marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps with an exhibition of photographs of Auschwitz by Richard Kolker. The exhibition runs until February 13. For details, call 0161-836-4000.

BRANTWOOD'S Severn Studio 2005 programme of guest exhibitions opens with The Wide Blue Yonder by Mark Haywood. The exhibition is a tribute to famous, but contrasting, Coniston figures, John Ruskin and Donald Campbell, and features artefacts and digital artworks. The exhibition runs until February 13. For details, call 015394-41396.

ENJOY a diverse new exhibition looking at Morecambe Bay at the Williamson Gallery, Ashton Memorial, Lancaster. AIM artists, formerly Artists in Morecambe, have spent the past ten months working on the theme of Morecambe and the surrounding coastal environment. The exhibition features sculpture, glasswork and painting and runs until February 20.

THE Folly in Lancaster is hosting an exhibition by Paul Floyd Blake exploring the diverse communities in the North of England. The Changing Faces exhibition also looks at the mixed race relationships that are increasingly creating a fusion of cultures. For details, call 01524-388550.

URBIS in Manchester is hosting a new exhibition looking at the future of the north of England in which commuters can travel to four major cities in one day is to be displayed at a new exhibition. SuperCity by architect Will Alsop runs until May 15. For details, call 0161-907-9099.

THE Museum of Lakeland Life, Kendal, is hosting a new exhibition entitled Gifts from the Orient featuring an extensive collection of costumes dating from the mid eighteenth century to the present day. Also on display will be daggers, fans, bronzes and exquisitely carved screens. Gifts from the Orient runs until April 23.

A LEADING Manchester-based photographer's first major exhibition has opened at Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street. The View From Manchester is an exhibition of 60 pictures taken by Don McPhee during his 33-year career working from The Guardian's northern office and features images covering a diverse range of subjects including the miners' strike. The exhibition runs until April 3. For details, call 0161-235-8888.

A PHOTOGRAPHIC exhibition of images from the city of Salford, entitled Salford Snapshots, is on show at The Lowry, Salford Quays until April 17. For details, call 0870-787-5780.

SPORT

KENDAL Town FC host Shepshed Dynamos in the UniBond League First Division tomorrow (Saturday, Jan 29) and are aiming to do a quick double over opponents they beat a fortnight ago in their bid for a play-off place. The game kicks off at 3pm.

KENDAL Rugby Union Club First XV are planning an overnight stop for their longest trip in their league programme when looking for a fifth win in a row away to bottom club Bedford Athletic tomorrow (Saturday, Jan 29). Their kick-off is at 2.15pm. Windermere RUFC are at home to Furness, while Kirkby Lonsdale go to Tyldesley and Upper Eden to Egremont (2.15pm).

KENDAL Hockey Club's men's team entertain Liverpool University tomorrow (Saturday, Jan 29) with 2.30pm push-back, and Glaxo men are at home to Deeside Ramblers.

THIS week's Winter League fell race is at Staveley Head, Birkfield Farm, at noon on Sunday (Jan 30).

THEATRE

St MARTIN'S College students present a version of Thomas Middleton and William Rowley's classic Jacobean drama The Changeling at the Dukes, Lancaster, tonight (Friday, Jan 28) and tomorrow (Saturday, Jan 29), both performances starting at 7.30pm. For details, call 01524-598500.

WINDERMERE and Bowness Operatic and Amateur Dramatic Society presents Jack and the Beanstalk, the tale of a lazy boy who gets more than he bargained for when he trades a cow for some magic beans, at the Lakes School, Troutbeck Bridge, until Sunday (Jan 30), with a performances at 2pm and 7.30pm. For details, call 015394-44868.

ENJOY some classical Indian music and dance with South Asia Arts UK who will be performing a show entitled Indigo, at the Heron Theatre, Beetham, on Friday (Jan 28) at 7.30pm. For details, call 015395-62776.

JOIN the Owl and the Pussycat on their extraordinary seafaring adventures in a beautiful pea-green boat, at a new production by Tall Stories at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, on Sunday (Jan 30) at 2pm. For details, call 01539-725133.

RICOCHET Dance Productions presents an evening of contemporary dance in two halves, at the Charter Theatre, Preston, on Thursday, February 3, at 7.30pm. The first half features a movie entitled The Truth, while the second half is made up of an inventive live show where six dancers perform a series of scenes from a man's life. For details, call 01772-258858.

WORLD famous Canadian alternative circus troop Cirque du Soleil will be appearing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester, with their new show Saltimbanco until February 13. For details, call 0870-060-1768.

ROALD Dahl's gruesome story The Witches is showing at The Lowry, Salford Quays, until tomorrow (Saturday, Jan 29). For tickets, call 0870-111-2000.

THE Beauty Queen of Leenane by Michael McDonagh is showing at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, until February 19. For details, call 01204-520661.

RELIVE the rave-fuelled days of the Manchester music scene at the Contact Theatre, Oxford Road, Manchester. Bubbysaurus journeys to the Langworthy estate in Salford and to the dark corners of Manchester's clubs to explore the lives of people at the margins. Bubbysaurus runs until tomorrow (Saturday, Jan 29). For details, call 0161-274-0600.

WALKS

LEARN more about the natural history of Morecambe Bay on an Introduction to Birdwatching walk around the RSPB nature reserve at Leighton Moss tomorrow (Saturday, Jan 29) and Sunday (Jan 30). Both walks start at 2pm and are guided by experts from the centre who will help with general garden bird identification. For details, call 01524-701601.