MISCELLANEOUS

DISTINGUISHED ornithologist Michael Carrier will present his memoirs in a talk entitled A Lifetime of Birds at Settlebeck School, Sedbergh, next Wednesday (February 23) at 7.30pm. For details, call 015396-21138 GREEN-fingered enthusiasts can put their horticultural queries to a team of experts from Holehird Gardens at a special Gardeners' Question Time at the Marchesi Centre, Windermere, next Thursday (February 24) at 7.30pm. All proceeds will go to charity. For details, call 015395-31407.

WITNESS some traditional country craftsmen at work at the Friends of the Lake District annual hedge-laying competition which takes place off the westbound carriageway of the A590 opposite Dobsons Garage, Levens, tomorrow, Saturday (February 19), from 9.30am-4pm. For details, call 01539-720788.

FRESH from starring in a new US comedy alongside Frasier's Kelsey Grammer, top comic Lee Mack will be appearing at The Platform, Morecambe, next Thursday (February 24) at 8pm. For details, call 01524-582803.

HEAD Gardener at Levens Hall Chris Crowder will be giving a lecture entitled Levens Hall and the Art of Topiary tonight, Friday (February 18) at 8pm. Mr Crowder trained at Kew Gardens and he will be talking about how he creates the beautiful flowers and borders at Levens Hall. For details, call 01768-860090.

CONCERTS

YOU Sexy Thing! Ex-Hot Chocolate frontman Errol Brown will be performing at The Lowry, Salford Quays, next Wednesday (Feb 23) at 7.30pm. For details, call 0870-787-5786.

PAVLO and his band of talented classical guitarists will be performing a night of diverse European music at Coniston Institute next Wednesday (Feb 23) at 7.30pm (015394-41473); and at Queen Elizabeth School, Kirkby Lonsdale, next Thursday (Feb 24) at 7.30pm (015242-71275).

ENJOY an evening of songs by Ol Blue Eyes at Forum 28, Duke Street, Barrow, tonight, Friday (Feb 18) at 8pm. Frank Sinatra sound-alike James Chadwick will be performing songs such as My Way and New York New York, accompanied by the Swing Sextet and special guest Yvonne Patterson. For details, call 01229-894942.

LAKELAND Symphonia Concert Society presents the BBC Philharmonic at Kendal Leisure Centre tomorrow, Saturday (February 19) at 7.30pm. The programme features pieces from Wagner and Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade. For details, call 01539-722533.

INTERNATIONALLY-acclaimed musicians the Dario Rosetti-Bonell (guitar) and Nicholas Cartledge (flute) duo will be appearing at Appleby Public Hall on Sunday (Feb 20) at 7.30pm. Both musicians have toured extensively and Rosetti-Bonell has played on many film soundtracks, including Shakespeare in Love. For details, call 017683-53552.

KING Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys present a lively evening of 1940s Kansas City jazz and blues at The Platform, Morecambe, tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 19) at 8pm. For details, call 01524-582803.

HAFFNER Orchestra will be performing at Ashton Hall, Lancaster, tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 19) at 7.30pm. The orchestra will be performing with Anna Markland, winner of 1982 BBC Young Musician of the Year Award, and the programme features pieces from Faure, Debussy, Wagner and Schubert. For details, call 01524-7705093.

ALLEGRI Singers will perform a programme of English sacred music featuring works by Dunstable, White, Tallis, Byrd and Parry, at Levens Church on Sunday (Feb 20) at 8pm.

HALLE Orchestra will be in concert at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 19) at 7.30pm. The programme includes Bizet's Carmen Suite and Ravel's Bolero. For details, call 0161-907-9000.

EXHIBITIONS

THE Peter Scott Gallery at Lancaster University is hosting a retrospective exhibition of watercolours and paintings from Royal Academician Norman Adams, highlighting his long and distinguished artistic career. For details, call 01524-593057.

IMPERIAL War Museum North at Salford Quays is hosting an exhibition of the work of one of the most respected photo-journalists working today. Jenny Matthews photographs show women caught up in war zones around the world, reflecting their experiences as mothers, widows, refugees, survivors, soldiers and campaigners. Women in War Zones runs until April 10. For details, call 0161-836-4000 LEARN all about the mysterious bog people at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. On show will be human remains and artefacts unearthed from the bogs of north west Europe over the last two centuries. The exhibition runs until May 8. For details, call 0161-832-2244.

BLACKWELL, The Arts and Crafts House, near Bowness, is hosting an exhibition of the work of eleven talented jewellers. On display will rings, necklaces and brooches, in a variety of contrasting styles and materials. For details, call 015394-46139.

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art at Gateshead is hosting the first 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 Kendal's Brewery Arts Centre Sugar Store Gallery until March 6.

THE Lowry at Salford Quays is hosting an exhibition entitled Salford Snapshot, featuring the work of three photographers exploring different aspects of the lives of people, past and present, in Salford. The exhibition runs until February 20. For details, call 0870-787-5780.

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 Sunday (Feb 20).

THE Folly Gallery 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. 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-18th 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.

SPORT

KENDAL Rugby Union FC end a four-week break away from their Mint Bridge base when they host Darlington Mowden Park in National League Division 3 North tomorrow (Saturday). The kick-off is at 2pm. Elsewhere, Upper Eden go to Wigton in the North Lancs/Cumbria League for a top of the table clash, while Kirkby Lonsdale are at Aldwinians. In the Cumbria League, title contenders Windermere travel to Keswick.

ON THE football front, Kendal Town FC entertain Kidsgrove Athletic in the UniBond League's First Division on Tuesday evening (7.45pm kick-off). Before then Town travel to third-placed Wildenhall Town in the league tomorrow, Saturday (3pm).

THIS week's Kendal Winter League running fixture is a charity race at Ulverston's Birkrigg Common, Mountbarrow Road, on Sunday (noon start).

THEATRE

MEMBERS of three of the most successful pop groups of the last ten years have teamed up to star in a brand new pop musical called Love Shack, which opens at Manchester's Palace Theatre next Thursday (Feb 24). The show features Jon Lee from S Club 7, Faye Tozer of Steps and Noel Sullivan from Hear'Say, and runs until 0870-060-1768.

WINNER of the Manchester Evening News Theatre Award Sarah Frankcom directs a new version of Githa Sowerby's classic play Rutherford and Son, at the Royal Exchange Theatre, St Anne's Square, Manchester, until tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 19). For details, call 0161-833-9833 MARTIN McDonagh's celebrated black comedy The Beauty Queen of Leenane is appearing at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, until tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 19). For details, call 01204-520661.

DENNIS Potter's Blue Remembered Hills is showing at The Dukes Theatre, Lancaster. The play centres on the activities of a group of children as they fight, play and fantasise in the woods on a summer's afternoon during World War Two. The play runs until February 26. For details, call 01524- 598500.

CLASSIC children's tale The Wind in the Willows, telling the story of Ratty, Mole and Toad's battle against the wicked weasels is showing at Manchester's Palace Theatre until tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 19). For details, call 0870-401-3000.

LANCASTER Footlights Club will be performing J.B. Keane's powerful Irish drama The Field at the Lancaster Grand until tomorrow, Saturday (Feb19). The play follows the story of one man claiming his right to his land, leading to a fierce and life changing battle with his community. For details, call 01524-64695.

TOM Stoppard's much-loved play The Real Thing, which examines the good and bad aspects of being in love, is showing at the Library Theatre, Manchester, until March 12. For details, call 0161-236-7110.

THE Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, is hosting a play by award-winning playwright Naomi Wallace. The Trestle At Pope Lick Creek is set in America during The Depression and is a tale of small-town struggles and hope in the face of adversity and runs until February 19. For details, call 0161-833-9833.

WAKE Up Little Suzie is a rock opera set during the long, hot summer at a Butlins-style holiday camp and follows the bitter battle between two Yellowcoats to win the annual talent contest. The show features songs such as Don't Go Breaking My Heart and Under The Moon Of Love, and is appearing at the Oldham Coliseum until February 26. For details, call 0161-624-2829.

HIGHLIGHTS rural touring scheme continues its spring season in the Eden Valley with a performance of Funny Business by Circus Berzercus who are appearing at Staveley Village Hall tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 19). The show features Gerald the gentleman juggler and the an exciting variety of riotous comedy, dazzling juggling and crazy balancing antics. For details, call 01539-821629.

BREWERY Theatre Company presents Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig, a tale of tragedy and transformation behind prison walls, at Kendal's Brewery Arts Centre until tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 19). For details, call 01539-725133.

FOR a night of rousing songs and tunes from Broadway shows head for Coronation Hall tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 19), at 2pm. Encore will be supplying the music and taking requests from the audience. For details, call 01229-587140.

THE beauty and romance of the grand ballrooms of 19th century Vienna is brought to life at The Johann Strauss Gala, which is appearing at the Sands Centre, Carlisle, tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 19) at 7.30pm. For details, call 01228-625222.

ENJOY a classic night at the opera as the Ukrainian National Opera of Odessa perform Puccini's tragic Madama Butterfly, featuring international Korean soprano Rosa Lee Thomas, at Manchester Opera House until tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 19). For tickets, call 0870-401-9000.