science

Science and nature inspire Cheshire’s new celebration of arts and culture – Knutsford Guardian


Cheshire: Where Science Meets Nature is a new celebration of arts and culture for all the family themed on the county’s rich natural and scientific assets.

This year marks the 50th anniversary year of the Lunar Landings and the 100th birthday of the Forestry Commission.

Cheshire is home to Jodrell Bank, which captured the first images of the surface of the moon when Apollo 11 touched down in 1969, and Delamere Forest, one the oldest woodlands in Britain, managed by the Forestry Commission.

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Visitors to visitcheshire.com/science-meets-nature will be able to pick and choose from three inspiring itineraries of events and attractions – Forests, Festivals & Family Days; Moons, Movies & Memory Making and Inventions, Ideas & Imaginative Outings – which have been designed to appeal to all ages.

Users browsing online can add events and attractions to an editable, downloadable planner, which generates a list, handy map and advice on journey times and distances.

The experiences are staged in intriguing spaces across the urban and rural landscape, a combination that promises an unforgettable experience only to be found in Cheshire.

Knutsford Guardian:

Tatton Park

The unique and innovative collaboration of some of the county’s top creative organisations – Cultural Destinations, funded by the Arts Council – will continue into 2020 and beyond.

Plus visitors to the Visit Cheshire Facebook page will have the chance to win a family ticket to the 10th anniversary Just So Festival at Rode Hall, with more entrance passes up for grabs through the year.

Highlights of ‘Cheshire: Where Science Meets Nature’ include:

Just So Festival

There’s nothing like the Just So Festival for a fantastical family adventure. The three-day celebration of outlandish arts in the outdoors will take place in the leafy, lakeside grounds of Georgian country house Rode Hall – come for the day or pitch up at the campsite for the whole weekend. It’s the festival’s 10th year and promises to be the best yet, with an exciting agenda of midnight feasts, silent discos, and al-fresco theatre.

Just So Festival, 16, 17, 18 August 2019, Rode Hall, Scholar Green ST7 3QP. Email/web: hello@justsofestival.org.uk; justsofestival.org.uk

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Anderton Boat Lift

The Borrowers

Once again, Arietty, Pod and Homily Clock will leave their home beneath the floorboards to bravely explore the giant world above. This summer, Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre will premiere a brand-new version of The Borrowers by the award-winning playwright Bryony Lavery. Spread out your picnic blanket and pop open a bottle of fizz (soda or champers) at this theatre-in-the-round in Chester’s elegant Victorian park.

The Borrowers, 13 July-25 August 2019, Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Chester CH1 1QQ. Tel/web: 01244 409113; grosvenorparkopenairtheatre.co.uk/borrowers

The Lost Words

Join the hunt for lost words through the house and grounds of the Lyme estate. Your quest at this mansion house dating from the 16th century will be to search for ‘dandelion’, ‘fern’ and other words that are too quickly disappearing from the Oxford Junior Dictionary.

The Lost Words, Lyme, until 1 September 2019, Disley, Stockport SK12 2NX. Dunham Massey, 7 September-3 April 2020, Altrincham WA14 4SJ. Quarry Bank, 6 April-31 August 2020, Styal SK9 4LA. Tel/web: 01663 762023; nationaltrust.org.uk/features/the-lost-words-family-trail

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Tatton Park Farm

NowNorthwich

Get set for surprises around every corner in Northwich as the hugely successful family-friendly international dance and street art festival returns for a second year. From Weaver Way to Witton Street and Barons Quay, the streets of this old salt town will transform for a day into a stage on which a cast of thrilling local and global artists will perform alongside talented community groups and schools.

NowNorthwich, 5 October, Northwich town centre. nownorthwich.co.uk

Magical Woodland

Step out this autumn in the magical woods on the edge of ancient Delamere Forest. Follow this woodland trail as it comes alive with choreographed sound-and-light shows, interactive illuminations, and luminous pieces of performance art. And don’t let the weather put you off: the whims of Mother Nature and the magic of the lights mean no two shows are the same.

Magical Woodland, 12 October-3 November 2019, Cheshire Outdoors, Blakemere Village, Sandiway CW8 2EB. Tel/web: 01606 882223; magicalwoodland.com

Knutsford Guardian:

Lion Salt Works

Chester Zoo

There’s always something new to do at Chester Zoo. Whether you’re greeting new arrivals, such as a baby black lemur, or finding out how many bones there are in a giraffe’s neck at one of the daily animal talks, hands-on fun is guaranteed. Meet the zoo’s feathered friends at the lunchtime bird feeds, and drop in for Science at the Zoo or Discover sessions to hear the latest conservation updates.

Chester Zoo, Chester CH2 1LH. Tel/web: 01244 380280; chesterzoo.org

MOONS, MOVIES & MAKING MEMORIES

bluedot

A stellar line-up from the worlds of music, science and cosmic culture will gather on the plain beneath the great white dish of the Lovell Telescope in July to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Lunar Landings. Don’t miss your chance to join an audience of thousands, young and old, at the mighty eye on the sky, which captured the first images of the surface of the moon when Apollo 11 touched down in 1969.

bluedot, 18-21 July 2019, Jodrell Bank Observatory, Bomish Lane, Lower Withington SK11 9DW. Tel/web: 01477 571766; discoverthebluedot.com

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Blue Dot

Jodrell Bank

The 50th anniversary of the Lunar Landings is a bumper year for visitors to Jodrell Bank. The observatory played a unique role in this momentous occasion, capturing the moment when the Eagle lander, carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin,

touched down on the surface of the Moon in 1969. No wonder UNESCO is considering listing Jodrell Bank as a World Heritage Site, a decision due to be announced in July. Dip into the packed programme of special events at the family-friendly Discovery Centre for budding astronauts, large and small.

Jodrell Bank, Lower Withington, Macclesfield SK11 9DL. Tel/web: 01477 571766; jodrellbank.net

Space Odyssey & Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival

Did you know, Warrington has played an important role in European space missions for nearly 50 years? Find out more at this summer’s special exhibition, ‘Space Odyssey’, a special exhibition featuring parts of rockets built right here in the town by ESR Technology, including the solar array deployment arm of the Hubble Telescope. Make a note in your diary for October, when Luke Jerram’s touring artwork ‘Museum of the Moon’ visits Parr Hall, the centrepiece of October’s Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival. Space Odyssey, 15 June-21 September 2019, Warrington Museum & Art Gallery, Museum Street, Warrington WA1 1JB. Tel/web: 01925 442399; wmag.culturewarrington.org; Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival, 4-31 October 2019. warringtonartsfestival.co.uk

Knutsford Guardian:

Tatton Park Farm

Luna Cinema

Is there anywhere finer to watch a blockbuster movie than in the glorious grounds of Tatton Park? In August, this historic estate – featuring a medieval hall and neoclassical mansion set amid landscaped grounds, gardens, and a deer park – will play host to a three-night festival of film. On the bill are recent smash hits A Star Is Born, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Bohemian Rhapsody, all shown on a giant screen surrounded by woodland near Tatton’s old stableyard.

Luna Cinema, 23-25 August 2019, Tatton Park, Knutsford WA16 6QN. Tel/web: 0844 858 6767; 01625 374400; thelunacinema.com; tattonpark.org.uk

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LUMEN: Crewe’s Night of Lights

As the winter nights draw in, the old railway town of Crewe will become a beacon in the darkness once again, with the return of seasonal festival LUMEN. Head to Memorial and Lyceum Squares to see breathtaking contemporary light installations whirl around the urban landscape.

Lumen: Crewe’s Night of Lights, November 2019, Crewe town centre. Web: crewetowncouncil.gov.uk

Moonlight Flicks

Enjoy the silver screen by the light of the silvery moon at Chester’s Moonlight Flicks. The popular summertime open-air cinema, set amid the crumbling columns,

bathhouse mosaics and cypress trees in the Roman Gardens, will feature Stanley Kubrick’s Oscar-winning classic 2001: A Space Odyssey in this lunar-tastic year.

Moonlight Flicks, 5 July-26 August 2019, Roman Gardens, Pepper Street, Chester CH1 1DQ. Tel/web: 01244 409113; moonlightflicks.co.uk

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Tatton Park

INVENTIONS, IDEAS & IMAGINATIVE OUTINGS

Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers

Chester Visual Arts is bringing the Victoria and Albert Museum’s hit retrospective of digital art to Chester’s Old Library for its first showing outside London. Embark on this cleverly curated journey through the themes of ‘chance and control’ in the creation of digital art. You’ll discover how computers have been used to make prints, drawings, paintings, photographs and digital artworks for more than 50 years.

Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers, 7 June-8 September, The Old Library, Northgate Street, Chester CH1 2EF. Web: chestervisualarts.org.uk

Poulson Arc Dream Radio

A mysterious little radio booth will appear on the Juliet Balcony of Chester’s Storyhouse arts centre this spring. Step inside the digital dreamscape and you’ll find yourself inhabiting someone else’s memories. ‘Poulsen Arc Dream Radio’, the latest immersive audio-visual installation by Sven Werner, came about after the composer, film-maker and artist spent weeks in conversation with Cheshire non-natives who have made the city their home.

‘Poulsen Arc Dream Radio, 16 May 2019-17 May 2020, Storyhouse, Hunter Street, Chester CH1 2AR. Tel/web: 01244 409113; storyhouse.com

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Jodrell Bank

Night Watchman Walkabout Theatre

Venture out with the Night Watchman around the red-brick warehouses, deep locks and mirror canals at the once-bustling basins of Ellesmere Port, now preserved by the National Waterways Museum. This place really comes to life when dusk falls and its guardian does his rounds, looking out for suspicious characters and calling the hours until sunrise. Night Watchman Walkabout Theatre, please visit website for dates and times, National Waterways Museum, South Pier Road, Ellesmere Port CH65 4FW. Tel/web: 0151 355 5017; canalrivertrust.org.uk

The Silk Museum

Macclesfield once hummed with the sound of silk looms, music to the ears of the mill owners that prospered here in the 19th century. From cocoon to loom, find out how this old market town shot to global manufacturing fame at the Silk Museum and neighbouring Paradise Mill.

The Silk Museum, Park Lane, Macclesfield SK11 6TJ. Tel/web: 01625 612045; macclesfieldmuseums.co.uk/venues/the-silk-museum

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Chester Zoo

Tatton Park

There’s plenty to see at Tatton Park this year. Cheshire’s grand 18th-century country estate is home to an agricultural attraction like no other, where state-of-the-art audio-visual exhibitions animate old barns and bring museum-piece machinery to life. Join characters from Tatton Farm’s past to hear field-to-fork tales, and learn about the production of our food from the industrial revolution to the present day. Meanwhile, in the neoclassical mansion, see international textile artist Susie MacMurray’s new work ‘Gathering’, a specially created piece inspired by the current Tatton Ball exhibition about an opulent costume party held by the Egertons of Tatton Park in 1897.

The Gathering, 28 June-6 October 2019, Tatton Ball, until 3 November. Tatton Park, Knutsford WA16 6QN. Tel/web: 01625 374400; tattonpark.org.uk/what_to_see_and_do/farm/farm.aspx

Anderton Boat Lift

Marvel at the miraculous feat of Victorian engineering they call the ‘Cathedral of the Canals’. No wonder it won Marketing Cheshire’s 2018 Large Visitor Attraction Of The Year – here at the Anderton Boat Lift you can see narrowboats tackle the staggering 50-foot drop between the Trent & Mersey Canal and Weaver Navigation.

Anderton Boat Lift, Lift Lane, Anderton, Northwich CW9 6FW. Tel/web: 01606 786777; canalrivertrust.org.uk/places-to-visit/anderton-boat-lift-visitor-centre

Lion Salt Works

Cheshire’s salt – the precious mineral on which this county sits – has been prized since Roman times. It’s a story brilliantly told at the Lion Salt Works, one of the last open-pan sites in the world, an intriguing warren of stove, boiler and pan houses renovated to reveal how salt was extracted from the underground brine lakes and transformed into a coveted commodity.

Lion Salt Works, Ollershaw Lane, Marston, Northwich CW9 6ES. Tel/web: 01606 275066; lionsaltworks.westcheshiremuseums.co.uk





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