Birkenhead

Thursday 9 – Sunday 12 September
www.heritageopendays.org.uk – fully events listing and details

Later this week properties across England will throw open their doors for free as part of the country’s annual celebration of local architecture, history and culture.

Supported nationally by English Heritage and run locally by an army of volunteers and community champions, Heritage Open Days takes place on people doorstops and is the country’s leading grassroots cultural event.

One million people are expected to take advantage of the four day event, exploring more than 4,000 properties of every style, period and function, many of which are normally closed to the public or usually charge an admission fee.

Participating properties in North West England include:

Barrow – Dalton Castle (Dalton-in-Furness)
Birkenhead – Birkenhead Park, Birkenhead Priory, Lady Lever Art Gallery
Blackpool – Blackpool Tower, Winter Gardens
Bolton – Bolton Steam Museum
Burnley – Gawthorpe Hall (Padiham), Queen Street Mill Textile Museum
Bury – Fusilier Museum, East Lancashire Railway, Peel Tower
Carlisle – High Head Sculpture Valley
Chester – Chester Racecourse, Grosvenor Museum, Little Moreton Hall (Congleton)
Kendal – Abbott Hall Art Gallery, Museum of Lakeland Life, Sizergh Castle
Lake District – Beatix Potter Gallery (Hawkshead), Blackwell (Windermere),
Liverpool – St George’s Hall, Cunard Building, Liver Building,
Macclesfield – Quarry Bank Mill
Manchester – Victoria Baths
Morecambe – Morecambe Town Hall
Oldham – Saddleworth Museum
Penrith – Acorn Bank
Preston – Samlesbury Hall
Rochdale – Healey Dell, Rochdale Pioneers Museum, Touchstones,
St Helens – World of Glass
Stockport – Hat Works, Staircase House, Air Raid Shelters, Bramall Hall
Warrington – Norton Priory (Runcorn)
Wigan – Museum of Wigan Life, Trencherfield Mill Engine

Wallace & Gromit are coming to Spaceport for a world premiere – an exclusive exhibition entitled “Wallace and Gromit in Space”.

It opens on Thursday March 25 and will feature a collection of wacky inventions alongside fascinating factual information about the Moon, our Solar System and the history of Space exploration.

Wallace & Gromit in Space has been designed specifically for Spaceport and includes frequent references to the pair’s first short film ‘A Grand Day Out’ which sees Wallace & Gromit journey to the Moon in a homemade rocket in search of cheese.

Nick Park, creator of Wallace & Gromit, says he is excited to see his creations re-visit the Moon: “It’s been 20 years since we first sent Wallace & Gromit into Space and it’s great to see them back out there again, delving more deeply into the mysteries of the universe.” he said.

“Hopefully their efforts will help educate others about some of the amazing facts surrounding Space exploration and recent advances in technology.”

Neil Scales, chief executive of Merseytravel, which owns Spaceport as part of the Mersey Ferries operation, said:” This is a tremendous coup for us and a unique first for Merseyside.”

“The Mersey Ferries are already the most popular paid-for tourism attraction in the region. Spaceport and our other attractions, including The U-Boat Story, are helping us maintain that position. This new exhibition will help boost our tourism business even further.”

Visitors to Wallace and Gromit in Space will see the famous orange rocket from the film as well as Wallace’s Moon Base Exploration Station, where the inventor harvests cheese, collects space junk, keeps an eye on the planets and checks for lunar life. Sets from the Wallace & Gromit films will also be on display.

The exhibition will take visitors on a journey through the history of man’s fascination with the Moon, delving into the earliest attempts to communicate with life on other planets to the first lunar landing in 1969 and culminating with Wallace and Gromit’s visit in 1989.

Information on advances in robotic technology will sit alongside some of Wallace’s own inventions for exploring the surface of the moon, and gathering cheese of course.

Spaceport is housed in a listed building alongside the Seacombe Mersey Ferries Terminal.

Merseytravel contributes more than £34 million a year to the region’s tourism economy through the Mersey Ferries and its associated attractions. It also supports the equivalent of 742 full-time jobs.

The Ferries, together with The Beatles Story, Spaceport and the U-Boat Story attracted 343,000 tourists last year with 16 per cent visiting from overseas.

Wallace and Gromit in Space opens to the public on 25th March 2010

Opening times: 10.30 with last admission at 16.30 closing at 18.00 (closed Mondays except during public and school holiday periods check website for further details)
Admission: Adult £8.00, Child (3-15 years) £4.50 and a Family ticket £20.00 (this consists of two adults and three children).

Plans to redevelop a hotel in Hoylake have been approved by Wirral Council.

The £6.5 million development will likely see the Kings Gap Court Hotel rebranded as a Holiday Inn before The Open Championship returns to Hoylake in 2014.

The hotel is operated by Sanguine Hospitality Management. Other properties in the North West managed by the group include Days Hotel Chester North (formerly the Gateway to Wales Hotel), the Doubletree by Hilton Chester, and the West Tower in Aughton, Lancashire.

Heritage Open Days allow visitors free access to properties that normally charge an entrance fee or are not usually open to the public.

The event starts tomorrow and runs until Sunday September 13.

Hundreds of attractions and properties in the North West are taking part. For more details visit the official Heritage Open Days website.

Highlights include:

Barrow

Furness Abbey (more…)

Which?’s Good Food Guide 2010 was published yesterday.

Restaurants from the North West that made the list of the top 50 restaurants in the UK were:

13 L’Enclume, Cartmel, near Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria
23 Holbeck Ghyll, Windermere, Cumbria
26 Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor, Chester, Cheshire
30 Fraiche, Oxton, Wirral
49 Ramsons, Ramsbottom, near Bury, Greater Manchester

Wirral Council’s planning committee has approved the second phase of the £60 million waterfront redevelopment of New Brighton.

The plans include a Morrison’s supermarket, a 66-room Travelodge hotel, 6-screeen cinema, boating lake, bars and restaurants.

The first phase of the regeneration scheme, incorporating the Floral Pavilion theatre, was completed at the end of last year.

The developer is Neptune Developments of Liverpool. They expect work on the boating lake to take around 5 months, the supermarket 12 months, and the leisure facilities 15 months.

Visitors looking for a cheap place to stay in North West England next year (or indeed the rest of the UK, Ireland or Spain) should take note that Travelodge today launched an amazing offer on budget rooms.

The budget hotel chain is offering 50,000 rooms at only £12. The rate applies for stays between January 1 and April 1 2010. Rooms are also available from £19 (book 21 days ahead) and from £29 (book 7 days ahead).

To take advantage of this amazing offer, visit this page on their website.

A new attraction has opened at Spaceport on the Wirral.

Alien Wars is a reality experience where visitors are taken on a tour of an alien-infested Spaceport by a team of specialist marines. The show was inspired by the Alien films and runs until March 2010.

Normal Spaceport admission fees apply (adults £9.50, children £6.50). The show runs between 2.30 pm and 6.30 pm each day. Alien Wars is not suitable for children under 8.

Spaceport is situated at the Seacombe Ferry Terminal on the Wirral. Ferries for here depart hourly from Pier Head in Liverpool and Woodside, Birkenhead.

A fascinating exhibition gives remarkable insights into the etchings of American artist James McNeill Whistler, one of the greatest exponents of the art form.

Whistler: The Gentle Art of Making Etchings, at the Lady Lever Art Gallery 3 July – 20 September 2009, features about 50 exquisite works drawn from the University of Glasgow’s world-famous Whistler collection.

Although now best known as a painter, Whistler’s reputation was originally founded on his skills as an etcher. During his career he produced some of the most technically innovative and beautiful etchings of his day.

Whistler (1834 – 1903) found much of his inspiration on the streets and waterways of London, Venice and Amsterdam. He also came to Liverpool and several times visited Speke Hall, the half-timbered country home of his ship-owning patron Frederick R Leyland.

In 1870 Whistler made an etching of Mrs Leyland standing in the driveway in front of the mansion. This image was created when Whistler’s interest in etching was renewed and shows the influence of Japanese prints.

Sandra Penketh, head of the Lady Lever Art Gallery, says: “These wonderful etchings give us the most intimate insight into Whistler’s closely-observed world, where people and places are brought into sharp focus.”

The exhibition includes artworks from the period 1854 to 1893 and looks at Whistler’s etching techniques. Some feature the Naval Review which celebrated Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887. Here Whistler made a number of etchings – many executed from a boat on the Thames.

The exhibition has been organised by the Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery, University of Glasgow.

The best businesses in Liverpool region’s £1.3bn a year visitor economy were honoured at The Mersey Partnership’s Annual Tourism Awards last night.

More than 520 guests joined the celebrations to recognise and reward the best of the best during a black tie dinner at the BT Convention Centre on the city’s UNESCO world heritage waterfront.

The Awards were organised by The Mersey Partnership (TMP) as the region’s official tourist boaard and this year’s event attracted record entries.

Eleven of tonight’s winners now go forward to represent the destination in North West regional awards and the chance to compete for national honours.

The annual event, organised by TMP and sponsored by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Merseytravel, Liverpool ONE, ACC Liverpool and BBC Radio Merseyside, celebrates quality and excellence in a sector now supporting 23,000 jobs across the City Region. BBC TV presenter Ranvir Singh hosted the ceremony.

The winners were:

• The Mersey Partnership Special Award – Liverpool City Council for Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008
• Guest Accommodation of the Year – The Ambassador Town House, Southport – Highly Commended: Mere Brook House
• Self Catering Accommodation of the Year – Premier Apartments Liverpool
• Hotel of the Year – Malmaison Liverpool – Highly Commended: Crowne Plaza Liverpool
• Small Visitor Attraction of the Year -Acorn Farm Knowlsey – Highly Commended: Mersey Tunnel Tours
• Large Visitor Attraction of the Year – Liverpool Cathedral
• Excellence in Customer Service – Christina Dixon, Jurys Inn
• Excellence in Business Tourism – BT Convention Centre Liverpool
• Taste Liverpool – Delifonseca Liverpool
• Tourism Experience of the Year – National Museums Liverpool for Art in the Age of Steam – Highly Commended: Liverpool Biennial
• Tourism Event of the Year – Creamfields Halton
• Student in Hospitality & Tourism – Stephanie Arnold, St. Helens College
• Performance Venue of the Year – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
• Bar of the Year – Alma De Cuba Liverpool
• Tourism Marketing Project of the Year – National Museums Liverpool for Art in the Age of Steam
• Tourism Retailer of the Year – The Beatles Story Liverpool – Highly Commended: Lady Lever Art Gallery Shop
• Sustainable Tourism – Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool