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

The winners and highly commended were announced as follows:

Bed and Breakfast/Guest Accommodation of the Year – Sponsored by VisitBlackpool
Winner: Number One, South Beach, Blackpool
Highly Commended: Langtry’s Blackpool

Access for All Tourism Award – Sponsored by Tourism For All
Winner: Mytton Fold Hotel and Golf Complex, Langho

Sustainable Tourism Award – Sponsored by Business Link
Winner: Clough Bottom Farm Cottages, Bashall Eaves
Highly Commended: Caldertop Cottage, Garstang

Small Hotel of the Year – Sponsored by Lancashire County Council
Winner: The Midland Hotel, Morecambe
Highly Commended: The Gibbon Bridge Hotel, Chipping

Large Hotel of the Year – Sponsored by Welcome to Excellence
Winner: Best Western Premier Leyland Hotel

Best Tourism Event of the Year – Sponsored by Fat Media
Top Three voted by public vote
Winner – 1940s Wartime Weekend, East Lancashire Railway
2ndPlace – World Fireworks Championships, Blackpool
3rd Place – Festival Bowland

Online Marketing Award – Sponsored by New Mind
Winner: Pleasure Beach Resort, Blackpool
Highly Commended: The Grand Theatre, Blackpool

Taste Lancashire Award – Sponsored by Made in Lancashire and Food North West
Winner: The Highwayman, Burrow
Highly Commended: Greens Bistro, Lytham St Annes

Best Tourism Experience of the Year – Sponsored by Blackpool International Airport
Winner: Go Ape! Rivington
Highly Commended: Martin Mere Swan Spectacular, Nr Ormskirk

Caravan Holiday Park and Holiday Village of the Year – Sponsored by KPMG
Winner: Newton Hall Holiday Centre, Blackpool

Business Tourism Award of the Year – Sponsored by Virgin Trains
Winner: Stanley House, Mellor
Highly Commended: The Midland Hotel, Morecambe

Self Catering Award – The Northwest Regional Development Agency
Winner: The Old Shippon at Mellor
Highly Commended: Martin Lane Farmhouse Holiday Cottages, Burscough

Small Visitor Attraction of the Year – Sponsored by Workhouse Marketing
Winner: Clitheroe Castle and Museum

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year – Sponsored by University of Central Lancashire
Winner: Blackpool Zoo
Highly Commended: Pleasure Beach Resort, Blackpool

Tongue Tribe perform unaccompanied and unplugged. Their repertoire ranges from Sinead O’Connor to Artisan as well as their own unique arrangement of the classic hit Bring Me Sunshine.

In January 2010 Tongue Tribe received a BBC Choral Fund grant to further their aims as a performance group.

Other Tongue Tribe performances:

• Kendal High Street, Stealth Singing, Saturday 5th June
• Kendal Town Hall, Sing Owt with Tongue Tribe, cabaret style, Saturday 12th June 8.00pm
• Sedbergh FolkFest, Saturday 26th June, 2.00pm
• Staveley Carnival, Sunday 11th June
• Also: Kendal Quaker Tapestry, Singing for Pleasure workshop, Saturday 4th September 10.00 – 4.00

To find out more go to www.tonguetide.biz

The concerts are as popular today as they where back in the 1970s, when they were first established, and regularly attract audiences of around 200 people from across the region.

This year’s programme starts on May 23, with the ever-popular Preston Concert Band. It then continues every Sunday, up to and including September 12.

Over the course of the season, the series will feature the very best of brass, drawn from across the North West. The concerts start at 2.30pm and are free of charge, but donations are welcome.

Situated at the east end of Morecambe’s promenade, Happy Mount Park provides a perfect setting for the concerts and is proud of its reputation of offering attractions for all ages.

As well as enjoying the music, visitors can take a stroll in the attractive parkland setting, sample the delights of the varied menu at the Café in the Park or try one of the park’s other attractions, such as the Happy Mount Express miniature railway, Splash Park or the recently opened adventure play park.

Seating is not provided, but members of the public might wish to take along their own picnic style chair or, alternatively, hire a deck chair at the park.

The full programme is as follows:

May

23 – Preston Concert Band
30 – Morecambe Bay Brass

June

6 – Blackpool Brass
13 – Morecambe Band
20 – Slaidburn Silver Band
27 – Kendal Concert Band

July

4 – Kirkby Lonsdale Band
11 – Kendal Concert Band
18 – Wilsden Band
25 – Morecambe Band

August

1 – Morecambe Band
8 – Morecambe Band
15 – Morecambe Band
22 – Pilling Band
29 – Morecambe Band

September

5 – Burneside Brass Band
12 – Morecambe Band

For more information contact the Visitor Information Centres in Morecambe or Lancaster (01524 582808 / 582394). Please note that the programme is subject to good weather and may change.

‘Party on the Prom’ is a family fun day taking place on Sunday 9 May next to the Dome from 11am.

There will be lots to see and do for all ages so bring along your bikes, trikes, tandems and scooters and join in the fun.

A trials display team will wow the crowds with amazing bike stunts and tricks. Go head to head with friends and family to make a pedal powered smoothie and see if you can get the fastest time in the virtual bike race.

Dr Bike will be on hand to administer some first aid to any ailing bikes. The police will also be offering security advice and post coding. Information and advice will also be available from the Cycling Demonstration Town team

There is also the opportunity to take part in ‘Get Cycling’ bike tryouts or why not have a go at pedal powered Scalextric! Visit the big yellow DHL truck for advice on interaction between cyclists and HGVs. That’s not all, there will be lots more activities especially for children including a treasure hunt

In April 2007, ancient byelaws prohibiting cycling along the length of the promenade were lifted, opening up an additional five miles of off-road cycling with stunning views and a link to the district-wide cycle network. During last year alone, around 90,000 cycle trips took place along Morecambe promenade.

For more information about the party visit www.celebratingcycling.org or contact the council’s Cycling Demonstration Town Team on 01524 582392 or by email to celebratingcycling@lancaster.gov.uk.

The 60-room budget hotel will be located at junction of Euston Road and Central Drive. The shop premises currently situated there will be demolished.

Earlier this month Travelodge announced plans to open 26 new hotels in 2010, taking their portfolio of UK properties over the 400 mark.

There are currently no Travelodge hotels in Morecambe. The closest are the Lancaster M6 the the Burton M6 Northbound, both around 9 miles from the town.

A synthetic ice rink will be at the Dome from December 15 – 24 2009. Sessions will start at the following times:

• Tuesday December 15 to Thursday December 17 – 3pm, 4pm, 5.30pm and 6.30pm.
• Friday December 18 – 9.30am, 10.30am, 11.30am, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5.30pm, 6.30pm.
• Saturday December 19 – 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5.30pm, 6.30pm.
• Sunday December 20 to Wednesday December 23 – 9.30am, 10.30am, 11.30am, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5.30pm, 6.30pm.
• Thursday December 24 – 9.30am, 10.30am and 11.30am.

Admission is £4.50 for adults, £3.50 for children, for a 45 minute session.

The rink comes complete with a snow machine and a music sound system to complete the festive atmosphere. Refreshments are also available. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult.

Designed specifically for children aged between eight and 13, the new equipment includes a five metre high swing, 34 metre long cable rider, maypole and a tree house.

The application is currently out to public consultation and is likely to be decided by Lancaster City Council’s planning committee on December 7 2009.

Should the application be granted planning permission the equipment will be central to the new play area, which will be located on the former miniature golf course at the rear of Happy Mount Park.

Other aspects of the park will include a woodland den area, a games area, new trees and natural resources such as sand, logs and boulders.

The aim is to create an area that provides children with more opportunities to play freely and creatively.

Lancaster City Council has been awarded more than £114,000 (BIG Lottery, Lancashire County Council Play Builder and Community Design and Arts Council England) to develop and deliver the project.

Decisive Moments is the latest exhibition curated by artist Sonja Campbell of The Snapshot Museum.

As part of a wider movement of social participation in British Contemporary Art, the show is a collaboration project with senior communities throughout the North West Region.

Displayed inside a purpose-built pop-up gallery within Morecambe’s Winter Gardens Theatre, the exhibition makes full use of this dramatic and once grandiose setting.

Populated entirely by extraordinary snapshots, Decisive Moments democratises fine art photography. The show forces a reappraisal and re-evaluation of the humble snapshot – not only as great photography, but as a mirror of our own life experience.

Simply taken, with no artistic agenda or intent, the images here could easily match up to the legendary likes of Cartier-Bresson or Diane Arbus – except these were more likely taken on a rudimentary box brownie camera than a Leica.

The installation is augmented with sound pieces from the participants – which sometimes contextualise the image and others playfully mystify the viewer.

None of the images displayed are less than 50 years old and often much older. Four of the collaborators are nonagenarians with the oldest Decisive Moments participant being 94.

However, these images have an electrifying existential resonance today. Showing the timelessness of the human condition, they explore themes of love, loss, belonging, family, friendship, and the pursuit of happiness.

The show challenges preconceived ideas about other people’s lives, ageing, and ultimately our own mortality.

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 – Impressive remains of a Cistercian monastery.
Barrow Town Hall
Dalton Castle, Dalton-in-Furness – 14th century tower.

Birkenhead

Birkenhead Park – Grade I listed public space.
Birkenhead Priory – The oldest standing building in Merseyside.
Oxton Village
Port Sunlight Museum

Blackburn

Haworth Art Gallery, Accrington – Tudor-style Edwardian house in 9 acres of parkland. Home of Europe’s largest public collection of Tiffany Glass.

Blackpool

Blackpool Tower – Guided tour of the aquarium, circus, and ballroom.
Funny Girls – Opened as the biggest Odeon cinema outside London. Now one of Blackpool’s premier entertainment venues.
Marton Mere Local Nature Reserve – Nature reserve on the outskirts of Blackpool.
Stanley Park
Grand Theatre Blackpool – 1100-seat theatre designed by Frank Matcham in 1894.
Winter Gardens
Lytham Hall, Lytham St Annes – Grade I 18th century manor house in 80 acres of mature parkland.
The White Church, Lytham St Annes – Fairhaven United Reform Church.

Bolton

Bolton Steam Museum – Houses 25 steam engines that once drove the cotton mills of Northern England.
Hall i’th’ Wood – Tudor wooden-framed house.
Smithills Hall – Manor house.

Burnley

Burnley Football Club – Tour of Turf Moor, home of Burnley FC.
Oak Mount Hill Engine House – Cotton mill engine house dating from 1887 with recently restored steam engine.
Queen Street Mill Textile Museum
Rourke’s Forge – Watch blacksmiths at work.
Towneley Hall – Historic house, art gallery and museums, natural history centre, woodland walks and nature trails.
Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham

Bury

Bury Transport Museum
Fusiliers’ Museum – Tour of the new museum
East Lancashire Railway – Tour behind the scenes at the East Lancashire Railway, including a ride from Bolton Street station to Ramsbottom.
Peel Tower – Climb to the top of Bury’s famous landmark, built in 1852 in tribute to Bury-born Sir Robert Peel.

Carlisle

Carlisle Castle

Lake District

Beatrix Potter Gallery, Hawkshead – Home to original watercolours and sketches of Beatrix Potter.
Hill Top, Hawkshead – 17th century farmhouse where Beatrix Potter wrote many of her stories.
Townend, Windermere – 17th century stone and slate house.

Chester & Cheshire

Bear & Billet – One of the oldest pubs in Chester.
Chester Racecourse
Grosvenor Museum
Grosvenor Park
Little Moreton Hall, Congleton – Cheshire’s most iconic black and white house.
Beeston Castle, Tarporley – Former Royal Castle perched high on a rocky sandstone crag.

Kendal

Sizergh Castle

Lancaster

Lune Aqueduct – Canal cruise from Lancaster city centre to the Lune Aqueduct.

Liverpool

Britannia Adelphi
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral – Roman catholic cathedral.
Liverpool Town Hall
St George’s Hall – Grade I listed building opposite Lime Street station.
The Bluecoat – The oldest building in Liverpool city centre.

Macclesfield

Silk Museum
Quarry Bank Mill, Wilmslow – Former cotton mill.

Manchester

Manchester Town Hall
Monastery – Restored monastery in Gorton.
Victoria Baths

Morecambe

Morecambe Town Hall
Morecambe Winter Gardens

Oldham

Saddleworth Museum & Art Gallery

Penrith

Acorn Bank Garden & Watermill – Tours of the herb garden and Acorn Bank house.
Penrith & Eden Museum – Local history museum and Tourist Information Centre.

Preston

Museum of Lancashire – Museum in Preston’s Old Court House.
Samlesbury Hall – Historic house dating back to 1325.

Rochdale

Greater Manchester Fire Museum – Official museum of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.
Healey Dell Nature Reserve – Guided walk.
Hollingworth Lake
Rochdale Pioneers Museum – The world’s first successfully operated co-operative store. Now a museum with restored historic shop.
Three Owls Bird Sanctuary – Wild bird hospital.
Touchstones – Arts and heritage centre with museum, art gallery, local studies library, tourist information, shop and café.

St Helens

Dream – Spectacular sculpture designed by world-renowned artist Jaume Plensa.
World of Glass – Explores the history of St Helens and its glass making heritage.

Stockport

Bramall Hall – One of Cheshire’s grandest black and white timber-framed Tudor manor houses.
Hat Works – The only museum in the UK dedicated to the hatting industry.
Lyme Park – Mansion house, gardens, and ancient deer park.
Staircase House
Stockport Air Raid Shelters – Underground labyrinth of tunnels built for shelter during World War II.

Warrington

Norton Priory, Runcorn – 38 acre site with excavated remains of the Augustinian Priory and woodland gardens.

Wigan

Trencherfield Mill – Restored steam engine.

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.

The winning projects range from the renovated Midland Hotel in Morecambe to the Liverpool One Masterplan, with the judges commenting that the latter has created ‘a vibrant and economically successful retail, leisure and mixed-use quarter – an entirely revitalised city centre that now connects properly with the Docks,’ whilst the architect of the former received praise for restoring ‘the glory of an original design by Edward Paley’ and adding ‘a layer of lively contemporary design’.

The 7 buildings in the North West that have won RIBA Awards are:

1. 13b Paradise Street, Liverpool, Allies and Morrison
2. BDP Studio, Manchester, BDP
3. Liverpool One Masterplan, Liverpool, BDP
4. Midland Hotel, Morecambe, Union North
5. Paradise Street Bridge, Liverpool, Wilkinson Eyre Architects
6. Private House, Stockport, MBLA Architects + Urbanists
7. Three Towers, Manchester, Union North

RIBA Awards for architectural excellence will be presented across the country today with 103 buildings in the UK and Europe winning awards (97 in the UK and six in the rest of the EU).

Businesses shortlisted include:

Bed and Breakfast/Guest Accommodation of the Year:

• The Ashton, Lancaster
• The Cartford Inn, Little Eccleston
• Howarth House, St Annes
• Little Stubbins Bed and Breakfast, Claughton-on-Brock

Small Hotel of the Year

• Crofters Hotel, Garstang
• Mytton Fold Hotel and Golf Complex, Langho
• West Tower Country House Hotel, Aughton

Large Hotel of the Year

• Best Western Premier Leyland Hotel, Leyland
• The Midland Hotel, Morecambe
• Preston Marriott Hotel

Small Visitor Attraction of the Year

• Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk
• Helmshore Mills Textile Museum, Rossendale
• Lancaster Canal Packet Boats
• Old Holly Farm, Garstang

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year

• Blackpool Tower & Circus
• Blackpool Zoo
• Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
• WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre, Near Ormskirk

Taste Lancashire Award

• The Carmen Rose, Ribchester
• The Fisherman’s Retreat, Rossendale
• Homestead Farm’s Shop, Holmeswood
• La Locanda Ristorante Italiano, Gisburn

Business Tourism Award of the Year

• Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
• Preston Marriott Hotel
• Ribby Hall Village, Wrea Green

Sustainable Tourism Award

• Clough Bottom Farm Cottages, Bashall Eaves
• Malkin Tower Farm Holiday Cottages, Blacko
• Number One, South Beach, Blackpool
• Sandcastle Waterpark, Blackpool

Access for All Tourism Award

• Grand Theatre, Blackpool
• Oswaldtwistle Mills Shopping Village
• Sandcastle Waterpark, Blackpool
• Wyresdale Wheels for All Partnership, Wyre

Best Tourism Experience of the Year

• Dukes at Williamson Park, Lancaster
• Farmaggedon at Farmer Ted’s Farm Park, Ormskirk
• Ribble Valley Food Trail
• Sandcastle Waterpark, Blackpool

English Lakes Hotels owns and operates five hotels in Cumbria and Lancashire. This arrangement will enable the Midland Hotel to benefit from their experience and bring the benefits of being part of a small group of high quality hotels in wonderful locations.

Bryan Gray, Chairman of Urban Splash Hotels said, ‘This is a great deal for everyone. The Midland will benefit from English Lakes Hotels’ experience and their excellent marketing. Urban Splash will retain ownership of The Midland and will work with English Lakes Hotels to promote the hotel and Morecambe’.

Simon Berry, Chairman of English Lakes Hotels said, ‘The Midland fits perfectly with our other hotels and, for the first time, gives us a seaside location. Urban Splash has done an outstanding job in restoring The Midland to its former glory and we’re now looking forward to building on the success of this iconic hotel.’

Originally built in the 1930s, The Midland was once a favourite haunt of celebrities like Coco Chanel, Wallace Simpson and Lawrence Olivier. Its restoration by Urban Splash has resulted in a beautiful 44 bedroom hotel, which overlooks the uninterrupted coastline of Morecambe Bay with views across to the Lake District.

Tom Bloxham Chairman MBE of Urban Splash added, ‘We are very proud of the Midland Hotel and all that has been achieved since it opened in June 2008.’

English Lakes Hotels is a family owned and run group of hotels. The existing hotels are five very individual properties, four of which are situated in the Lake District (Low Wood Hotel, Waterhead Hotel, Storrs Hall Hotel, Wild Boar Hotel) and one close to Lancaster (Lancaster House Hotel).

Urban Splash, a Manchester-based development company, purchased the decaying Art Deco building in 2003 and after a multi-million pound redevelopment project, reopened the hotel in 2008.

English Lakes Hotels is a family-run hotel group. They own 5 hotels in the North West of England:

• Lake District: Low Wood Hotel, Waterhead Hotel, Storrs Hall Hotel, Wild Boar Hotel
• Lancaster: Lancaster House Hotel

Of 31 projects nominated the shortlisted entries are:

• Silver Cafe, Morecambe designed by Arca
• Midland Hotel, Morecambe designed by Union North
• Liverpool One Masterplan, Liverpool designed by BDP
• Chavasse Park, Liverpool designed by BDP in association with Pelli Clarke Pelli
• Bling Bling, Liverpool designed by CZWG
• 13b Paradise Street, Liverpool designed by Allies and Morrison
• Paradise Street Bridge, Liverpool designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects
• Wigg Island Visitor Centre, Runcorn designed by Hot Architecture
• Private House, Bramhall designed by MBLA Architects + Urbanists
• Alan Turing Building, Manchester designed by Sheppard Robson
• 3 Towers, Manchester designed by Union North
• BDP Studio, Manchester designed by BDP

The winners will be announced at ceremony at Urbis on May 20 2009 and will be eligible to be shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize.

The deal clears the way for the club to begin work on their new stadium in the Westgate area of the town. Construction is now expected to begin in spring 2009 with completion due in 2010, in time for the 2010/11 football season.

Morecambe FC Chairman Peter McGuigan said, ‘The sale of Christie Park to Sainsbury’s is great news for us and the local community since it allows us to not only build a fantastic future for the club but also to provide much needed community sport facilities including an all-weather full size pitch, a number of multi-sport courts and changing facilities. In this way, our award winning Morecambe FC Community Sports charity will be able to extend its current operations and deliver even greater benefits to the local community.’

The rink will be at the Platform on Marine Road Central from November 17 to December 22 and will be open from 1 pm until 9 pm.

Admission to the synthetic rink will cost £3 for adults and £2 for children.

The offer is available on this special page on their website and is valid for bookings made now for stays between February and April 2009.

Rooms for other dates are also available from £19 and £29 provided bookings are made 7 and 21 days ahead respectively.

The budget hotel group is currently offering thousands of rooms at only £19 for stays in December and January. They can be booked via this special page on their website.