MISCELLANEOUS

ENJOY a fun day out for all the family at Troutbeck's annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Races on Tuesday, February 8. The events include races for adults and children and a pancake tossing competition. The fun takes place in the Square, Troutbeck, near Windermere, at 2.30pm.

KENDAL Model Railway Club is holding its annual exhibition at Kendal Leisure Centre tomorrow, Saturday (February 5) and Sunday (Feb 6), from 10am-5pm.

GRANGE Amateur Dramatic Society present A Show to Die For, a murder mystery evening at Kendal Library on Monday (Feb 7) at 7.30pm. For details, call 01539-773520 WORD Market: South Cumbria's Writers and Readers' Festival begins today, Friday (Feb 4). The festival features events at venues across South Lakeland, including song-writing and script writing workshops, poetry readings and a special Readers' Day featuring Booker Prize shortlisted author, Sarah Hall. For a full programme of events call 07834-150523 or visit www.word-market.co.uk.

THE Dome will be marking the anniversary of the cocklers tragedy with a culturally diverse fund-raising benefit concert tonight, Friday (Feb 4), at 7.30pm. Joining Hearts will feature live music and entertainment and all proceeds will go to those who were affected by the tragedy. For details, call 01524-582803.

LANCASTER University is holding a study day entitled The First World War: A North West Perspective, tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 5). The programme includes lectures by four speakers on subjects such as Lancashire in the Trenches, The Border Regiment at Gallipoli and War Memorials in South Lakeland. For details, call 01524-593770.

AMNESTY International in Kendal is holding a public meeting with guest speaker Kongossi wa Mussanzi at the Shakespeare Centre, Highgate, Kendal, next Wednesday (Feb 9) at 7.30pm. Kongossi comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo and will speak of her first hand experience defending human rights in her country BANISH the stresses of life at yoga classes at Dent Meditation Centre on Tuesdays (10.30am-12pm) and Thursdays (6.30pm-8pm). For details, call 015396-21166.

CONCERTS

ENJOY a night of jazz music as Grange Jazz present saxophone quartet Brass Jaw at Victoria Hall, tonight, Friday (Feb 4), at 7.30pm. For details, call 015395-34188.

TOP UK blues-rock band The Hamsters will be performing an eclectic mix of Jimi Hendrix and ZZ Top tunes at Rheged, near Penrith, tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 5), at 8.30pm. For details, call 01768-860090.

OFF The Wall will be recreating the spectacular lights and sound of a Pink Floyd gig, at The Dome, Morecambe, tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 5), at 8pm. For details, call 01524-582803.

FAB Four tribute band the Mersey Beatles will be performing at The Lancaster Grand Theatre, tommorow, Saturday (Feb 5), at 7.30pm. For details, call 01524-64695.

EXHIBITIONS

BLACKWELL, The Arts and Crafts House is hosting an exhibition of the work of 11 talented jewellers. On display will be pieces ranging from rings, necklaces and brooches, in a variety of contrasting styles and materials. For details, call 015394-46139.

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art is hosting the first UK solo exhibition by Italian artist Carol Rama. The exhibition features over 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. 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.

THE Lowry 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.

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. For details of Changing Faces, call 01524-388550.

URBIS in Manchester is hosting a new exhibition looking at a 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 Club's First XV make the relatively short trip to Fylde near Lytham St Annes in what is their derby fixture in National League Division 3 North tomorrow (Saturday). Kirkby Lonsdale are hosts to Benedict's in the North Lancs and Cumbria League, while Upper Eden entertain Carlisle. In the Cumbria League, Windermere are at Cockermouth (all 2.15pm kick-off).

KENDAL Town FC are away to Ossett Albion in the UniBond League Division 1 tomorrow (Saturday) at 3pm.

Fell-running's Winter League fixture this Sunday is at Whitestone at Staveley-in-Cartmel (noon start).

THEATRE

THE spring season at the Dukes Theatre, Lancaster, opens, tonight, Friday (Feb 4) with Dennis Potter's Blue Remembered Hills. The play centres around 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.

EXPERIENCE the songs of screen legends Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jnr and Dean Martin, members of the infamous Rat Pack, at a show at Preston Guild Hall, tomorrow, Saturday (Feb 5), at 7.45pm. For details, call 01772-258858.

SEE the stars of tomorrow perform today, as an array of talented young performers make their bid for stardom at a concert entitled The Show Must Go On: The Next Generation, at Coronation Hall, Ulverston, tonight, Friday (Feb 4) at 7.30pm. For details, call 01229-587140.