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LAST DAYS OF THE DARKE PLACE
23/9/05: Lancaster's popular indie venue, The Darke Place, closes this weekend. We're told -- we're trying to check thhis -- the land has been sold and the cafe will be bulldozed soon. The go-kart track and GB Antiques Centre and factory shop will remain.
The Darke Place has been a fantastic venue for live music and indie/ rock/ metal for a number of years and a terrific alternative to some of the homogenised night clubs elsewhere in Lancaster. It will be missed.
Saturday (24th) will be the final night -- and patrons plan to drink the bar dry...

LANCASTER MARKET'S 10 YEAR CELEBRATION
22/9/05: Lancaster Market and Marketgate Shopping Centre will be celebrating their 10th Anniversary on Saturday 1st October -- and have strangely decided to commemorate the event not with a celebration of the market or the town's past, but by sponsoring and hosting 'Festival Asia'.

Lancaster's old market after the terrible fire which destroyed its interior. Rather than re-building it the council of the time demoloshed the building and sold the land

The Council says 'Festival Asia' will combine many creative arts and Asian culture into a pulsating, colourful and spectacular event with artists and entertainers from across the UK. With Bhangra musicians, a belly dancer, rangoli sand artists, free lantern making workshop, face painting and much more, there is something for all the family.
This is all sounds great, but it seems an odd way to celebrate the building's history. Perhaps they'd rather not celebrate Lancaster's own market history however, since that would simply reinforce what the town lost when the original Victorian building was destroyed in a disastrous fire in the 1980s. Many locals still feel the current Market is a far cry from that wonderful building and ill-advised redevelopment and sale of the site effectively tore out an important part of the city's soul. As far as the council's concerned though, the old building is "firmly part of Lancaster's history."
Despite the current market's continuing financial woes -- a situation of the council's own making when it decided to ignore locals who said the two tier design would be a disaster when they were proposed -- the Council claims the rebuilt indoor market and marketgate shopping complex are as "popular as ever and offer a wide variety of choice to shoppers. "Inside the market there are retailers offering everything from hardware to haberdashery, curtains to computer games, locally produce meat, cheese, fruit and veg," claim the Council. "The list is endless." Unfortunately, it isn't, and is a far cry from the huge variety and number of stalls that made up the original market, long gone now.
Still, let's not be churlish: everyone is invited to come along on Saturday the 1st October to join in the fun, see the Mayor of Lancaster cutting the cake and enjoy a great day's shopping all under one roof.
Just don't say "Small, isn't it?" or "How do I find my way out" or "Why would anyone put fishmongers on the south side of a building when that's the hottest location in the summer"? Or, "How much is this place costing local taxpayers? You're joking!"

TORRISHOLME CEMETERY GETS 'HELPING HANDS'
21/9/05: Up to 100 volunteer members of the Lancaster Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will descend on Torrisholme Cemetery on Saturday, 24th September to give it a make over as their contribution to a national community service project called 'Helping Hands'.
The event in Torrisholme Cemetery has been organised in partnership with Lancaster City Council who are providing up to 10,000 daffodil bulbs, wood-chip and general supervision.
The helping hands will weed paths, spread new wood-chippings on the woodland paths, plant bulbs and carry out a litter pick.
The Lancaster group will be part of the first British 'Helping Hands' day of service with thousands of church members of all ages across the United Kingdom working to clean up public areas such as parks and cemeteries, civic buildings and open spaces.
Lancaster Mormon Bishop, Christopher Mount, said: 'Members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are committed to following the teachings and example of Jesus Christ in giving service to others. We want to give something back to our community that has been so kind to us in the past.'
A spokesperson for Lancaster City Council said: "We are pleased to accept the offer of support from members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Cemeteries Service is currently being reviewed by an Overview and Scrutiny Task Group and encouraging community interest, support and care for our cemeteries through, for example, friends groups, is an area which is being actively considered.'
Members of the Cemeteries Task Group have been invited to participate in this event.

SLAVE MEMORIAL UNVEILING
21/9/05: When Lancaster built the Millennium Bridge a few years back (known to some as the Lemon Bridge, 'cos five-year-olds can't say "Millennium") there were some funds left over. It was decided to build a slave memorial just outside the Maritime Museum on the quay. This is finally finished and on 10 October, at 5pm, there will be an unveiling and a small ceremony at the site.
Apparently need to ring and ask to be invited: call Euan Smith at the City Council on 01524 582802 for further information.
Further information:
• Acts of Achievement
• The British Association for American Studies

Actress Susan Hastie

Actress Claire Stanley

JAZZ FESTIVAL ATTRACTS SELL-OUT AUDIENCES
20/9/05: Four days of eclectic jazz music and dance attracted sell-out crowds of residents and visitors to Lancaster last weekend.
The seventh annual Lancaster Jazz Festival, organised by Lancaster City Council, kicked off on Thursday with the acclaimed trio Acoustic Triangle, who performed to a packed St John's Church. As well as launching the Jazz Festival this was the last of the Summer Lunchtime Concert series, also organised by Lancaster City Council.
The first night also saw Grutronic and Evan Parker perform at the Gregson Centre, and draw one of the best audiences in three years. Following this, was Deep Cabaret's Top Ten Sex Tips for a Jazzed Up Lovelife. This phenomenal ensemble was matched by an eloquent backdrop provided by film artist Jenny McCabe, projected behind the musicians.
After a hard-hitting first night, it was time for Lancaster's Grand Theatre to host the Jiving Lindyhoppers, the world's longest surviving professional Lindy Hop dance company. The audience was not disappointed. The group was educational, engaging and completely accessible.
The evening ended up at the Gregson centre, where the Band that Time Forgot played to a capacity crowd of late-night fusion revellers.
Saturday had the threat of rain that thankfully never arrived. Some strong performances met with appreciative audiences as 10 local ensembles played free open-air gigs in Sun Street and Market Square.
Saturday night at the Gregson saw New Orleans-born Abram Wilson take to the stage to proliferate jazz melody with the panache of an award-winner. Abram Wilson sold out, as did the following act, LAVA, whose exuberant Latino, Blues, Jazz Funk mix provided a seriously good time for all.
The final day saw a series of lunchtime performances at various venues as the Bobbin, John O'Gaunt, Gregson, Pizza Margherita, Keystones and Revolution all played host to varied ensembles.
Sunday evening was alight with a Boogie Double Bill of Betty's Blues and Snakebite Burnett. This one-off performance from the well-loved blues combo had the house at the Gregson crying out for more.
The culmination of the festival was entrusted to Off the Rails, who teamed up with the Giant Stepladders to perform sonic ping-pong with melodica, trumpets, piano and vocals punched by the strength of the Off the Rails clan.
Coun Ron Sands, Cabinet member for tourism, arts and leisure, said: "The Jazz Festival is a wonderful opportunity for jazz traditionalists and newcomers to the scene to experience such a wide variety of performances. The City Council, which organised the event, was delighted not only by the quality of the acts it attracted, but also by the high turnout, with at least three acts completely selling out. This comes at the end of what has been a busy season for the City Council's festivals team, highlights of which included the Heritage Festival, and the Punk Festival.
'The next big events on the horizon for the City Council is the Morecambe Comedy Weekend in October and the annual Fireworks Spectacular on Bonfire Night."

WATCH OUT - LITTLE BROTHER'S WATCHING YOU!
20/9/05: Children from St. Paul's School, Scotforth are taking part in a new Junior Warden Scheme which started on the 15th September. The scheme is run by Lancaster City Council's Street Warden Service and funded by the Lancaster District Community Safety Partnership.
The idea of the scheme is that the Street Wardens together with the Community Beat Manager and Police Community Support Officers for the Hala and Scotforth areas spend time in schools with young people educating them on how to make their own area cleaner, safer and greener.
This education involves the junior wardens getting involved in litter picks and a homework project where they will write about improving an area in their neighbourhood. The six-week scheme will end with a visit to Lancaster Fire Station. Further information about the scheme can be obtained from the Wardens Service by telephoning 01524 582860.
The junior warden scheme is part of the Community Action Zone initiative in the Palatine Park, Greaves and Hala areas of Lancaster. The city council, police, fire, probation and health services are targeting resources into the Community Action Zone area for a period of time, in a multi-pronged approach to reduce antisocial behaviour.
Chair of the Lancaster District Community Safety Partnership, Coun Eileen Blamire said: "It's great to see young people getting involved in a scheme like this. Starting children at an early age to appreciate their community and become involved in making it a better place can only be the right thing to do."

THE VOICE OF NIGERIAN POVERTY
19/5/05: A pioneering partnership between Lancaster University and a University in Nigeria has begun to record the voice of the rural poor in the Niger Delta.
This summer Lancaster University academics travelled to the University of Uyo, Nigeria, to train University staff, students and community volunteers how to carry out in depth interviews with people who are living in poverty.
It's the first time such detailed interviews have been conducted in native languages in Nigeria and researchers hope it will reveal a new layer of detailed information that has not previously been recorded.
The volunteers have now begun to collect the information, which will be recorded, transcribed and collated for analysis.
Dr Uwem Ite of Lancaster University's Geography Department has led a three-year partnership with the University of Uyo funded by the British Council. This latest project - funded by the British Academy - builds on that link.
He and Dr Lenny Baer, also of the Geography department, said the project was about giving people new skills as well as tapping into the views of people who are directly affected by poverty.
Dr Ite was born in Nigeria and has worked in British Universities since 1991. He said: "The project is going even better than we expected. When we arrived we knew people would be keen to participate as volunteer researchers but the level of interest and enthusiasm surprised us. This type of qualitative research is still relatively new to Nigerian social science and people were very keen to learn. There was such excitement on the faces in the room and the students were always there early."
Nigeria has a strong oral tradition but information about poverty has typically been gathered by quantitative rather than qualitative methods. It is also more often gathered and analysed on a national level rather than local.
Dr Ite said: "The Government and other organisations may be well meaning in terms of wanting to tackle poverty and encourage development but if you don't listen to the people, if you try to impose changes from the top down then you will not take them along with you."
Dr Baer, who played a lead role in the training of interviewers, said the project was already proving to be some of the most rewarding work he had taken part in.
He said: "This research isn't going to solve the problem of poverty in the Niger Delta but by teaching new methodology to people in Nigeria we are building institutional capacity. It is also important that we take the time to listen and let people talk. These are important oral testimonies."
Over the coming year these interviews will be recorded on tape, transcribed and written up into a report which will be passed on to the Nigerian Government, Non Governmental Organisations, villagers and other universities.
The research team also hopes to make the interview transcripts available on the Internet along with photographs and further information on the project.
The Higher Education Link Between Lancaster and the University of Uyo in Nigeria has set up partnerships between individuals and departments at both Universities including Geography and Engineering. Other work has included collaborative research; training and exchange visits for academics from both universities.

LEAP INTO ACTION TO RAISE MONEY FOR CHARITY!
19/9/05: The National Library for the Blind (NLB) are looking for adventurous volunteers from the Lancaster area to help with their latest fundraising appeal - sponsored parachute jumping!
The charity has teamed up with parachuting experts Skyline in an initiative which will help them to raise the money needed to add new Braille books to their stock. 
Interested daredevils will be able to take part in a special day of jumping dedicated to the National Library for the Blind on 1 October.  No previous parachuting experience is necessary, as full training will be given. And by raising enough in sponsorship money, jumpers can participate for free!
The National Library for the Blind is a registered charity providing a free postal library service to blind and partially sighted people worldwide.  With no regular government funding, the charity can only continue to work thanks to fundraising appeals and events - which is why it's so important that people leap into action to help!
Claire Briscoe from the National Library for the Blind said: "With less than 5% of all books published ever making it into a format that visually impaired people can read, it's vitally important that we continue to raise the funds needed to convert books into Braille.  Imagine not being able to read the latest best seller and how frustrating that would be.  By joining our appeal you can help us to continue helping visually impaired people enjoy the magic of reading - and have fun at the same time!" 
So if you're brave enough to leap out of an aeroplane for NLB and want to experience the thrill of skydiving, contact Christine Redmond now on 0161 355 2087 or via email at Christine.Redmond@nlbuk.org for your free information pack.

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