Ian Skelly – drummer with acclaimed Hoylake band The Coral – played a “secret” gig at The Lake pub last Friday. Many thanks to Jessica Wilkie for the photo above.

The secret gig was announced on twitter during Friday with the venue only being mentioned (online at least) an hour or so before the start.

Ian Skelly was playing tracks from his first solo album Cut From A Star – more information is available on his website.

Did you manage to find out about the gig and did you go? What did you think? Have your say in the comments.

Wirral Open Studio Tour – Call for Professional Artists

Following the success of previous years, the Wirral Art community group announces a call for submission for the 2013 Wirral Open Studio Tour.

Practicing professional artists and craftspeople who have studios or can exhibit in their homes (although this is not an absolute requirement) within the geographical boundaries of the Wirral are invited to apply to participate in the event.

The tour will take place over the weekend of 15th and 16th June. There will be a small fee of £45 to cover publicity, website costs etc.

We invite artists wishing to participate to complete our online application on the website www.wirralart.com, where they can also view past events.

Deadline for submissions is 28th February 2013.

Part funding for a permanent arts and culture trail in Hoylake and Meols has been secured it has been announced.

The permanent arts trail will run between Meols station and Hoylake station and will incorporate the promenade where some of the art works can already be seen (such as the mosaic and murals in Parade Gardens, pictured above). The project, put together by Festival of Firsts founder John Gorman, has received a £6,000 grant from Wirral Council as part of the Liverpool 08 Legacy Fund.

Speaking to the Liverpool Daily Post John Gorman says: “This is a unique opportunity to enhance and promote Hoylake and Meols. Over the next few weeks, suitable sites for the features will be identified. For the trail to be effective, we need the support of the community.”

One possible installation on the trail could be the OMD telephone box at Meols – perhaps it should be better cared for than it was when I took that photo a few years ago? What would you like to see included on the trail?

The dates have been set for next year’s Festival of Firsts and all ideas are welcome – the more original the better.

The festival will take place 6^th – 14^th July 2013 and aims to showcase the artistic talent of the area and, with the help of the community, develop the festival into a major national event.

It is run by volunteers with steering groups responsible for different aspects (music, art, poetry, workshops) – and anyone is welcome to get involved! So if you have any great ideas or can help with anything from administration to event organisation, from backstage to front of house, get in touch and join the team.

If you would like to get involved as an artist or as a volunteer, please apply by via the website:www.festivalfoffirsts.co.uk, email info@festivaloffirsts.co.uk or call 07716 093670.

Hoylake-based photographer and artist Colin McPherson (website) has announced the launch of the A41 Project:

I am delighted to announce that the first exhibition of the ‘A41 Project’ will open at The Public in West Bromwich on Wednesday 27th February, 2013. The show will feature the work that I have made over the last year which seeks to use photographic images to define issues around inequality in our society. Consisting of 25 large-scale ‘social landscapes’, the work takes as its template one of England’s major trunk roads: theA41, which runs from London all the way to Merseyside, its route taking in urban and rural, historic and modern and rich and poor areas alike. The project, which is supported by Arts Council England and is being delivered in partnership with The Equality Trust, will also feature work made by participatory groups based along the road. Further exhibitions are planned for London, Milton Keynes and the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead. For up-to-date information, please visit the ‘A41 Project’ Facebook page. The exhibition runs until 6th May, 2013.

Another regular film night has started in Hoylake.

Hoylake Lawn Tennis Club (HLTC) are now hoping to hold regular movie nights for club members at their club house in Eddisbury Road. Over the winter months HLTC plan to show films every 4 to 6 weeks, featuring films from the foreign and arts genres. Find out more in their club website blog.

Meanwhile the larger Hoylake Community Cinema continues to attract audiences and this evening enjoys a sell-out as Hollywood director Alex Cox comes to Hoylake. Two classic Christmas films are scheduled for December and should prove  popular with viewers of all ages.

Hoylake-based artist Micheline Robinson has unveiled her latest piece – a street art installation on the side of Melrose Hall.

The 3D-effect painting was finished during a rare dry spell earlier this week and it’s hoped that it will create and inspire some interactivity with locals. As an example, this series of photos shows how people interact with some street art in Malaysia. If cakes are more your thing then you should also go and see the cupcake.

And for those of you who aren’t sure where Melrose Hall actually is, it’s on the right-hand side of Melrose Avenue, just behind the car park of The Ship Inn.

MOTHERS EXHIBITION – A SUPERB LAUNCH

The Festival of Firsts art program got off to a glittering start at the Holiday Inn, Hoylake with more than 70 attendees taking in the work of some star-studded names.

Feted artists, the Singh twins (pictured above) were among the audience as the Preview of the Mothers Exhibition launched – one of the many attractions at this year’s Wirral Festival of Firsts. The Exhibition is now on show at Holiday Inn, Hoylake until the 8th July. Admission is free.

Amrit and Rabindra Singh are British born twins of Indian origin, who have become world famous for depicting their home city of Liverpool and other scenes in the traditional Mughal miniature painting style but on a grand scale. Their work has featured in shows all over the world.

Harry Pye – who according to The Guardian is “changing the face of British Art” – originally commissioned 100 notable artists to create works representing their mothers, and the Festival has been able to bring 50 of these to Hoylake for the Festival, including works by Grayson Perry, Bob and Roberta Smith, Vic Reeves, Chantel Joffe, Adam Dant, Neil Innes, Lee Maelzer and Mat Humphrey.

See also: The Singh Twins and The Economist

Find out more about art at the Festival of Firsts.

The Festival of Firsts is a unique opportunity to watch and celebrate the arts on the Wirral with a host of events taking place – centering around a three day coming together of the artists, musicians, poets and playwrights in Hoylake on the 6th, 7th and 8th of July.

The organising team say: “The build-up to 2012’s incarnation of the Wirral Festival of Firsts is underway – and it will be bigger and better than the inaugural event in 2011.”

This year’s event is to feature works by Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry, and works by comedian Vic Reeves and cartoonist David Shrigley.

For more information about the event visit the official website.

I’ve previously mentioned a new book penned by local author and historian Jim O’Neil – Hoylake Then and Now. The publishers, The History Press, kindly sent me a copy to read and review here on HoylakeJunction.com.

The 95-page book, one of a series for various locations across the country, features then and now photographs of different areas of Hoylake. Starting at Kings Gap roundabout (which incidentally isn’t the start of Hoylake – that’s further up Meols Drive) the book takes you through Hoylake, presenting Then and Now images for comparison.

If you read my regular Friday Photo series, you’ll enjoy seeing the old photos and to be fair, there are a couple of photos in the book that I’ve also featured on the site.

Along with each pair of photographs Jim discusses the history behind the old image and also gives his view on what the particular area of Hoylake is like today. If you know the Hoylake of today well, then the current narrative will not tell you much that you don’t already know, but the historical narrative will offer you a few tidbits of facts that you’ll find interesting. I didn’t know for instance that football pools pioneer Vernon Sangster was buried in Hoylake cemetery.

As might be expected, the quality of some of the old images isn’t quite as sharp as you’d like, but I know from experience that you can’t expect too much from images that can be over 100 years old.

The book is an enjoyable, easy read. You can order a copy of Hoylake Then and Now directly from The History Press.