Features Sneak Peek: August 13, 2022 Issue

Neil McAllister visits Cheshire’s most recognisable tourist attraction, in the August 13, 2022 issue of “The People’s Friend”.

Known as the Lovell telescope, this structure, weighing over 3,200 tonnes was the brainchild of Manchester University academic Bernard Lovell, and could be turned and tilted with precision, thanks to the engineering skills of bridge engineer Charles Husband.

The original expectation was for a 10-year lifespan but this Cheshire landmark celebrates its 65th birthday this year. Within days of switching on, the dish was involved in the space race, tracking Russia’s Sputnik satellite as it beeped its way across the heavens. Join Neil as he visits this impressive landmark.

While we’re in Cheshire, we’ll also visit the new First Light Pavilion, named after Lovell’s initialising of the telescope. An exhibition there brings the Jodrell Bank story to life as audiences can see fascinating archive materials brought together for the first time.

This area is also home to a diverse menagerie of wildlife. While here we’ll wander the woodland and may just be lucky enough to spot anything from rabbits to foxes and simple avian life.

Arrive Alive

Photograph courtesy of Arrive Alive.

When her daughter, Ellie, became ill, Debbie Roscoe phoned NHS 111 for help. Due to a GP having previously dismissed her daughter’s illness as a simple virus, she was told to expect a wait of between two to four hours for an ambulance to arrive.

As she waited, Ellie’s condition was getting worse. Fearing she might have meningitis, Debbie put Ellie in her car and drove her to Birmingham’s Heartlands Hospital. In fact, Ellie had contracted a case of measles.

Debbie’s experience led to her founding Arrive Alive, a charity dedicated to funding vital life-saving vehicles and equipment for approved Community First Responders.

Find out more about the charity in the magazine.

Sketching For Trees

Photograph courtesy of Tim Griffiths.

Tim Griffiths is an urban sketcher. He sketches life as it is, on location, and as it happens. He and a group of fellow artists often meet for a “sketch crawl”, a group day out spent sketching from life.

During lockdown, Tim needed something to fill his free time and set himself the challenge of completing one urban sketch for each day of 2021. He uploaded a photo of that sketch to Instagram before midnight on the day it was created. Tim then later had the conundrum of what to do with his sketches.

He came up with an idea that would raise money for his favourite charity, Eden Reforestation Projects in Madagascar. So far, sales of his sketches have paid for the planting of 14,000 trees!

Sally Jenkins chats to Tim to find out more about his Sketching For Trees project.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Photograph by David Montieth Hodge.

For three weeks in August, the wonderfully irreverent spirit of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival permeates Scotland’s capital.

From household names in the world of entertainment to unknown artists hoping to build their careers, the festival – a whirl of theatre, comedy, dance, children’s shows and musicals – is a sheer explosion of creative energy.

Gilly Pickup is swept up in the magic of the festival as it celebrates its 75th anniversary.

Elsewhere in the August 13, 2022 issue, we have a collection of recipes that offer a little luxury! Plus we have a craft project to make a colourful storage cube.

We hope you enjoy it. Let us know what you think.