MIDWEEK COLUMN WEDNESDAY 8 OCTOBER 2025
- STEVE COOKE AATA
- Oct 8
- 9 min read
previews, reviews, interviews, and recommendations with Steve Cooke
MIDWEEK COLUMN WEDNESDAY 8 OCTOBER 2025
Cartwheel Arts Art & Soul exhibition at Richard Street Studios
Preview by Steve Cooke
Bringing some art and soul to Rochdale! An inspiring exhibition by the Art & Soul group launches at Richard Street Studios.
Join Cartwheel Arts at its launch of the Art & Soul exhibition on Wednesday 8th October, between 12 and 5pm – drop in for however long you’d like, light refreshments will be available. The exhibition takes place at Rochdale’s Richard Street Studios, located on Richard Street, and runs until Wednesday, 15th October.
The exhibition is a celebration of a 10-week National Lottery Awards For All funded project led by artists Debbie Goldsmith and Alex Blakey, together with Cartwheel Arts’ Emotional Wellbeing Practitioner Gemma Wrigley.
Cartwheel Arts’ Art & Soul is a pioneering art project which has run for over 20 years. Art & Soul supports the wellbeing of people who have experienced challenges with their mental health. Art sessions take place each week at Heywood Magic Markets. People can refer themselves to Art & Soul or be referred by a professional. If you’re interested in taking part, email Molly Stedman at molly@cartwheelarts.org.uk
The project is a lifeline for people dealing with mental ill-health. One member said:
“I don’t know how I would have survived without this group for the past few weeks.”
The group was inspired by a visit in May to the David Hockney Pieced Together exhibition at Bradford’s National Science and Media Museum as part of Bradford’s City of Culture. The Art & Soul Group were particularly drawn to David Hockney’s acclaimed photographic collages, which David Hockney terms ‘Joiners’. Artists developed solo and group pieces inspired by the works. The exhibition pieces use a variety of different media including photography, wood, acrylic to explore a variety of topics including the natural world, and how artists can make use of recycled materials.
The exhibition features free art activities for visitors to enjoy, along with light refreshments.
Molly Stedman, Arts for Wellbeing Programme Coordinator, at Cartwheel Arts says:
“We’re delighted to share art from the artists of the Art & Soul group with Rochdale. I hope audiences in Rochdale will come along to the exhibition to discover more about how these artists use creativity to support their mental health, and how important spaces like Art & Soul are for healing, sharing and support. These artists face many challenges to accessing art institutions and opportunities, so it’s important that Richard St Studios is celebrating their fantastic work. Projects like Art & Soul are created through collaboration; we’ve been hosted by the brilliant Heywood Magic Markets every week.”
“Thank you to funding from the National Lottery Awards For All and to the people up and down the country who play the Lottery each week. Buying a lottery ticket really makes a difference to community projects like Art & Soul.”
12pm – 5pm Wednesday 8th October and 12pm-5pm Wednesday 15th October
Richard Street Studios, 44 Richard Street, Rochdale, OL11 1DU.
ROCHDALE CREATES YOUTH ARTS FESTIVAL
Preview by Steve Cooke
To celebrate the successes of Rochdale’s year of culture and to look ahead to a diverse creative future, the Rochdale Creates team are handing over the town to the next generation of cultural makers, artists and audiences, with Rochdale Creates’ Youth Arts Festival that will take place next year on 27 – 29 March 2026.
Elements of The Youth Arts Festival will be shaped by a group of young people from across the borough, managed by Rochdale Youth Services, and our Local Education Partnership ‘Create Rochdale’.
Small Arts Commissions funding Rochdale Creates, supported by Rochdale Borough Council and Rochdale Development Agency, has secured UK Shared Prosperity Funding from GMCA, to fund a number of small arts commissions to feed into the Youth Arts Festival programme. They want to work with artists and arts organisations with strong connection to Rochdale, to co-create engaging new work or programme diverse events with our young people in Rochdale, that represents the interests of our local young people and are engaging for family audiences.
The aim of the funding is to create a number of events and participatory programmes, increase footfall into our town centre, support local organisations and build longer standing relationships with local communities and artists.
In order to ensure that programmes respond to local need and that selected organisations / artists provide a complimentary offer, successful applicants will be required to engage with the young people steering group as a condition of funding.
Application Deadline: 14 October 2025
Download application form at https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQcpwpQFGjtSmrMxSFMcjZTzklX
Applications must be sent to admin@rochdalecreates.co.uk by 10am, Wednesday, 14 October 2026.
If you have any queries about the application form or application process, please contact The RDA’s Culture and Placemaking team at admin@rochdalecreates.co.uk
ECHOES 2025 at Ebor
Preview by Steve Cooke
ECHOES is an exhibition curated by Monica Pirani featuring the work of Kara Lyons, Paul Heywood, Maryanne Royle, Anne Grebby, and Monica Pirani
After the success of ÌNSITO (2024) in Schio, which planted the roots of a new international dialogue between communities, artists, and cultural institutions, the project now unfolds into its second chapter: ECHOES (2025). Building on the foundations of ÌNSITO, ECHOES amplifies its resonance, carrying forward the ideas, collaborations, and artistic practices that emerged from the first edition.
Meet the artists
Marta Martino conceives her works as moments of contemplative suspension, where the hyper-controlled aesthetic is radically disrupted during the performative act, engaging the audience in a constant re-evaluation of a perceived reality.
Anne Grebby focuses on research, applying a diverse range of methodologies with creative outcomes which invite us to review our physical and perceptual boundaries in order to redefine their limits. Each work represents a step further on this productive and conceptual journey and also asks us to reflect upon our own existence from both a personal and collective perspective.
Kara Lyons explores deep themes such as resilience and adaptability. Amorphous forms suggest vital energy, change, and sensuality, aspects of the human condition that acknowledge flow as a central element in our understanding.
Maryanne Royle explores the narrative potential of space and situation via spatial cues, objects, literature, video, lighting design, and audience-performer relationships. She often draws on folklore, modern literature, social and philosophical theory, and her background in performance to build immersive, participatory environments. (from...cargocollective.com)
Paul Haywood is a visual artist whose practice spans painting, drawing, and photography, with a focus on abstraction, colour, and landscape memory. He often explores the relationship between geometry and perception, creating works that investigate depth, tone, and compositional balance.
More about the project
The trajectory from roots to resonance embodies the spirit of this visionary program: to create cultural connections that are deeply grounded in local histories and identities, while also expanding outward, reverberating across borders and disciplines. If ÌNSITO represented the seed, the act of planting, and the establishment of a shared ground, ECHOES represents its continuation — the traces, reflections, and reverberations that arise when artistic gestures meet new contexts and audiences.
Conceived as an evolving dialogue rather than a single event, the program highlights the transformative power of contemporary art to foster exchange, reframe heritage, and generate new forms of collective imagination. With ECHOES, the initiative expands its reach, inviting diverse voices to contribute to a living network of resonance, one that grows from its origins yet continuously reinvents itself.
Echoes are not just sounds that return, but traces of memory, gestures, and cultural connections, shaped by a shifting and hybrid new era — that reverberate across time and space into new forms of understanding.
At Gallery FRANK, within the post-industrial landscape of Littleborough, the exhibition becomes both a mirror and a resonant chamber, amplifying the dialogue between individual practices and collective experience. It unfolds as an encounter between perception, memory, and transformation, shaped by five artists whose practices interact with one another across material, place, and sensibility. Here, the echo emerges as a metaphor for connection, resonance, and transformation.
ECHOES is part of a visionary international cultural exchange launched in 2024 with ÌNSITO in Schio (Italy), connecting Greater Manchester and Schio through their shared industrial heritage, vibrant communities, and the transformative power of contemporary art.
The exhibition will be available to view until 12 October
Email info@eborstudio.co.uk to arrange a time to visit that suits you.
Ebor Studio, William Street, Littleborough, OL15 8JP
Block the Block by Nathaniel McBride comes to Town
Preview by Steve Cooke
Block the Block by Nathaniel McBride is a play about housing inequality in Greater Manchester; a new documentary play being shared for free to Rochdale audiences.
Performed script in hand by professional actors. It tells the story of the housing campaigners in Hulme fighting for their community.
It is the first of three plays being written by Nathaniel McBride about housing inequality in Greater Manchester.
The next play will be about the campaigns to save the College Bank and Lower Falinge estates in Rochdale.
Start: 7pm (90 minutes long) followed by a bite to eat and a chance to meet the team creating the next play about College Bank and Lower Falinge.
Register for free tickets at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/block-the-block-by-nathaniel-mcbride-tickets-1718348870729?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl
Thursday, October 9 · 7 - 9:30pm
Rochdale Unitarian Church, Clover Street Rochdale OL12 6TP
RECOMMENDED
Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Toad Lane Concerts - Rochdale's Weekly Music at Lunchtime
This week we have - Telemann Baroque Ensemble [Alastair Roberts flute, Elaine da Costa & Sarah Snape violins, Penelope Bisby viola, Roger Bisby cello & Peter Collier harpsichord]
The concert series has been held at St Mary’s since 2001 and was granted the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2020.
Running every Wednesday, Music at Lunchtime is a weekly live classical music concert series that has been going since the 1960s. The sessions were initially run at the old Rochdale Art Gallery by the local authority, but since May 2001 have been run by volunteer-enthusiasts and artistic director, Dr Joe Dawson.
£6
Phone: Dr Joe Dawson 01706 648872
Doors open 12noon, concert starts 12.30pm - 1.30pm
St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane/St Mary's Gate, Rochdale OL16 1DZ
Thursday, 9 October
Visit Fireground Museum
Join us at Fireground this week to discover Greater Manchester's firefighting story.
Fire museum attractions are on show inside the museum including our collection of historic firefighting artefacts from the 18th century to present day, plus home-made refreshments in the new Fireground Café, and souvenirs from our fantastic new gift shop! We have a wide choice ranging from toddler to collector.
Under 4s Free, Children (aged 4-15) £6, Seniors £6, Students £6, Adults £8, Family (4 people) £24.
Phone: Fireground 01706 341219
Open Thursday, Friday & Saturday from 10am - 4pm
Fireground, Maclure Road, Rochdale OL11 1DN
Thursday, 9 October 2025
Bookstart Baby and Bear Club - Smallbridge Library
Every other Thursday during term time. Join Amy and Bookstart Bear for a fun session, especially for babies and toddlers up to pre-school age and their parents or carers.
When you and your child come along to their first session of Bookstart Baby and Bear Club, they will receive their very own Bookstart passport for you to get stamped each time they come along to a session or visit the library. For every 6 stamps they get in their passport, they'll receive a certificate. If you or your child are not library members already, you can join when you come along to Bookstart Bear Club.
Free
Booking required: please book a ticket for every baby and/or child who is to attend. Accompanying adults will not need a ticket. See available sessions and book tickets through Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/rochdale-borough-libraries-10695506106
1.30pm - 2.15pm
Location: Smallbridge Library, Stevenson Square, Rochdale OL12 9SA
Thursday, 9 October 2025
Bilingual story time - Rochdale Central Library
Alternate Thursdays. Come and listen to stories read in English and other languages such as Urdu, Arabic, French and Slovakian. Join in with crafts related to the story afterwards.
For families with children aged 5 and under.
Free
12pm - 1.30pm
Rochdale Central Library, Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale OL16 1XU
Friday, 10 October 2025
Reading Group - Heywood Library
Discover new authors and discuss books with other readers at this friendly and relaxed reading group.
Free
Booking required: places are limited, please book by emailing heywood.library@rochdale.gov.uk
Refreshments will be provided.
10am - 11am
Heywood Library, LCpl Stephen Shaw MC Way, Heywood OL10 1LW
Saturday, 11 October 2025
Reading Group - Littleborough Library
Our group meets once a month on the second Saturday to discuss various authors, genres and themes. If you want to join us, there is no need to book, just turn up.
Free
10.30am - 11.30am
Littleborough Library, Hare Hill Park, Littleborough OL15 9HE
Saturday, 11 October 2025
Brereton Memorial Organ Recital 2025
Join us for an inspiring afternoon of organ music as Darius Battiwalla performs the annual Brereton Memorial Organ Recital for the Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside Organists’ Association.
The programme will feature a rich and varied selection.
Guilmant’s Sonata No. 1 in D minor
Bach’s Pastorale
Fela Sowande’s Kyrie
Mendelssohn’s Prelude and Fugue in E minor
Bizet’s rousing Farandole from L’Arlésienne
From £8 concession and £10 normal tickets
Booking required: book your tickets through Your Trust – please book by 4pm on Friday, 10 October 2025 at https://www.yourtrustrochdale.co.uk/whats-on/events/brereton-memorial-organ-recital-2025/
Email: hello@rochdaletownhall.co.uk
Phone: 01706 924 797 10am-4pm, Monday-Saturday
3pm - 4.15pm
Rochdale Town Hall, The Esplanade, Rochdale OL16 1AZ
celebrating creative arts and artists - an oasis of positivity supporting individual and community wellbeing.
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