WEEKEND COLUMN SATURDAY 31 JANUARY 2026
- STEVE COOKE AATA
- 3 hours ago
- 7 min read
previews, reviews, interviews, and recommendations with Steve Cooke
WEEKEND COLUMN SATURDAY 31 JANUARY 2026
Poetry Spotlight: The first poem of 2026 is Conkers by Leneta Hey
Previews: Pulling Threads at the Castleton Literary and Scientific Society, Free Creative Workshop with Northern Rascals, UTOPIA at Aviva Studios plus The circus is coming to town.
Poetry Spotlight
The first poem of 2026 is Conkers by Leneta Hey
I am 23 years old, have just graduated from the University of Manchester with a 1st in English Literature and won the Alun Lewis Prize for poetry in my year. I grew up in Rochdale (Shawclough, Healey) and currently work part time at Pionero Lounge as a waitress. I am also a journalist for one of my professors at university for a new newspaper called Baby Wolf, where I often write about growing up in Rochdale and, more generally, class issues. I'm taking a year off after graduating to focus on writing poetry, before I do my masters, which will (fingers crossed) guide me towards releasing a poetry book someday!
Conkers
They hang in Gracie’s Fields
shining rough like
rained cobbles or the stuff
smudged on window-shop glass.
I wait for the fall.
Each one has its own way of
spinnin’ and bobbin
to the ground,
rolling through a narrow ginnel.
I pick one up,
see something in it-
wrought-iron skin and scuffed leather,
polished over
like a clog.
This poem was my first poem in my 10 week creative writing class at university. We had to pick things out from a small bag and try to write a poem about it, linking it to our hometown. I picked out a conker, which seemed very fitting, as I used to collect them in the field near my house in Shawclough.
We had to add little references, puns, and little dialects that showed where we were from. 'Gracie's Field' is no doubt a reference to the singer Gracie Fields.
There is a lot off referencing to the working-class grit that has made Rochdale what it is. I had flicked through a rochdale history book that showed vintage pictures of cotton weavers, shopkeepers and clog- makers in Rochdale. I wanted to pay homage to these people. 'Spinnin' and bobbin, 'window-shop glass', 'polished over like a clog'.
Pulling Threads at the Castleton Literary and Scientific Society, Utopia at Aviva Studios
Preview by Steve Cooke
Our friends at Pulling Threads will be performing their poetry for our friends The Castleton Literary and Scientific Society.
The Society supported Pulling Threads from their very first year of performing, over more than a decade.
They have spent four years in the trenches as Pulling Threads commemorated the centenary of WWI, then suffered covid lockdown , which stopped them performing but not writing.
This selection, Best of the Best sees them take along their published works of the last decade plus introducing new members and new works in a mix of everything poetic from their performance years.
Friday 13 February at 7:00pm
Castleton Community Centre, Manchester Road, Castleton, Rochdale
The Society was founded in 1894 as the Castleton Wesleyan Mutual Improvement Society. Meetings were held in the church schoolroom with a view to improving adult education, and by 1897 the Society had become the Castleton Literary and Scientific Society reflecting its widening appeal.
The Society moved to the Carnegie Library after its opening in 1906 providing lectures and discussion during the winter months. Meetings have continued every year except for a short period during World War 2.
Following closure of the Library in 2007, meetings are now held in the Castleton Community Centre on Friday evenings at 7.00 pm from October to March, together with a Christmas lunch and lunch at the end of the lecture season.
Free Creative Workshop with Northern Rascals
Preview by Steve Cooke
Dance-theatre company, Northern Rascals are running a free creative workshop inspired by folk stories and the legend of the Cragg Vale Coiners.
Over 1.5 hours, you’ll take part in:
A light, optional movement warm-up to settle into the space
Group discussions about what “folk stories” mean to us
Creative writing tasks exploring personal, family and community tales
Space to reflect on local myths and legends
The chance to invent new folk stories - what might people say about us in 200 years’ time?
This is an intergenerational group, welcoming people of all backgrounds, ages and experiences. No creative experience is needed. All are welcome.
Free / Pay What You Want
Richard Street Studios, 44 Richard St, Rochdale OL11 1DU on Monday 2 February (5pm - 6.30pm).
The Cragg Vale Coiners, sometimes the Yorkshire Coiners, were a band of counterfeiters in England, based in Cragg Vale, near Hebden Bridge, West Riding of Yorkshire. They produced debased gold coins in the late 18th century to supplement small incomes from weaving.
Led by "King" David Hartley, the Coiners obtained real coins from publicans, sometimes on the promise that they could "grow" the investment by smelting the original metals with base ores. They "clipped" the edges of genuine coins, leaving them only very slightly smaller, and collected the shavings. They then melted down the shavings to produce metal for counterfeits. Designs were punched into the blank "coins" with a hammer and a "coining kit". The coiners then had their accomplices place the fakes into circulation. Most of the counterfeit coins had French, Spanish or Portuguese designs.
UTOPIA at Aviva Studios
Preview by Steve Cooke
Glaswegian artist Trackie McLeod and The Young Curators invite you to UTOPIA – flipping the expectations of a traditional working men’s pub on its head and throwing its doors open to Manchester with a series of FREE events featuring Bailey J Mills, Dave Haslam, Rainy Miller, mamba.exe and many more.
Playfully exploring nostalgia, class, identity, gentrification and the changing landscapes of Glasgow and Manchester, this free installation raises a glass to the places that shaped us.
Created by artist Trackie McLeod with Factory International’s Young Curators, UTOPIA revives the warmth of the working men’s clubs McLeod grew up in in Glasgow – by building a working pub inside Aviva Studios.
An art installation that happens to be a pub - with real pints, music, performances and more
Playfully exploring nostalgia, class, identity, gentrification and the changing landscapes of Glasgow and Manchester, this installation raises a glass to the places that shaped us.
Created by artist Trackie McLeod with Factory International’s Young Curators, UTOPIA revives the warmth of the working men’s clubs McLeod grew up in in Glasgow – by building a working pub inside Factory International’s Warehouse space.
By day, UTOPIA is open as a pub, exhibition and workshop space – complete with McLeod working shifts behind the bar. Pull up a stool for talks and put the world to rights with mates. Explore new prints, sculpture, video and found-object works from Trackie that draw on his lived experience, tucked between salvaged chairs and rescued pub décor – a loving nod to what’s vanishing from our cities.
Come sundown, the pub transforms into an intimate venue for live music, performances and late-night gatherings. Created as an inclusive, safe, multi-purpose space for everyone, UTOPIA flips the expectations of a traditional working men’s pub on its head. Throwing its doors open to Manchester’s creative scene, it celebrates grassroots culture, giving local talent a platform to meet, create and flourish.
Warm and buzzing with creativity, UTOPIA is all about bringing people together when so many of the community spaces we rely on are disappearing or moving online.
Everyone’s welcome – just make sure you get in before last orders.
Trackie McLeod is a Scottish artist based in Glasgow. Trackie uses sculpture, textiles, video and print to explore his lived experience. He is interested in ideas of masculinity and queerness and their intersection with class, politics and popular culture. His visual language is innately Scottish, describing it as “one part tongue-in-cheek, an ounce of sarcasm and a pint of Tennent’s lager”.
The Young Curators are six young creatives based in Manchester who are working with leading industry professionals and artists to explore curation. Their work explores how Factory International can encourage younger audiences. After months of research, they’ve chosen to work with Trackie and create UTOPIA together – programming the evening performances and events.
Free – no booking required.
Thursday 19 – Saturday 21 February 2026
North Warehouse, Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester, M3 4JQ
The circus is coming to town
Preview by Steve Cooke
A Circus Spectacular featuring international circus acts plus the promise of amazing magic and lots of laughs is coming to Middelton Arena.
T
op-class artistes will ‘not only bring skill and suspense during their acts, but they will also all be participating in the production numbers and comedy aspects of the show to make one truly magical experience’.
An opportunity enjoy a live event that should have everyone laughing and cheering along with a fantastic circus style variety show.
From £18.00
Sunday 15 February 2026 at14:00
Middleton Arena, Lance Corporal Joel Halliwell VC Way, Middleton, Greater Manchester, M24 1AG
Accessibility
Accessible viewing platform / area
Wheel chair / pram accessible
RECOMMENDED
Monday, 2 February 2026
Wardle Library Reading Group
1st Monday of every month. Discover new authors and discuss new books with other readers at our free, friendly and informal monthly meetings. Everyone's welcome.
For adults and teenagers.
No need to book, you can just turn up.
Free
6pm - 7pm
Wardle Library, 448 Birch Road, Wardle, Rochdale OL12 9LH
Wednesday, 4 February 2026
Heywood Scribblers - Heywood Library
First Wednesday of every month. Free, friendly creative writing sessions. Poetry and story-writing workshops. All abilities welcome, whether you're new to writing or a seasoned writer.
For adults, families and teenagers.
No need to book, you can just drop in.
Free
1.15pm - 3.15pm
Heywood Library, LCpl Stephen Shaw MC Way, Heywood OL10 1LW
Wednesday, 4 February 2026
Toad Lane Concerts - Rochdale's Weekly Music at Lunchtime
This week we have - Imogen Garner mezzo soprano (RNCM) with John Gough piano (RNCM former Head of Accompaniment)
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
celebrating creative arts and artists - an oasis of positivity supporting individual and community wellbeing.
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