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Home > Archives for Review

Archives for Review

Shamus Dust review by Contrary Life

Book review: Shamus Dust

Read our review of Janet Roger’s Shamus Dust, a hard-boiled detective story set in a Wintry 1940s London…

Second Place Rosette, Poems about Britain, Emma Press

Book Review: Second Place Rosette, Poems about Britain

Second Place Rosette: Poems about Britain by the Emma Press is a collection of poems about the quirky customs and rituals we Brits take part in throughout the year…

Illyria Theatre - Pirates of Penzance - Storrs Hall Hotel, Windermere - Contrary Life

An open air performance of The Pirates of Penzance

Illyria’s 2018 outdoor theatre season is under way, so we headed to Storrs Hall Hotel in Windermere for a performance of The Pirates of Penzance…

Minack Theatre - credit Steve Farrier

Book Review: Twenty Theatres to See Before You Die

We’ve always included a lot of small and unusual theatre productions on Contrary Life, and so on hearing that someone had written a book about the weird and wonderful collection of theatres around Britain, we were eager for a read…

Puppet Fiction - Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016

Looking for some quirky last minute Edinburgh Fringe Festival ideas?

Last week Contrary Life popped to see some Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows. We bring you our recommendations for comedy, puppetry, and circus…

Another Fine Fest - Pie Fight

Foam pie fight at festival is a record breaker

Contrary Life headed along to Another Fine Fest in Ulverston to watch a World Record Pie Fight and enjoy quirky street performances…

All England Stone Skimming Championships 2016 - Contrary Life

Taking aim at the All England Stone Skimming Championships

The All England Stone Skimming Championships took place in the picturesque location of Fell Foot Park, along the shore of Windermere Lake, in Cumbria…

Picnic Cinema - Withnail & I - Contrary Life

Contrary Life takes a trip to Uncle Monty’s

Picnic Cinema were showing cult film, Withnail & I, at Sleddale Hall. In the mood for a quirky camping trip, Contrary Life went along to chill out in the Cumbrian countryside…

Wray Scarecrow Festival 2014 - Sacked Scarecrow

Sherlock and Florence Nightingale among the heroes at Wray Scarecrow Festival

The Wray Scarecrow Festival is a popular annual event and Contrary Life decided to make a visit to the quirky village festival…

New Manchester Walks - Hidden Gems - Contrary Life

Taking a walk to find Manchester’s Hidden Gems

Contrary Life decided to take a ‘Hidden Gems’ guided walk in Manchester as part of the Manchester Histories Festival…

Indietracks 2013

Toot toot – next stop Indietracks!

Indietracks is a small indie-pop festival in Derbyshire that is a little bit different to your usual music festival experience…

Skipton Sheep Day - Contrary Life

Some woolly behaviour in the sheep town

The weather couldn’t have been better for this year’s Skipton Sheep Day. The Skipton Sheep Day is an annual celebration of the town’s namesake (Skipton means sheep town)…

Royal Armouries Museum Leeds

Contrary Life goes behind enemy lines at the Royal Armouries Museum

The Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds is open daily with free admission. Contrary Life crept behind enemy lines to find out more about WWII spies…

David Bowie - White Cloth Gallery, Leeds - The Duffy Collection

Contrary Life gets a bit rock ‘n’ roll for Bowie exhibition launch

The White Cloth Gallery in Leeds is running an exhibition of Bowie photographs taken from the Duffy archive covering a period of 10 years in Bowie’s career…

Museum of Lakeland Life & Industry - ® Lakeland Arts Trust

You think you know the Lakes, but do you know about the Lakeland’s industrial past?

Alongside the river in Kendal’s Abbot Hall is the compact yet perfectly formed Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry…

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Curiosity of the Week

Normanton Church, a waterside wonder
Normanton Church by Karen Cann

Welcome to a new year, and a new Curiosity of the Week! Our first curiosity of 2021 is a sunken church. It’s also one of the UK’s finest hidden gem tourist attractions…

Top Story

Drama from a toilet cubicle
Overflow, Bush Theatre steaming show

This month, UK audiences can enjoy a streamed performance of Overflow, a heart-wrenching show played out in a club toilet…

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