Mark Hayward

My first visit to the Quays Theatre, Salford, and first impressions are good! Welcoming and efficient staff made my arrival pleasant. The signage inside is well thought through, and the Quays Bar outside the auditorium is a great space for a pre theatre drink with wonderful views over Salford Quay itself.

I was less keen on the auditorium. The dark red, gloomily lit interior felt oppressive. The seats, though comfortable and with adequate leg room, are rather shop worn.

I was at the Quays Theatre to see "42 Balloons", a wonderful and 'uplifting' (geddit) new true story musical about a man (Larry), the girl who loved him (Carol) and his flight in 1982 over the skies of Los Angeles in a lawn chair lifted up by 42 weather balloons. Do see this show. Like Larry, it really flies !

Theatres have no automatic right to exist. Theirs is an ongoing battle for relevance, place, favour, success, critical and artistic renewal. That the Bristol Old Vic - the oldest continuously working theatre in the world - is winning its battle so successfully is due in no small part to its staging of works like "Choir Boys" which I saw this evening at its last performance.

"Choir Boys" was billed as a coming of age story about the sophomore year of five members of a choir in a preparatory school for black boys, but it was about so much more: tradition, fitting in, being left out, and the price and cost of our actions. Interspersed with exquisitely sung accapella spiritual songs, the stories, lives, and interactions of the five choir boys unfolded before my eyes in beautiful, moving, and emotionally engaging ways. The standard of acting and singing displayed was so high that I do not have enough superlatives in my vocabulary to do it justice. I will come to the Bristol Old Vic again, and I would journey anywhere to see this wonderful evening again

The Science and Industry Museum is everything a modern museum should be. Informative, interactive, and interesting for adults and children alike.

Not all of the Museum is open at present, but the story of what is being planned and done makes you want to come back and see it again when it is fully up and running

I visited the Faversham Antiques Market today, which is held on the first Sunday of the month. Lots of stalls with well presented stock. A better market than for some months (I go most months). If you visit, don't forget to go upstairs in the Guildhall in the Market Square as you will find more dealers there. Walk round Faversham, too. There are other antiques shops nearby well worth visiting. There are also plenty of places to get something to eat and drink if you want to interrupt your browsing.

I have visited Middleport Pottery 4 times in the past year with the intention of going to Emma Bailey Ceramics. I have never yet been able to do more than press my nose against the shop window. Whatever else Emma Bailey is doing, she doesn't appear to be opening her shop ! Her sign boards were outside today, but still the shop wasn't open. Most disappointing