Celebrating sparks of ingenuity
Lightbulb Moments in the VG&M's newly reopened Tate Hall | The Reader's Christmas programme | Liverpool Irish Festival
The programme for this year’s Liverpool Irish Festival dropped into my inbox this week, which seemed fitting because on the same day I had pointed out the Wellington Rooms on Mount Pleasant to my daughter and tried to explain what it was like learning to play fiddle there as a young child in the 1980s.
Back then, somewhere between its purpose-built life as a dance hall and it’s deserted, half-existence today, it was the old Irish Centre - a place we went to every Sunday morning with my Dad while (as I remember it anyway) my Mum stayed at home to cook the roast dinner. After my lesson in one of the dressing rooms, I’d be shown back to the bar - a fug of pipe smoke and live music where we had to stand on our tiptoes to buy a 10p mix of sweets because we were so tiny (my violin was quarter size).
I’m not sure how long this carried on for but I did learn quite a few tunes, performed in a concert (during which I clearly remember an older kid looking at me either because I was so young or because I was horrifically out of tune) and played one of many, many crepe paper-wrapped angels in a nativity.
This year, as always, Liverpool Irish Festival mixes history with performance, reminding us of the city’s deep connection with the isle of Ireland. A Famine Trail vigil will lead into the annual Liverpool Irish Great Hunger memorial, featuring a commissioned song, The Ullaloo, performed by the Liverpool Irish Centre Choir. There’s also theatre, music, storytelling and four exhibitions showcasing Irish creativity. It opens next month, check out the full programme here.
In the meantime,, a reminder that Stored Honey’s subscription costs will be increasing on October 1 - but it won’t be going up for existing paid subscribers. So if you want to get it for the current cost of £4 per month (£40 for an annual subscription) then now’s the time - but please don’t do it through the iOS Substack app as Apple adds extra charges (explained here). As well as weekly posts like this one, paid members get a monthly guide to the best of what’s on in Liverpool, Manchester and across the North West, as well as new Meet the Artist features and curators’ picks of 5 things to see in their venue.
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It just takes one bright idea - here are hundreds
Some inventions seem so obvious once we’re used to them being around but it took a spark of ingenuity to come up with the idea. Goalposts without nets would be ridiculous - you’d spend half the time chasing after the ball off-pitch. But for a long time that is what happened, until Liverpool engineer John Alexander Brodie figured out a solution.
There are many stories like this in Victoria Museum & Gallery’s new long-running exhibition Lightbulb Moments, housed in Tate Hall, which until this week had been closed to the public since before lockdown. As the original “red brick” - the term came from its distinctive building material - the University of Liverpool’s venue is a fitting location for an exhibition about bright ideas.
It includes 150 wide-ranging objects from the University’s collection and the National Archives - everything from archaeological finds to puzzles. And many of them are connected in some way to Liverpool, which the exhibition argues is a place of “continuous reinvention”. They include the Geiger counter, used to measure particles, invented by German physicist Hans Geiger who used it in experiments while working as a professor at the University of Liverpool. And a penicillin mould sample entrusted to Liverpool bacteriologist Alan Watt Downie by Alexander Fleming.
There are more recent innovations too, including No One Cooks Alone, a recipe book written by refugees and asylum seekers in Greece to bring people together through the common goal of “sharing nutritious, tasty food with those who need it the most”. And a limited edition print by Liverpool artist Paul Curtis, commissioned as a gift to students who missed out on a graduation ceremony due to the pandemic.
Liverpool creatives, including actor and DJ Craig Charles and poet Roger McGough, are also featured. And posters of many of the city’s musicians - Atomic Kitten, Cilla Black, The Real Thing among them - are displayed on the walls of a teenage bedroom.
The brightly coloured and clearly worded information panels, along with lots of detail to get stuck into, show that Lightbulb Moments is aimed at visitors of all ages. It would benefit from more interactive opportunities for people to show their own sparks of innovation, but that may be planned into its activities programme. There is plenty to discover and be inspired by - perhaps it will provoke another invention that will seem totally obvious once someone has thought of it.
Lightbulb Moments is at Victoria Gallery & Museum, Liverpool, until autumn 2027.
See your work featured in Stored Honey
If you’re an artist, actor, theatre maker, curator, director or producer, I’d love to hear more about your work. You can submit details of an exhibition, performance or cultural event via this short form or send me an email to tostoredhoney@gmail.com. If you would like to take part in Stored Honey’s regular Meet the Artist feature, please answer the questions in this Q&A.
Latest arts news
🎻 Vitamin String Quartet, the classical crossover ensemble that appeared in seasons one and two of Bridgerton, have announced a UK tour. The Music of Billie Eilish, Bridgerton, and Beyond will showcase their innovative adaptations of popular music, blending the beauty of classical instruments with the vibrancy of modern hits. They will be at Manchester Bridgewater Hall on Monday, March 23, 2026.
💀 Halloweenville, at Partridge Lakes in Warrington, has added extra dates to its 2025 event. This year’s theme will take visitors “under water” to the haunting depths of the Gold Lake where they will encounter ghostly sea creatures and skeleton pirates. Aimed at all ages, it runs from Friday, October 3 to Sunday, November 2.
💑 Frantic Assembly is returning to the Liverpool Playhouse, this time with the new play Lost Atoms by Anna Jordan (The Unreturning, Yen, and TV’s Succession and One Day). Described as “a wild ride through a life-changing relationship”, it shows Jess and Robbie recalling their time together. But are their stories the same? And can their memories be trusted? It runs from Tuesday, October 14 to Saturday, October 18.
In case you missed it
Now booking
A family-friendly festive trail through Liverpool’s Calderstones Park is just one of the events in The Reader’s newly announced Christmas programme. It’s based on the picture book Mr Santa by Manchester-based author Jarvis. Other events include a Cosy Twilight Quartet, a Bronte Christmas Afternoon, Winter Spoken Word and Music, and Festive Shopping in the Reader Bookshop. Check out the full list here.
Opening this month
French artist Camille Walala is transforming Lowry’s the Promenade Gallery with a bold, large-scale new commission to mark the Salford' art centre’s 25th anniversary. Her eye-catching, colour-rich geometric designs have appeared in cities around the world, and her new work Square Eyes is inspired by the unique views of Media City across the water from Lowry.
Thank you for reading the 144th edition of Stored Honey. If you enjoyed what you read then please hit the ❤️ button as it helps to get it shown more widely.
I’m off now to book tickets to Legally Blonde the Musical. In the meantime, you can submit details of an exhibition, performance or cultural event via this short form or send me an email to tostoredhoney@gmail.com. If you would like to take part in Stored Honey’s regular Meet the Artist feature, answer the questions in this Q&A form.
Have a great week,
Laura
P.S. Encounter Festival returns to Preston for tenth year showcasing local talent
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