A brand new first-of-its-kind floating obstacle course has opened up near Delamere Forest and it’s only 40 minutes away from Manchester.
Aqua Chimp is the latest instalment at watersports park Wild Shore Delamere in Northwich.
The huge new attraction, which is based at Delamere Lake Sailing and Holiday Park, is described as being “super unique” and is packed full of fun and challenging elements featuring obstacles, rope swings, climbing walls, ziplines and more.
It promises to offer visitors an “endless opportunity for fun”.
Wild Shore Delamere
Deemed a “world’s first” of its kind, Aqua Chimp is for adults and children (aged eight and above) of all abilities. It has different coloured runs/courses to match the participant’s level, but what makes the concept so unique is the lack of harnesses, meaning if you fall off, you will get wet.
There is also a minimum height restriction of 1.2m and you must be able to swim 25m.
If this sounds a little daunting though, don’t worry because instructors deliver a safety briefing before each session and offer full support/instruction throughout.
Speaking on the opening of Aqua Chimp, Wild Shore Delamere’s Tim Woodhead said: “It is the world’s first Aqua Chimp, it is based on a fixed course that is very similar at one of our parks in Edinburgh.”
“Aqua Chimp is extremely unique.”
“It is mega easy to socially distance on too, which is great during these strange COVID times.”
Wild Shore Delamere
A number of strict COVID-safe measures have been put in place and must be adhered to by all visitors.
These measures include pre-booking only (no walk-ins), a one-way system, on-site hand sanitising stations, outdoor changing cubicles, no on-site picnics, and after every use, the kit is washed in a special solution and left to soak for 15 minutes, before being hung outside to dry.
Aqua Chimp sessions cost £20 per person, last for a total of 50 minutes and must be booked online in advance.
All kit hire is included in the session price, so participants just need a swimming costume, a towel and a pair of closed-toe shoes that they don’t mind getting wet.
For bookings and more information, visit the Wild Shore Delamere website here.
What's On
Aitch is playing a huge hometown set at The Warehouse Project
Danny Jones
Aitch has booked another massive hometown slot as the Moston-born rapper will be playing none other than the home of clubbing here in Manchester: The Warehouse Project.
Joining the WHP25 programme, which is already stacked right up until New Year’s Eve, the 25-year-old is the latest rapper to take on the famous club venue, following the likes of Little Simz and Loyle Carner, who played the event series back in October.
Aitch‘s new album, 4 – which denotes the number of studio LPs he’s made to date and acts as a nod to the M4 postcode – was released on June 20 and has already proved popular with fans.
Having just played Parklife as well as a secret set at Glastonbury this year, he’s already performed most of his biggest slots for the year, but the ever-rising local rapper thought he’d given Manchester another big gig and one more chance to see him live in 2025.
As an increasingly popular main event act across the UK, a headline show at Warehouse Project is nothing short of a massive deal for any artist, let alone a Manc.
The date itself will see him see him performing songs from the new record, which is his second to hit the top 10, as well as a selection of multiple platinum-selling hits.
Sharing details of early access tickets on Instagram stories shortly after the announcement, the UK hip-hop and grime star reminded fans: “This is the only chance to see me shut this sh*t down this year!!!”
It’s actually his only major domestic show in full stop, so if you’re a die-hard fan of Harrison Armstrong and his music, you really don’t want to miss this one.
He’s not the only big name coming to Mayfield this season either.
WHP25 /// FISHER – TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Don’t miss out on what’s set to be an unmissable night – packed with infectious energy from beginning to end – as he takes over Depot Mayfield alongside a lineup coming very soon.
Featured Images — Jahnay Tennai (supplied)/Aitch (via TikTok)
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‘Dazzling’ Victorian silver sculpture goes on public display in Greater Manchester after fears it was lost
Emily Sergeant
A long-lost masterpiece of Victorian silverwork has been saved and is now on display to the public in Greater Manchester.
Anyone taking a trip over to the National Trust’s historic Dunham Massey property, on the border of Greater Manchester into Cheshire, this summer will get to see the ‘dazzling’ sculpture called Stags in Bradgate Park – which was commissioned by a former owner in a defiant gesture to the society that shunned him.
The dramatic sculpture of two rutting Red Deer stags, commissioned in 1855 by George Harry Grey, 7th Earl of Stamford, was said to be an ‘act of love and rebellion’.
It also serves as a symbol of ‘locking horns’ with the society that ostracised him over his marriage to a woman considered ‘beneath him’.
“This isn’t just silver – it’s a story,” says James Rothwell, who is the National Trust‘s curator for decorative arts.
“A story of a man who fell in love with a woman that society deemed unworthy. When the Earl married Catherine Cox, whose colourful past was said to have included performing in a circus, Victorian high society was scandalised. Even Queen Victoria shunned the couple at the opera and local gentry at the horse races in Cheshire turned their backs on them.”
Modelled by Alfred Brown and crafted by royal goldsmiths Hunt & Roskell, Stags in Bradgate Park is a meticulously-detailed depiction of nature, and was considered a ‘sensation’ in its day.
Showing the rutting deer positioned on a rocky outcrop with gnarled hollow oaks, it graced the pages of the Illustrated London News, was exhibited at the London International Exhibition of 1862, and at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867 – both of which were events that drew millions of visitors.
A ‘dazzling’ Victorian silver sculpture has gone on public display in Greater Manchester / Credit: Joe Wainwright | James Dobson (via Supplied)
The silver centrepiece was the celebrity art of its time, paraded through streets and admired by the public like no other.
Gradually over the years, some of the Earl of Stamford’s silver collection has been re-acquired for Dunham Massey, and this particular world-renowned sculpture, thought to be lost for decades and feared to have been melted down, has miraculously survived with its ‘dramatic’ central component being all that is left.
“The sculpture is not only a technical marvel, with its lifelike depiction of Bradgate Park’s rugged landscape and wildlife, but also a dramatic human story key to the history of Dunham Massey,” added Emma Campagnaro, who is the Property Curator at Dunham Massey.
Emily Sergeant -
12th August 2020 
