A new festival has been arranged in memory of the late Caroline Flack, to celebrate her life and raise awareness for mental health issues.
Flackstock has been put together by a committee of Caroline’s loved ones, including her mother Christine and sister Jody, to raise money for four different charities.
The festival will be headlined with performances from Natalie Imbruglia, who recently won TheMasked Singer, Louise Redknapp, and Fleur East.
Bolton’s finest actor and comedian Paddy McGuinness will be among the celebrities making appearances.
Other famous faces appearing include Professor Green, Dermot O’Leary, Keith Lemon and Joel Dommett.
Paddy McGuinness will make an appearance at Flackstock.
Flackstock is set to take over the grounds of stately home Englefield House this July as part of summer concert series Heritage Live.
Natalie Pinkman, Dawn O’Porter, Anna Blue, Sarah Tyekiff, Leigh and Jill Francis have also been involved in dreaming up the intimate event.
Sponsored by McDonald’s, Flackstock will raise vital funds for Choose Love, Mind, Samaritans and Charlie Waller Trust.
Caroline’s mother Christine says of Flackstock: “My Caroline was never more herself or happier than at a music festival with her sister and her friends.
Flackstock will take place this summer.
“Flackstock is the wonderful idea of those who knew her best and the perfect way to remember her singing, dancing and most of all laughing.
“Not only is Flackstock the most positive way to honour Carrie, but charities that she loved will benefit from the proceeds.
“A big thank you to everyone involved for all their hard work – to Natalie for the mad idea, Giles Cooper Entertainment and Englefield House who saved the day, Live Nation and to all the brilliant sponsors.
“My family are so proud that so many people who knew Carrie loved her so very much.”
Ian O’Reilly, head of community and events fundraising at Mind, said: “Every donation that Mind receives through Flackstock will allow us to be there for even more people when they need us.
“This includes through services like the Mind Infoline, legal line and our online peer support community for adults, Side by Side. The money will also enable us to continue to campaign to improve services and provide information and support.
“We are honoured to be involved and we can’t wait for the festival to get started.”
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.
Daisy Jackson -
4th May 2022 
