Veterans & Vintage Vehicles

Good Morning Cheshire! 👋 

Summer is here and this week delivers a brilliant spread. Armed Forces Day takes over Queens Park in Crewe, vintage cars and motorcycles roll into the National Waterways Museum and Richard Thompson plays an intimate open-air show at Gawsworth Hall. Add the brand new Bridgemere Food Festival, the Arley Garden Festival’s biggest year yet, Shakespeare under the stars, and a summer Saturday at Chester Racecourse, and this is a week that covers every corner of the county.

Let’s dive in!

Jump to:FriSatSunRest of Week

🎉 What’s On In Cheshire

🗓️ Fri · 26 June

🎵 Richard Thompson – Gawsworth Hall Open Air Theatre
Fri 26 Jun, 7:30pm, Gawsworth Hall, Church Lane, Gawsworth
One of Britain’s greatest ever guitarists and songwriters plays an intimate open-air show in front of a 15th-century Tudor hall. Bring a picnic, arrive from 2pm for the grounds.
👉 Details

🎸 Inspiral Carpets – Everywhere at Once Festival
Fri 26 Jun, 7pm, The Live Rooms, Chester
Part of the nationwide Everywhere at Once grassroots music festival, powered by the National Lottery – the Inspiral Carpets bring their Madchester classics to Chester’s best live venue, with support from Trampolene. This Girl, Dragging Me Down, Joe. A proper Friday night.
👉 Details

🎭 Helsby Players: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Fri 26 Jun-Sat 27 Jun, 7:00-8:30pm, Helsby, Frodsham area
A family treat from Helsby Players – Shakespeare’s most magical comedy with children in the cast, creative costumes and an unexpected dance. Come along a little early and enjoy the atmosphere before the show.
👉 Details

🎫 Charity Quiz Night
Fri 26 Jun, 7:30pm-10pm, The Corner Cauldron, 2 Swan Bank, Congleton
Themed quiz night in aid of Visyon – half-time old-school tray bakes and custard included, because every good quiz needs one. Raffle prizes on the night.
👉 Details

🌿 Northern Lights Wet Felting Workshop
Fri 26 Jun, 11am-3pm, The Craft Room, 56A High Street, Tarporley
An atmospheric workshop inspired by the flowing light and colour of the Aurora Borealis.
👉 Details

🗓️ Sat · 27 June

🚙 Vintage Vehicle Weekend – National Waterways Museum
Sat 27-Sun 28 Jun, National Waterways Museum, South Pier Road, Ellesmere Port
Vintage cars and motorcycles descend on the spectacular waterside setting of the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port – the largest floating collection of canal boats in the world as your backdrop.
👉 Details

🍔 Bridgemere Show Gardens Food Festival – Day One
Sat 27 Jun, 10am-4pm, Bridgemere Show Gardens, London Road, near Woore, Nantwich
Brand new for 2026 – a weekend food festival at Bridgemere’s spectacular show gardens, with celebrity chefs, global street food, live entertainment and the stunning gardens as a backdrop.
👉 Details

🎊 Audlem Party on the Park
Sat 27 Jun, 4pm-10:30pm, Audlem Playing Field, Cheshire Street, Audlem
Audlem’s annual outdoor music concert and bring-your-own-picnic extravaganza – headline act Roy G Hemmings and band.
👉 Details

🏇 Summer Saturday – Chester Racecourse
Sat 27 Jun, 11:30am, Chester Racecourse, The Roodee, Chester
The Roodee’s first Summer Saturday – live flat racing on the world’s oldest course, ChardonHAY cocktails in the garden, DJs all day in the Winning Post enclosure. Smart dress code applies.
👉 Details

🏃 Race for Life Pretty Muddy 5k – Tatton Park
Sat 27 Jun, Tatton Park, Knutsford
The beloved muddy obstacle course for Adults and children, raising money for Cancer Research UK. A brilliantly messy morning for a good cause in stunning surroundings.
👉 Details

🎸 The Smiths Ltd + Transmission
Sat 27 Jun, 7:30pm, The Live Rooms, Chester
The finest Smiths tribute on the circuit, plus Joy Division/New Order tribute Transmission – two of the most beloved Manchester bands of all time, one night in Chester. How Soon Is Now, This Charming Man, Love Will Tear Us Apart.
👉 Details

🎵 K-Pop Live – Gawsworth Hall
Sat 27 Jun, 7:30pm, Gawsworth Hall, Church Lane, Gawsworth
K-Pop Live brings the full Korean pop spectacle to the Gawsworth Hall garden theatre – spectacular choreography, iconic hits and full production values in the grounds of a Tudor manor house. Grounds open from 2pm.
👉 Details

🌿 Medieval Herbs Workshop – The Old Medicine House, Blackden
Sat 27 Jun, The Old Medicine House, off Bridge Lane, Blackden
A fascinating half-day workshop exploring the use of scented herbs in the Middle Ages – learn about strewing herbs and their traditional uses in a beautiful setting near Holmes Chapel.
👉 Details

🌿 Arley Garden Festival 2026
Sat 27-Sun 28 Jun, 10am-5pm, Arley Hall & Gardens, Northwich CW9 6NA
One of Cheshire’s finest horticultural events – brand new Show Gardens for 2026, Creative Corner garden designs, specialist plant nurseries, expert advice from the Professional Gardeners Guild, guided garden tours with head gardener Gordon Baillie, Hartford WI crafts, the Wabash Jazz Trio and Lymm Concert Band throughout the day, and iconic English Lotus cars (Saturday) and Morgan cars (Sunday) outside the Hall.
👉 Details

🗓️ Sun · 28 June

🎭 Shakespeare – Gawsworth Hall Open Air Theatre
Sun 28 Jun, 7:30pm, Gawsworth Hall, Church Lane, Gawsworth
Open air Shakespeare in the pleasure garden of a 15th-century Tudor manor house – picnics encouraged, grounds open from 2pm.
👉 Details

🎵 Folksongs & Fancies – Nantwich Singers
Sun 28 Jun, 3pm, St Alban’s Church, Tattenhall, Chester CH3 9PX
Light-hearted songs for summer from the Nantwich Singers in the beautiful and historic surroundings of St Alban’s Church. There will be an interval with refreshments – a lovely Sunday afternoon out in one of Cheshire’s most picturesque villages.
👉 Details

🎨 Garden Stories – Opening Day
Sun 28 Jun, 11am-3pm, Congleton Bath House & Physic Garden, off Colehill Bank, Congleton
A brand new family programme launching at Congleton’s wonderful Bath House and Physic Garden
👉 Details

🧶 Creative Crafters Craft Fair – Antrobus
Sun 28 Jun, 11am-4pm, Antrobus Village Hall, Knutsford Road, Antrobus, Northwich
A new craft fair at Antrobus Village Hall – handmade goods, small businesses and a friendly atmosphere in mid-Cheshire.
👉 Details

🌿 Burton Village Gardens – NGS Open Day
Sun 28 Jun, Burton Village, Neston
The Coach House garden returns to the NGS for 2026 – stunning views across the River Dee, a new water feature and full summer colour in the Wirral’s most charming village.
👉 Details

🌿 Swineyard Hall – NGS Open Garden
Sun 28 Jun, Swineyard Hall, Knutsford
A two-acre garden including a moat listed as a national monument dating to the 13th century. An extraordinary and rarely visited gem.
👉 Details

🗓️ REST OF THE WEEK

🎬 Moonlight Flicks at Rooftop Social Club – Clueless
Thu 2 Jul, Rooftop Social Club, Pepper Street Car Park, Chester
Alicia Silverstone stars as Cher Horowitz, a smart, stylish and well-meaning Beverly Hills teen who’s determined to improve the love lives of everyone around her.
👉 Details

🎭 The Rocky Horror Show
Tue 30 Jun-Sat 4 Jul, Storyhouse Theatre, Chester
Richard O’Brien’s legendary rock ‘n’ roll musical returns to Storyhouse as part of a brand new world tour – Brad, Janet, Frank-N-Furter, the Time Warp, and full audience participation encouraged. Come in costume. This is the one you’ve been waiting for.
👉 Details

💡 Chester Festival of Ideas
Thu 2-Sun 5 Jul, University of Chester, Chester
Just outside the date range but worth putting in Dates for the Diary – four days of big ideas and brilliant minds at the University of Chester. Headliners confirmed include David Baddiel, Mariella Frostrup, Gary Younge, Greg Jenner and Dame Jenny Harries. Lectures, debates, exhibitions and community events across the city.
👉 Details

🎸 The Brit Fest 2026
Thu 2-Sun 5 Jul, Ashley Hall Showground, Altrincham
Four days of iconic British artists at a multi-award-winning festival on the Cheshire fringe – ABC, Holly Johnson, Happy Mondays, Wet Wet Wet, Jason Donovan, Eternal, Peter Hook & The Light, Cast and many more. Camping on site.
👉 Details

🧺 LOCAL CRAFT MARKETS

• Congleton Makers Market – Sat 27 Jun | 👉 Details

• Treacle Market Macclesfield – Sun 28 Jun | 👉 Details

🗓️ DATES FOR THE DIARY

• Foodies Festival – Fri 10-Sun 12 Jul | Tatton Park, Knutsford 👉 Details

• Together Again Festival – Fri 24-Sun 26 Jul | Bolesworth Castle, Chester 👉 Details

• Tributes on the Hill – Thu 2-Sun 5 Jul | Frodsham 👉 Details

• Holmes Chapel Village Fair – Sun 5 Jul | Holmes Chapel 👉 Details

• Just So Festival – Fri 21-Sun 23 Aug | Rode Hall, near Congleton 👉 Details

• Tom Jones & Nile Rodgers & CHIC – Fri 14 Aug | Chester Racecourse 👉 Details

💎 Hidden Gem: Tegg’s Nose & Macclesfield Forest

Just three miles from Macclesfield town centre, the Cheshire Plain ends abruptly. Flat fields give way to gritstone crags, open moorland and dense conifer forest, and suddenly you’re in a completely different landscape. Tegg’s Nose Country Park sits at the edge of the Peak District National Park – technically still in Cheshire, but with the wild feel of somewhere far more remote.

The walk starts at Tegg’s Nose Country Park and climbs to the summit – a 380-metre gritstone outcrop with panoramic views stretching across the Cheshire Plain to the Jodrell Bank telescope, west to the Welsh hills, south to the Roaches, and east into the Peak District. The ascent is steep but short, and most people are at the top within 20 minutes.

From the summit the route drops down into Macclesfield Forest, which holds the largest heronry in the Peak District, and in summer you can watch herons nesting above Trentabank Reservoir from a dedicated viewpoint layby. Buzzards and skylarks are constant company along the ridge.

The route loops back past Ridgegate Reservoir – reflections of the surrounding forest in the water, common sandpipers picking along the muddy shore – and finishes at the Leather’s Smithy, an 18th-century stone pub sitting directly on the reservoir’s edge.

A note on the route: As of early 2025, part of the path at Ridgegate Reservoir had a temporary partial closure. Most of the trail is fully accessible – check the route link for the latest conditions before setting off.

Practical bits:

• Start: Tegg’s Nose Country Park car park, Buxton Old Road, Macclesfield SK11 0AP (pay and display – arrive early at weekends, fills up quickly)

• Distance: 4.2 miles circular (shorter forest-only loop available)

• Time: 2.5-3 hours at a comfortable pace

• Terrain: Steep climb to the summit, rocky and uneven in places. Boots essential. Can be muddy after rain.

• Dogs: Welcome throughout and at the pub – keep on leads around cattle near Tegg’s Nose in summer

• Getting there: Off the B5470/Buxton Old Road south of Macclesfield. Buses run between Macclesfield and Langley (service 14A, stops about half a mile from Leather’s Smithy)

• The stop: Leather’s Smithy, Clarke Lane, Langley, Macclesfield SK11 0NE

🔗 Trail map on AllTrails
🔗 Leather’s Smithy

That’s it for this week.

Thanks for reading The Cheshire Buzz! See you next Thursday – same time, same inbox.