England Guide
The Northwest
The Museum of Science and Industry
Opening time: Daily 10am–5pm; steam train rides: weekends noon–4pm
Price: Free
Address: Liverpool Road
Telephone: 0161/832 2244
Website: www.msim.org.uk
The several different sections of the extremely popular Museum of Science and Industry make this one of the most impressive museums of its type in the country, mixing technological displays and special blockbuster exhibitions with trenchant analysis of the social impact of industrialization. Key points of interest include the Power Hall, which trumpets the region's remarkable technological contribution to the Industrial Revolution by means of a hall full of steam engines, some of which are fired up daily. There's more steam just outside the Power Hall in the shape of a working replica of Robert Stephenson's Planet, whose original design was based on the Rocket, the work of Robert's father George. Built in 1830, the Planet reliably attained a scorching 30mph but had no brakes; the museum's version does, and uses them at weekends, dropping passengers a couple of hundred yards away at the Station Building, the world's oldest passenger railway station. It was here that the Rocket arrived on a rainy September 15, 1830, after fatally injuring Liverpool MP William Huskisson at the start of the inaugural passenger journey from Liverpool.
Elsewhere, the 1830 Warehouse features a sound-and-light show that delves into the history of the city's warehouses whose immense storage capacity was essential to Manchester's economy, whilst the Air and Space Hall, which barely touches on Manchester at all, features vintage planes, cutaway engines and space exploration displays.