Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester

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We visited this on our last morning in Manchester. I have to say you will ideally take a full day to visit the museum. Although located close to the city centre, it is huge! A great many internal and external exhibits.

During our visit, they were hosting an exhibition about Da Vinci - art, inventions and his life.

Lots of clever exhibits, technology and science for all levels and interests.

Visit the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) it's a massive museum based in the castlefield area of Manchester City Centre. It's free - with the exception of some special gallery events that you don't have to attend if you prefer. The section on Victorian Manchester comes complete with a walk through a victorian replica sewer - complete with some hilarious flushing toilets, bloomers and some authentic smells. This was always a favourite with my children when they were younger, as well as the hands on experiment gallery.

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If you have read some of my other pages, you will know that I am a huge fan of technology based museums. Like most men, big boys toys like helicopters, planes, motorbikes, trains (especially trains) and so on provide almost endless entertainment for me. Some examples would be the Techniki Musej in Zagreb, Croatia, the Transport Museum near Belfast in Northern Ireland, and the excellent Railway Museum in Utrecht, Netherlands. I have to say that the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester is right up there with the best of them. Never having been there, I wasn't sure what to expect and I was totally unprepared for the sheer scale of the place, it is massive. You could easily spend at least a whole day there, so you may want to plan accordingly if your time is limited.

I hardly know where to start describing the place to you, there is so much. A simple tip will not do it justice so I have prepared a travelogue as well, which you may want to look at for a fuller picture.

I suppose I should begin with the buildings, which are fascinating in themselves. The first place I visited was nothing less than the oldest passenger train station in the world, Liverpool Road. Interesting to note that there is no platform as such with passengers having to climb up into the carriages. Although the exhibition in the first class ticket office is undergoing a refurbishment at present, the room itself is great. Going on through this building, there is an overview of the history of Manchester post-Industrial Revolution. There is a space here for temporary exhibitions. When I visited, it was in relation to the predominantly Jewish trade of makingt waterproof clothing of all things. The underground portion of this building is a slightly odd exhibition, dealing with sanitation and water supply. I have never seen as many different toilets in one place in my life. Walking through a reconstructed sewer is also an intreresting experience!

You should eventually end up emerging into the daylight beside the next building, an original 19th century goods warehouse associated with the railway. Somewhere under here are sections dealing with gas production and lighting amongst other things.

The third building has a good textile exhibition upstairs. This is not surprising as much of Manchester's importance was built on this trade. There are some good "hands on" items here allowing children (of all ages) to learn the rudiments of weaving. For me, however, a much more interesting portion of this building was a thing I have never seen in any other Museum. MOSI have effectively opened their storeroom to the public and there are drawers full of every conceivable technological artefact from an astronauts boot to a collection of old printing dies and everything in between. If you have a special interest, you can speak to a member of staff who will show you what they have in relation to it. I think it is a wonderful idea. Please note this section is not open all the time, check for details.

The fourth building is train-lover's heaven, the engine shed, with some fine examples. It is here that they keep the steam trains that make journeys on certain weekeends and holidays and you can also watch the railway enthusiasts as they restore the old locomotives and rolling stock.

You may want to take a break here for a coffee in the Museum cafe before crossing the road and the final building. It is another wonderful structure, although I am not sure what it's original function was. This is devoted to bicycles, planes, helicopters, bicycles and a few other bits and bobs. There are a few cars although it is not primarily geared (pun intended) towards this. There is a Shackleton bomber in there and I could not believe just how big it was.

If you have got this far, well done, you will undoubtedly have had more than enough technology for one day. In fact, if you have read to the end of this tip, you will undoubtedly have had more than enough of my rambling so I shall stop now with a strong recommendation that you make MOSI a "must see" if you are in Manchester.

This place is excellent - if you have kids (or if you don't!) this is a really interesting place to spend a morning or afternoon, and the bonus is this is now free!

There are many hands on exhibits which is great and there is plenty there to keep adults and kids entertained. You can explore the whole place (please be aware that some sites are a short walk outdoors) or just pick and choose what you want.

A word of warning - in the school holidays this place is MADNESS! - saturdays also (And sundays it is fairly busy!) And during term time you will bump into at least 1 school trip - so it is a bit difficult for grown-ups to get near the hands on experiments (note to self borrow friends child to get to them!)

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Manchester is of course famous for being the heart of the Indsutrial Revolution, and as such wouldn't be complete without this museum. It is spread across 5 buildings and is built ont he site of the oldest passenger train station in the World. Along with the Manchester museum, this is one of my favourite places to visit in the city. It contains a history of the cotton mill and cotton industry, with a huge area given over to textiles. It also contains a gallery on scientific progression, tracking developments in science on a huge time-line. In one of the buildings you can see many examples of steam trains and steam engines, while in another you can look at the history of flight, with many areoplanes including a beautiful Spitfire.

MoSI is open every day from 10.00am to 5.00pm, except Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day & New Years Day

Entry to the permanent Gallerys is free, while there is a charge for any special exhibits. The museum has player host to events such as Sci-Fi conventions, including Star Treck and Dr Who, A huge Dinosaur show, and the Body Worlds experience.

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The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) is a huge museum comprising of exhibits which take you on a journey through Manchester's heritage. You can see what it was like to work in a cotton mill during one of the Textile demonstrations, carry out your own experiments in Xperiment, or even venture into a Victorian sewer complete with smells and rats! Or if you prefer something a little less gory you can watch holograms of Manchester’s world-famous scientists explain their discoveries before your very eyes, visit the wonderful 1930's living rooms to see the electrical appliances which were in use back then or saunter amongst some wonderful steam locomotives.

You will need at least half a day to visit the whole of the Museum but entrance is free so you could visit a bit at a time.

We went here on Sunday afternoon. Although I knew it was quite big, I didn't realise how big it was. As we live about 20 minutes walk away and because it is free we are going to visit in stages.

The Museum is in 5 buildings. Main Building, 1830 Warehouse, Station Building, Power Hall and Air & Space Hall. As you arrive you can pick up a guide that tells you what is in each building. The museum is located on the site of the world's oldest surviving purpose-built passenger railway station.

A highlight for my boyfriend was seeing the replica of 'Baby', which was the world's first stored-program computer, which ran for the first time on 21st June 1948. Another fun highlight (for both of us) was Xperiment, which is an interactive gallery, with over 30 hands on activities. It was very popular with children and adults. We also saw Manchester Science, showing the stories of Manchesters scientists and their breakthroughs.

On our next visit we will going to the Air & Space Hall and the 1830 Warehouse. So, I will add more on that after we go.

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The museum of science and Industry certainly is a fantastic day out. It has everything from a push bike to a Spitfire. A safety pin to a Steam train. It is well worth a visit

It is currently housing the Body Worlds 4 exhibition untill june 29th. An exhibition of Real body's preserved by Plastination.