Science and Industry Museum

This is a great museum for those interested in technology and industrial heritage: sited at one end of the world's first passenger railway line. The working cotton weaving machines are particularly worth experiencing. Catch one of their regular demonstrations of their operation. There is also the opportunity to explore the city's former sewers (now fully cleaned!) to get an idea of the living (and dying) conditions of Manchester's cotton workers. Most impressive of all is the huge collection of working engines in the Power Hall (closed until 2024), powered by steam, gas, water, you name it. The museum also hosts the first steam train (and with it, the first ever vehicle to run faster than a horse), as well as the first programmable computer with a cathode ray tube memory.

• free
• museum

Address

Liverpool Road, M3 4FP

Getting there

Freebus 1, Rail Deansgate. Metrolink Deansgate-Castlefield

Hours

10AM-5PM daily

Price

Free, except for temporary exhibits (prices vary)

Website

scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk (opens in a new tab)