Manchester Museum has released a sneak peak inside its walls as its £15m transformation project continues.
The huge museum, a landmark in Manchester, has been closed to the public since this time last year, and won’t reopen until February 2023.
During its closure, the cultural institution will be adding a modern two-storey extension, a new entrance, and inclusive facilities like a Changing Places toilet, picnic area, prayer space and quiet room.
The once-in-a-generation capital development project is called Hello Future, and will revamp the 132-year old museum.
Inside the cultural institution during its refurbishment. Credit: Manchester Museum
Manchester Museum, which is part of The University of Manchester, has released new footage from its transformation.
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The original neo-Gothic building, designed by renowned architect Alfred Waterhouse, is being extended and improv ed.
The new extension is clad in green-glazed terracotta tiles to pay homage to Victorian and Edwardian period buildings across Manchester.
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It will be home to a South Asia Gallery, in partnership with the British Museum, and a new Exhibition Hall, which will open with Golden Mummies of Egypt, featuring eight mummies and more than 100 objects from Manchester Museum’s Egyptology collection.
The new accessible entrance from Oxford Road will feature breath-taking objects from the museum’s 4.5 million-strong collection.
More than eighteen thousand objects been moved or protected from building work.
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Esme Ward, Manchester Museum Director, said: “We are extending the building, making room for more joy and learning and evolving into the museum Manchester needs.
“Galleries and exhibitions will showcase the best of the museum’s historic collections, as well as addressing the urgencies of the present day.
“We can’t wait to reopen our doors in just six months’ time. Until then, we will continue to bring updates on our progress.”
Featured image: Supplied, Manchester Museum
Art & Culture
The best things to do in Greater Manchester this week | 24 – 30 March 2025
Emily Sergeant
The sun has been shining and spring is officially here.
With just one week left until it’s time to say goodbye to March and welcome in April with open arms, there’s absolutely no shortage of things for the whole family to be getting up to in Greater Manchester this week – both free things, and those that’ll set you back a few pennies too.
Finding it a bit tricky to pick what to do though?
We’ve chosen a few of the best bits for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide, so here’s some of our recommendations.
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An Edible Family in a Mobile Home
Whitworth Art Gallery
Monday 24 March – 20 April
An Edible Family in a Mobile Home / Credit: The Manc Group
An exciting new exhibition where all the sculptures inside are made of cakes, biscuits, and icing has now opened in Manchester – and yes, you are encouraged to tuck in.
You’ll be whizzed back in time to the 1970s at An Edible Family in a Mobile Home, down to the retro comedy playing on the telly, and over the coming weeks, members of the public will gradually eat the sculptures until there’s nothing left.
Even the walls at this new genius collaborative creation of artist Bobby Baker and Manchester’s-own Long Boi Bakes are decorated in icing, and it’s open down at Whitworth Art Gallery until 20 April.
Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You / Credit: Science Museum Group
You can plunge headfirst into the incredible world of our senses at a new immersive museum exhibition that’s now arrived at the Science and Industry Museum.
Back by popular demand after a successful run over these past two years, but with a fresh new adventure lined up for 2025, Operation Ouch! is giving you the chance to journey through an ear canal covered in gooey wax, squeeze past sticky snot, and delve deeper into how our brains interpret the world.
Tickets to Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You are now on sale, and visitors are being told to prepare themselves for an “epic exploration of the senses”.
How cute is this? We’ve discovered a little workshop over in Chorlton where you can ice, pipe, garnish, and decorate a miniature bento cake just the way you want it, with the help of the experts at Vanilla Ice Cakes.
You can whip up your dream colour buttercream, personalise your fillings, and learn brand-new skills before heading home with this adorable little celebration cake of your own.
At Vanilla Ice Cakes in Chorlton, you’ll sit under the expert eye of owner Fiza, a master baker who’s been in the game for more than a decade, and she’ll guide you (and sometimes step in to help you) as you fumble your way through decorating your own cake.
Did you see that one of Greater Manchester’s popular museums has been named the best free museum in the UK?
With the Easter holidays not far off, plenty of parents, carers, and guardians across Greater Manchester will likely be looking for a ways to keep the kids entertained and educated while schools are out, and without having to break the bank too.
Luckily enough, Bolton Museum has taken the top spot in a list of the best free museums and galleries to visit in the whole of the UK.
Bolton Museum has been crowned the best free museum to visit in the UK / Credit: Bolton Council
The museum – which is on the Grade II-listed Le Mans Crescent in the town centre, and dates back to 1852 – has been a part of the leisure and education of Boltonians for over 120 years, and is home to one of the largest regional Egyptology collections in the UK, made up of over 10,000 archaeological objects.
There’s also an extensive local history section, with 38,000 objects from the 17th to 20th century relating to Bolton.
The Pac-Man Live Experience / Credit: The Manc Group
Prepare to wakka wakka and chomp your way around a maze, because a brand-new interactive experience has now landed in Manchester, and it’s brought the world of the iconic retro game Pac-Man to life.
This augmented reality game will have you sprinting your way around an ever-changing digital maze, dodging ghosts and collecting fruit as you go.
Costing £26 per person, you’ll be challenged to race your mates around the course in a bid to grab special items and tackle everything in your path, and if you rack up the the most points, then you’ll be declared champ.
Ready to get baked? Well, what are you waiting for.
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It’s been a long time coming, but one of the most highly-anticipated new arrivals of 2025 has finally thrown its doors open in the heart of the Northern Quarter, so if you’ve got a chocolate craving or you sweet tooth needs satisfying, get yourself down to Get Baked.
Known and loved over in Leeds, this new independent bakery has opened on Stevenson Square, and stepping inside is like entering sweet treat heaven.
Manchester city centre’s newest boutique hotel has now opened.
This treehouse-inspired, 200-room hotel has taken over a huge space at the foot of Deansgate, filling the old Brutalist building with nature-inspired interiors.
To celebrate its opening, the hotel is hosting a series of activations in collaboration with local creatives, wellness experts, and artists all throughout this month – from art workshops to fitness sessions and cosy film nights.
Cruel Intentions is taking to the stage in Manchester this week.
Following sell-out seasons in London and New York, this brand-new smash hit musical – based on the iconic film of the same name and inspired by Les Liaisons Dangereuses – is packed with 90s pop classics, making it the ultimate retro night out.
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It includes the songs of Britney Spears, Boyz II Men, Christina Aguilera, TLC, The Verve, NSYNC, and so many more.
The BBC Radio 6 Music Festival is coming back to Manchester once again this week, and they’re bringing yet another phenomenal lineup with them.
Over the years, the festival has brought some of music’s biggest and up-and-coming names to lots of local venues across Greater Manchester, putting on an array of brilliant live performances along the way, and 2025 is set to be no different.
On the lineup this year is Ezra Collective, Mogwai, English Teacher, Kae Tempest, Perfume Genius, and so many more DJ sets.
Find out more and see if there’s any tickets still going here.
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Clothes Cycle Manchester
Victoria Baths
Sunday 30 March
Clothes Cycle Manchester / Credit: Clothes Cycle Markets
Clothes Cycle, the UK’s biggest curated second-hand clothing market, is back with a huge pop-up fashion fair full of vintage, pre-loved, and small business clothing in Manchester this weekend.
With a focus on championing sustainable clothing and helping fashion fans find a gem they’ll treasure forever, each pop-up market sees dozens of carefully-curated sellers offering a wide range of styles and items all come together under one roof.
Taking over the historic Victoria Baths this Sunday, there’ll be dozens of sellers offering something for everyone on all budgets.
NOMA’s growing neighbourhood is celebrating the joys of spring with A Farmers’ Market this Sunday.
Curated by Where The Light Gets In, Manchester Urban Diggers (MUD), and NOMA’s very own hobby-house, Altogether Otherwise, the free-to-attend market will be held from 11am in Sadler’s Yard, with lots of fresh, locally-sourced food to purchase, all while building meaningful community connections in the heart of NOMA.
Stalls will feature a handpicked selection of seasonal produce from farmers, growers, and artisans who are committed to ethical and sustainable practices.
Attendees can enjoy cooking demos, live music, and family workshops too.
Featured Image – Clothes Cycle Market | BBC | The Manc Group
Art & Culture
Sir Gareth Southgate says young men ‘need better role models’ – and more of them
Danny Jones
Ex-footballer and England manager Sir Gareth Southgate has called on contemporary society to do better when it comes to young men, insisting that boys today need real role models.
In fact, not to put words in his mouth, but he isn’t just calling out for more of them; more precisely, he believes they need better ones than some of the figures who have found a following in recent years.
Speaking in one of his first public addresses since being knighted in the 2025 New Year’s Honours list and one of a scarce few since stepping down as the Three Lions boss, Southgate gave a lengthy speech as part of the BBC’s annual ‘Richard Dimbleby Lecture’.
The former Crystal Palace, Middlesborough and Aston Villa defender touched on a number of topics in his discussion, including the troubling rise of “callous, manipulative and toxic influencers, whose sole drive is for their own gain” and are finding increasing popularity on social media.
Southgate has strong opinions on the current archetype of ‘role models’ that young men are gravitating towards.
Southgate went on to express the crucial nature of “identity, connection and culture” in contemporary society, insisting that current values are drifting off course.
He went on to state that because of the swirling questions surrounding masculinity, “young men end up withdrawing, reluctant to talk or express their emotions […] They spend more time online searching for direction and are falling into unhealthy alternatives like gaming, gambling and pornography.”
Southgate also believes that “if we make life too easy for young boys now, we will inevitably make life harder when they grow up to be young men”, arguing that we are at risk of creating a culture where they fear failure so much that “they fail to try, rather than try and fail.”
Drawing from his own experience as a player and his famous penalty miss in Euro ’96, as well as his multiple attempts at winning a major tournament as the national team coach, he reflected on how these experiences made him who he is today – experiences he navigated through thanks to role models.
Put more simply, he suggested that we need to return focus to the importance of teachers, sports coaches, youth groups and ‘proper’/traditional role models, rather than simply allowing the next generation of young men to resort to poor examples online.
"We have to show young men that character is more important than status."
Gareth Southgate demands leaders step up to become positive role models for 'isolated' young men. pic.twitter.com/FMlnqjppQi
The timing of Southgate’s speech hasn’t been lost on large swathes of the British public, in particular, in light of the hit Netflix drama, Adolescence.
Revolving around the story of a young boy accused of a violent crime towards a young girl, the four-part series touches on incel culture, the growing ‘manosphere’ digital community, controversial figures like Andrew Tate and more.
You can listen to Southgate’s lecture on young men and the importance of role models in full HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
22nd August 2022 
