A whopping 515 tonnes of carbon is saved right here in Manchester each year thanks to a “visionary” decarbonisation scheme.
Manchester’s very-own Science and Industry Museum is currently delivering a sector-leading programme of decarbonisation across its city centre site that is “harnessing green technology” to heat its historic spaces, and the project is aiming to place zero carbon technologies at the heart of the visitor experience, all while creating a sustainable museum for the future.
Work has now started to transform the museum’s environmental sustainability, improve energy efficiency, and lower carbon emissions across the site, supporting its goal to become carbon neutral by 2033 and Greater Manchester’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2038 – which is 12 years ahead of the national target.
The museum says this has been made possible thanks to a £4.3 million award from the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.
So, how did this revolutionary scheme begin then? And how does it work?
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Well, in the 1800s, a well was constructed in the lower ground floor of the world’s first railway warehouse -the museum’s Grade I-listed 1830 Warehouse – to harness the power of the ground water, and this natural resource is now being utilised by the installation of a new water source heat pump network, which includes boreholes.
Using the natural resource of the ground aquifer and a borehole drilling rig – which is 12 metres tall and weighs 32 tonnes – an extraction borehole is currently being drilled 85 metres into the ground in front of the Grade II-listed Power Hall, and a re-injection borehole is also being drilled in the Lower Yard to a depth of 135 meters.
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The water will then be extracted and directed to the 1830 Warehouse and Power Hall down a network of pipes, where the ground source heat pump will use the water to heat the buildings.
Upgrades to the Power Hall roof include fitting a sustainable form of insulation, which is the size of a premiership football pitch / Credit: Jason Lock / Science and Industry Museum
The museum says a painstaking exercise of temporarily removing the listed cobbles is currently underway, allowing for pipes and cables to be fitted in new trenches underground, and that all the work on this historic site is being delivered with care and attention by working with specialists to ensure that the heritage of the buildings and the public spaces are preserved.
Other environmental measures currently being undertaken at the museum include a new electric boiler, and upgrades to the Power Hall roof and windows – including fitting a sustainable form of insulation, which is the size of a premiership football pitch.
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All the work the museum is delivering aims to save 515 tonnes of carbon per year, site wide.
“This is a visionary project where the original and modern meet,” explains Sally MacDonald – Director of the Science and Industry Museum.
“We want to create a sustainable museum for the future and inspire our visitors, the future generations of engineers and innovators – with the story of the next industrial revolution, powered by green energy.
The scheme is turning the Power Hall into a landmark symbol of the past, present, and future of industry / Credit: Science and Industry Museum
“The museum includes the world’s oldest surviving passenger railway station and the world’s first railway goods warehouse in the heart of the world’s first industrial city, alive with science and innovation today.”
Edward Clark – Programme Manager at Salix – added: “”We are extremely excited about the project works taking place in the Science and Industry Museum, including the series of building upgrades taking place in the Grade II listed Power Hall [and] the installation of a new substation is a key milestone within this project, which results in increased carbon savings.
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“The new green technology will be on display in the Power Hall for visitors to see alongside the Historic Working Machinery.”
Featured Image – Jason Lock / Science and Industry Museum
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‘Danger to life’ amber wind warning issued for Greater Manchester as Storm Éowyn arrives
Emily Sergeant
Storm Éowyn is expected to bring very strong winds and widespread disruption to Greater Manchester later this week.
In case you hadn’t heard, the Met Office named Storm Éowyn yesterday, and confirmed that it will begin to influence the UK’s weather from early on Friday – with strengthening winds initially expected in the south west first, accompanying heavy rainfall, before it quickly spreads to the north and the rest of the UK as the morning progresses.
An amber warning for wind has been issued for large parts of the UK, including the majority of Greater Manchester, for most of the day on Friday.
#StormÉowyn has been named and is forecast to bring strong winds to much of the UK on Friday and into Saturday.
Coming into effect from 6am this Friday (24 January), the weather warning his means that power cuts are likely to occur, transport services will be affected with delays and cancellations, and there is a chance that buildings could be damaged.
Worse than that though, there’s even a ‘danger to life’ too, with potential injuries occurring from flying debris.
Speaking ahead of Storm Éowyn’s arrival in a couple of days time, Mike Silverstone, who is the Deputy Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “Storm Éowyn will bring a period of very unsettled, potentially disruptive, weather to the UK through Friday and into Saturday.
Warnings for strong winds, heavy rain and snow are in place across many parts of the UK during Thursday, Friday and into the weekend ⚠️
“The strongest gusts are likely to be felt across parts of Northern Ireland, northern England, northwestern Wales and western Scotland, where exposed sites could get gusts in excess of 80mph, which has the potential to cause impacts for those in these areas.
“There will also be some heavy rain, bringing some unpleasant conditions to end the week.”
The initial warning for Storm Éowyn has been issued several days in advance, so it’s important to stay up to date with the forecast on the Met Office website here in the coming days.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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The 2025/26 Premiership Women’s Rugby season has been delayed
Danny Jones
The next Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) season has been officially delayed by nearly three weeks.
Announced on Tuesday, 21 January, the decision has been taken in an effort to help promote the Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC), the proximity of which is rather close to the national union championship competition.
With sporting bodies also trying to nurture a growing interest in female rugby, the start of the next PWR season will be pushed back not only to give players more time to rest but in an effort to drive a larger audience to the WRWC as well, the final of which is being played here in England.
The hope is that it will also better the Red Roses’ chances of winning the international tournament in turn – fingers firmly crossed.
Get excited 🤩
The PWR 2025-26 Season will officially kick off on Saturday 25th October PLUS the PWR Cup will return 🙌
The conclusion of the international tournament is taking place at Twickenham Stadium in London on 27 September, just days before the 2025/26 Premiership season was due to start.
Local side Sale Sharks are sadly at the bottom of the table this current campaign, which kicked off on 5 October 2024 and ends this March, but with eyes already on the WRWC the focus for lots of players in the division will no doubt already be shifting.
Not only is the domestic women’s rugby season being delayed by nearly three whole weeks – meaning the first games won’t happen until 25 October – but this comes after the current schedule of fixtures was also reduced with player recovery in mind ahead of the World Cup.
Speaking to BBC Sport, the PWR’s operations manager, Amy Walmsley, said: “The Rugby World Cup is a generational moment for women’s rugby and will create a huge opportunity for both PWR and our clubs to grow and celebrate with their fans.
“The optimum time between the Rugby World Cup Final and our first league match will ensure we capitalise on what we already know will be the biggest and best World Cup ever, while also ensuring player welfare with adequate rest across the season.”
The stats back it up too as 2024 saw numerous milestones for the women’s game; in addition to record crowds at the Olympics, last year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations was the most viewed on record with 8.1 million fans tuning in, not to mention an increased interest among 18-24-year-olds.
You can find the run-down of the Sale Sharks Women fixtures below:
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝘂𝗻 𝗜𝗻
All of our fixtures for the 24/25 season are locked in. Let's bring that Northern roar to every game #SharksFamily 🦈
As for the final of the Premiership Women’s Rugby, the date has been reverted to its usual window in June, which should also fit within what congestion remains.
Nevertheless, with the Women’s Six Nations in late April and England – who have won all but one of their last 51 games – set to begin their World Cup on 22 August, the margins are still going to be somewhat fine if they are to head into the tournament in the best shape possible.
With the tickets selling extremely well, the expectation is that the Rugby World Cup final break is set to break the world record for the best-attended women’s rugby fixture in history.
In the meantime, Greater Manchester is gearing up for the men’s action as the Six Nations gets underway at the end of this month and the city is boasting the perfect place to watch it.
Emily Sergeant -
24th September 2021 
