Curious mini Mancs are being called on to head down to one of Manchester’s most-visited museum’s to help fix a “special machine”.
With schools across Greater Manchester gearing up have two-weeks off over Easter very shortly, leaving many parents, carers, and guardians with the task of keeping the kids entertained and educated at the same time, the Science and Industry Museum has, thankfully, just announced a wide range of events and activities especially for the holidays.
And a good chunk of the events planned over the next couple of weeks are actually open to getting involved with for completely free of charge.
The museum, which is based right in the heart of Manchester city centre, is giving families the chance to “spring into action” as it hosts a full programme of “curious contraptions, dynamic demonstrations, and immersive experiences” over the next three weeks.
Kicking off this Friday (23 March) and running right through to 14 April, the Science and Industry Museum is inviting “inventors and tinkerers of all ages” down to explore the world of magnificent machines during the jam-packed half term.
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Some of the activities on the lineup include creating a giant marble run, experiencing the thunderous sounds of Greater Manchester’s historic mill machinery, and venturing on a mission to explore mechanics around the museum, as well the opportunity to visit the two of its most talked-about exhibitions that are currently running – Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You, and Power UP.
Machines are at the heart of many of the stories told at the Science and Industry Museum, which is why one of the most intriguing events on the Easter holidays lineup this year has to be the chance for young inventors to join the museum’s team of Explainers and “embark on a mission to mend a special machine” and search for pieces to help fix an engine.
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Curious mini Mancs are being called on to help fix a ‘special machine’ at the Science and Industry Museum / Credit: Science Museum Group
Visitors can also “turbo-charge their tinkering” by experimenting with a giant up-cycled marble run created by Wild Rumpus, and “combine their creativity with the forces of gravity and friction” to build their own circuits and mechanisms.
There’ll also be plenty of demonstrations of the museum’s historic textiles machinery over the next three weeks too, so visitors can be transported to the past and learn what life was like for Manchester’s factory workers in the Industrial Revolution and the roles that people of all ages played in the production of cotton.
And of course, if you still haven’t yet been able to make the most of the museum’s most-visited exhibitions, then this Easter is your chance to do just that.
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There’s a jam-packed lineup of FREE events at the museum this Easter holidays / Credit: Science Museum Group
World-premiere exhibition, Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You, will be taking visitors on a digestive journey over the next three weeks, while the ultimate gaming experience, Power UP will also be open every day, with five decades of games to explore.
Both FREE entry tickets to the museum, and charged-for tickets for Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You and Power UP, can be booked now on the Science and Industry Museum website.
Find more about all the activities taking place at the museum over the Easter holidays here.
Featured Image – Science Museum Group
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Manchester’s historic connections to slavery will be at the heart of a major new exhibition
Emily Sergeant
Manchester’s historic connections to slavery are to be explored during a major new exhibition coming soon to the city.
The Science and Industry Museum, in the heart of our city centre, is already known and loved for telling the story of the ideas and innovations that transformed Manchester into the world’s first industrial city.
But now, a new free exhibition is set to “enhance public understanding” of how transatlantic slavery actually shaped the city’s growth.
Produced by the Science and Industry Museum, in partnership with The Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement programme, and developed with African descendent and diaspora communities through local and global collaborations, this landmark project will put Manchester’s historic connections to enslavement at the heart of a major exhibition at the museum for the first time.
Featuring new research, it will also explore how the legacies of these histories continue to impact Manchester, the world, and lives today.
Set to open in early 2027, the exhibition will run for a year in the museum’s Special Exhibitions Gallery.
Alongside that hub at the Science and Industry Museum itself, the project is also set to have a collaborative city-wide events programme, and a lasting legacy – with a new permanent schools programme, and permanent displays in the future too.
As mentioned, the new exhibition is part of The Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement programme, which is a 10-year restorative justice project launched in 2023.
Manchester’s historic connections to slavery will be at the heart of a major new exhibition / Credit: Science Museum Group Collection
Through partnerships and community programmes, the project aims to improve public understanding of the impact of transatlantic slavery on the UK’s economic development, and its ongoing legacies for Black communities – with a strong focus on Manchester, the city in which The Guardian was founded back in 1821.
The museum’s existing gallery content and ongoing work around sharing the inextricable links between Manchester’s growth into an industrial powerhouse and a textile industry reliant on colonialism and enslavement will be developed through the project.
Through a “collaborative re-examination of the past”, the exhibition will also share a more inclusive history of a city that prides itself on being at the forefront of ideas that change the world.
It’s opening at the Science and Industry Museum in early 2027 / Credit: Science and Industry Museum
Speaking ahead of the exhibition’s arrival in early 2027, Sally MacDonald, who is the Director of the Science and Industry Museum, says: “This will be an exhibition about important aspects of our past that are profoundly relevant to the world we live in today.
“Revealed from the perspectives of those who experienced enslavement and whose lives have been shaped by its legacies, we will foreground stories of resistance, agency, and skill.
“The exhibition will explore themes of resilience, identity and creativity alongside exploitation and inequality, and will feature a specific focus on the ways that scientific and technological developments both drove and were driven by transatlantic slavery.”
Further details on the project will be announced in due course, so stay tuned.
Featured Image – Science Museum Group
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Charlotte Dawson will be handing out compliments and big prizes in Manchester to brighten Blue Monday
Daisy Jackson
TV star Charlotte Dawson will be cheering up Blue Monday in Manchester, dishing out compliments to strangers and awarding some big prizes too.
The actress, who is the daughter of the legendary late Les Dawson, will be bringing her signature sunny energy to Printworks on Monday 20 January.
Otherwise known as Blue Monday, it’s believed that the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year – so she’s here to nip that in the bud.
Between 1pm and 3pm on the huge gaming screen inside Printworks – part of its £21m transformation that included adding a huge digital ceiling – Charlotte Dawson will be spreading joy and laughter.
She’ll be live streaming straight to passers-by, spreading smiles and dishing out compliments.
Charlotte will also be treating visitors to some amazing prizes from Printworks’ collection of bars, restaurants and leisure venues.
These prizes will include free brunch for four at Walkabout, gaming sessions at Bierkeller, or family cinema tickets with Ice Blasts at VUE. Other prizes include Nando’s vouchers, a drink and activity for two at the new Trax Social, and much more.
And the top prize will be a luxury overnight stay for two at Hotel Indigo, just across the road in the very heart of Manchester.
Charlotte Dawson will take part in Blue Monday at Printworks, Manchester
There’ll even be free coffee vouchers for Todd St Cafe on offer to brighten your Blue Monday.
Kristian Brennan, Marketing Manager at Printworks, said: “We couldn’t be more excited to have Charlotte at Printworks this Blue Monday.
“As a true Mancunian icon, her vibrant personality is exactly what we need to brighten up the most depressing day of the year and we know she’ll bring plenty of laughs and smiles to everyone who stops by.
“What makes this event truly unique is the opportunity for the public to chat with Charlotte under Europe’s largest digital ceiling, which will showcase new mood-boosting content.
“It’s an innovative and exciting way for people to connect, and we can’t wait to see families and friends come together to create joyful memories in this truly unique setting!”
Emily Sergeant -
18th March 2024 
