Travel & Tourism

Rare personal items belonging to Stephen Hawking to go on display at Science and Industry Museum

A glimpse inside the life and mind of the late, great scientist.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 9th May 2023

Visitors to the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester will soon be able to get up close to rare personal items of Stephen Hawking’s in a new exhibition.

Stephen Hawking at Work, which opens on 25 May, will explore the remarkable life of a world-renowned scientist, who passed away in 2018.

Significant objects form his office will give an insight into his life as a scientist, science communicator, and as a person who lived with motor neurone disease.  

Highlights will include a rare copy of his PhD thesis, and a wager he made with his peers about whether things that fall into a black hole are lost forever.

There’s also a ‘time traveller’ party invitation that he sent to his peers after the party had taken place, to prove that time travel to the past is impossible. Witty.

ADVERTISEMENT

Stephen Hawking At Work will also include details of how his work connects to Manchester, including the discoveries that led to quantum theory and general relativity.

The Science Museum Group acquired the contents of Professor Hawking’s office in May 2021 and now audiences will have the chance to view the objects up close.

ADVERTISEMENT

His life with motor neurone disease will also be showcased, including an example of the technology that he relied upon for much of his life, like a wheelchair and a voice synthesiser.

Stephen Hawking at Work will open on 25 May, shortly after the final run for the Turn It Up: The Power of Music exhibition.

30,000 visitors have already come to discover more about the science of music and the hold it has over us, through a Musical Playground.

ADVERTISEMENT

Turn It Up: The Power of Music will end on Sunday 21 May, before heading down to the Science Museum in London on Thursday 19 October.

Read more

For more information about what’s on at the Science and Industry Museum, visit www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk.

Featured image: Sarah Lee

Travel & Tourism

Manchester Airport unveils bumper Christmas makeover with Santa’s Grotto and last-minute shopping ideas

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Manchester Airport unveils bumper Christmas makeover with Santa’s Grotto and last-minute shopping ideas

Christmas has officially landed at Manchester Airport, and with an estimated 1.1m of us travelling through the busy transport hub in the coming weeks, the airport is really kicking off the festivities. 

The halls have been decked with all sorts of festive touches, like a 20ft Christmas tree in Terminal 2, and plenty more glitter and sparkle around the entire airport. 

There are dozens of discounts on stocking fillers as part of Manchester Airport’s ‘Holidays Mode Activated’ campaign, along with festive menus at bars and restaurants.

A Santa’s Grotto in Terminal 1’s free play area, the Little Flyers Zone, will be open until Wednesday 18 December, where little Mancs can send off their list to the big man with a Letters to Santa Station. 

Santa himself will be on hand to greet families on Thursday and Fridays, but his elves will be there throughout the next few weeks too. 

There are more than 200 destinations you can fly directly to from Manchester, from city breaks to other Christmas markets to snatched fortnights of sunshine to flights to spend the festive break with loved ones. 

You can do your Christmas shopping at Manchester Airport with brilliant businesses like The Sculpts
You can do your Christmas shopping at Manchester Airport with brilliant businesses like The Sculpts

And whether you’re one of those who’s panicked and left your shopping until the last minute, or are biding your time to save cash on beauty, booze and fragrance at World Duty Free, you can tick everything off your list on your way home for Christmas. 

Shops at Manchester Airport include legendary toy shop Hamleys, fragrance favourite Jo Malone, and sportswear brand JD Sports. 

You can stock up on gifts like fashion accessories from shops like BOSS and Accessorize, or get all your gifts for 2024 in one go at duty free. 

And don’t miss The Sculpts, a Manchester-based design business operated by a local couple, who sell a range of handmade homeware and souvenirs including their signature alphabet tiles. 

Manchester Airport Managing Director Chris Woodroofe said: “Christmas is a magical time here at Manchester Airport. 

“We’re always proud to connect the North to the world but the importance of that role really shines through at this time of year. It feels wonderful when you see travellers having emotional reunions in arrivals and families in departures getting ready to visit Father Christmas in Lapland.

“It’s also always a popular time to fly and, having broken our passenger records every month for well over a year now, we expect this Christmas to be the biggest and busiest we’ve ever seen with over a million passengers flying in the two-week festive period. 

“Not only will those passengers receive a great service – last month 82% of our passengers waited less than five minutes to get to security – but they will also be able to soak up some of the magic we have here, including Santa’s grotto in our Little Flyers Zone in Terminal 1 and choirs singing carols at various spots in all three terminals.

“We can’t wait to welcome passengers to Manchester Airport this festive season.”

Read more: Aer Lingus is serving ‘classic’ Christmas dinners in the sky this festive period

Featured image: Supplied

Travel & Tourism

Record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Drivers are being told to prepare for long queues, as a record number of festive trips are predicted across the UK ahead of the big day.

With the festive season generally known to make the roads nationwide busier than usual, travel warnings have now been issued to all those making Christmas getaway trips for the holidays – with an annual study by the RAC and INRIX suggesting that 29 million journeys are planned before Christmas Day arrives.

Nearly half of these journeys (14.3 million) are set to be crammed into this coming weekend.

But, as Christmas falls mid-week this year, the figures suggest there will be an extended period of ‘pre-Christmas panic’ on the roads, with 5.7m trips taken yesterday and today alone.

The true festive getaway kicks off tomorrow (20 December), with an expected 3 million trips on this day, before the figure then jumps up to 3.7 million and 2.9 million this coming weekend (Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 December) – which is the final weekend before the big day itself.

A record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year / Credit: Geograph

By far the single busiest day, however, has to be Christmas Eve, with 3.8 million separate getaway journeys expected by car, on top of the final flurries of commuter traffic.

To make matters worse for everyone, the RAC’s research has also revealed that a further 4.7 million trips are expected at some point between the 20 and 22 December, and 2.5 million on either the 23 or 24 December, all coming from motorists who haven’t yet decided which day they’ll travel.

When it comes to the best and worst times to travel over the festive period, the research has revealed that the worst time to travel along major routes will be between 1pm and 7pm, especially tomorrow and Saturday, so both the RAC and INRIX are suggesting that drivers set off early in the morning, or later in the evening when the heaviest of the traffic should have subsided.

Read more:

After the big day, there are an additional 4.4 million trips predicted on Boxing Day and 3.8 million on Friday 27 December.

On these days, drivers are advised to avoid major roads during the hours of 10am to 3pm, which is when journeys are expected to take significantly longer than usual.

Featured Image – Vladimir Proskurovskiy (via Unsplash)

More Travel & Tourism

News

A third of Brits want police to immediately ban drink drivers at the roadside

News

Avanti West Coast staff set to strike on major days over festive period

News

New ‘B Plates’ introduced so drivers can identify themselves as being bad at parking

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches