A visit to Manchester Sci and Eng Museum

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Posted by lfoggy on 02/05/2019 23:53:05:

The 'Deutsches Museum' in Munich is by far and away the best museum of science and technology I have ever visited. A must for anyone interested in mechanical engineering of any sort. There is an exhibition of machine tools and manufacturing that alone is as big as the museum in Manchester. And it has not succumbed to the tendency to dumb down and infantilise everything like so many British museums. Last time I was in Munich I spent two days there….

+1 for the Deutsches Museum, if anyone finds themselves in Munich then make some time for a visit, it will be time well spent.

Mike

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

+ For Bolton steam museum also Ellenroad mill engine in steam first Sunday in month ( just outside Rochdale off M62 juction 21, Milnrow Look for mill chimney)

There is also a mill engine at Leigh Spinners not running see web site

Roy

[lfoggyParticipant @lfoggy]

Posted by Philip Burley on 08/05/2019 08:19:00:

Has anyone been to the Birmingham science museum lately ? I went round there about 30 years ago I found it well worth the trip . Is this still the case , or has this one dummed down as well ?

Regards

As Brummie I am disappointed to say the museum here is not great unless you are 10 years old. It used to be housed in an industrial building and had an atmosphere of Birmingham's industrial past. When it moved to the 'Think Tank' about 20 years ago it changed. Great pity really. Not worth a special trip but there are a few static exhibits that are of interest if you are passing.

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

Posted by Mark Simpson 1 on 08/05/2019 08:41:50:

If you are near Manchester then there are some great, less advertised museums….. Some of my favorites:

For textile machinery and some steam/water power Styal Mill is really good… A mile from Manchester airport **LINK** There is enough there for the non technical too

For serious Mill Engines The Northern Mill Engine Society in Bolton is great https://www.nmes.org/ Totally volunteer and especially when steaming a great day out… Easy parking and friendly people

Local favorite of mine, The Anson Engine Museum…In Poynton, south of Manchester, every kind of IC engines and some steam **LINK**. All volunteer and lots of knowledge, no idea how many engines here but way more than one hundred on display (In cold weather best to take your big coat )

All of these are heavy on exhibits, my kind of museum!

+1 for The Anson Museum, as someone who collects stationary engines I visit the museum at least twice a year for events and a look around, it and Internal Fire Museum of Power are the premier museums for big Industrial engines in this country.

Martin P

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Just to digress, the best science museum that I have visited is the Museum of Science and Industry located in Chicago, it is crammed full of first class exhibits. There is a reproduction of a coal mine located in the basement, reached via an elevator from the top floor, rigged to simulate a pit cage, very realistic. When you exit in the basement you are in a reconstructed coal mine complete with a pit railway system, it was so lifelike no expense had been spared. Another excellent exhibit is a captured German U-Boat located alongside the museum and reached via a tunnel which entered at one end of the vessel and you walk through the boat and using a Walkman commentary you are instructed on each area of operation in the boat. Just getting the U-Boat in position required lifting it from the adjacent lakeshore and winching it across a major highway which was closed for 22 hours while it took place. I believe that more expense on this exhibit has taken place as they have now housed it in its own exhibition hall. I was fortunate to visit the Chicago museum a few years ago when working in Wisconsin and we had a weekend to spare and visited the museum, the visit was excellent but I did not enjoy driving in Chicago, driving in America is ok but can be very stressful in the large cities. If anyone is contemplating visiting the Chicago area and have time to spare the museum is well worth a visit.

Dave W

[lfoggyParticipant @lfoggy]

Agree, the Chicago museum is superb. There is a long long list of other excellent museums in America.

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