Manchester museums worth a wander

Graham Ashworth

@grahamashworth_mcr

8Items

Chorlton lad, done thirty-odd years in engineering, now got time to nose round the museums proper instead of just walking past them on match days. This is where I actually go, not the tourist leaflet version. All free bar the football one, and all worth an hour before you nip off for a dram.

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Manchester museums worth a wander — 8 items
Name	Address	City	Best For	My take
1Manchester Museum	The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL	Manchester	Dinosaurs, mummies and a proper South Asia gallery	Won a big European award recently and you can tell why. Stan the T-Rex alone is worth the bus fare. Sound for a rainy Sunday.
2Science and Industry Museum	Liverpool Road, Castlefield, Manchester M3 4FP	Manchester	Steam engines and the birth of computing	Power Hall's reopened after the works, all hissing and clanking again. Proper engineering, this - right up my street, that.
3Manchester Art Gallery	Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3JL	Manchester	Pre-Raphaelites and a decent cafe	Bit of building work going on but still plenty on the walls. The Ford Madox Brown alone'll have you stood there ten minutes.
4People's History Museum	Left Bank, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3ER	Manchester	Trade union banners and protest history	Does exactly what it says on the tin. Proper reminder of what this city's about underneath the shiny new flats.
5Whitworth Art Gallery	Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6ER	Manchester	Textiles and a lovely park setting	Right on the edge of Whitworth Park, glass extension lets the light flood in. Grab a coffee after and watch the students go by.
6National Football Museum	Cathedral Gardens, Manchester M4 3BG	Manchester	Match-day nostalgia and old shirts	Only one on this list you'll pay for, but if you're a Saturday regular like me it's a must. The old World Cup memorabilia gets me every time.
7Imperial War Museum North	Trafford Wharf Road, Trafford Park, Manchester M17 1TZ	Manchester	War history in a proper striking building	The building itself looks like it's been in a scrap. Big Air Shard viewing platform's worth the lift ride for the view over the Ship Canal.
9Castlefield Gallery	2 Hewitt Street, Knott Mill, Manchester M15 4GB	Manchester	Contemporary art from local and emerging artists	Not one for the guidebooks but I like popping in. Changes often enough that there's usually something new to squint at.