Manchester City Centre Accommodation

The Imperial War Museum - facinating both inside and out.

Urbis

The Lowery - they could charge just for looking at this wonderful piece of modern architecture.

Manchester Museum & Art Gallery

Manchester Central Library, overlooking the site of St Peter's Fields

Imperial War Museum, Urbis Museum of Transport, The Tramway, Greater Manchester Police Museum UK

Where to start? Manchester is crammed with museums on Science, industry, social history and transport, many of which are now FREE to enter. Take your pick from the assortment of some of the best museums below, such as The Imperial War Museum North, Museum of Transport, Manchester, The Tramway Museum, Urbis and Greater Manchester Police Museum. Find Manchester Hotels Find Manchester Accommodation Back to Greater Manchester Tourist Information

Imperial War Museum North

Marvel firstly at the architectural splendour of the metallic monolith that is the Imperial War Museum North, set on what was old Manchester dockland. Designed by Daniel Libeskind, it's shape is reflexive of a globe shattered by conflict and war. The three pieces of the building represent earth, wind and water.

The experience of this museum is indeed thought-provoking and harrowing, as it explores the experiences and memories of men, women and children and how 'war shapes lives', in the past and now in the present. The main exhibition feature is 'The Big Picture' which transforms every hour into a giant screen of audio and visual experiences of war. The pictures, taken from the IWM archive, surround you on walls, floor and ceiling and projected onto visitors themselves. Combined with audio effects this really is a moving and hard-hitting effect, the memory of which will stay with you.

There are five vast war objects on display, including a T34 Russian Tank and the six main displays cover areas such as 'Women and War', Experiences of War and Science and War.

The Imperial War Museum North, The Quays, Trafford Wharf Road, Trafford Park, Manchester, M17 1TZ, Tel: 0161 836 4000 Urbis Museum, Manchester

An unusual museum housed in a striking glass building with lift to the top for spectacular views of Manchester. The museum explores life in cities around the world.

www.urbis.org.uk

Museum of Transport, Manchester

Open 10am-5pm, Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays. An assortment of vehicles stretching back 100 years, with numerous photographs exploring the changing scene of transport.

Boyle Street, Cheetham Hill, (Off Queens Road), Manchester M8 8UW. Tel: 0161-205 2122 - www.gmts.co.uk

The Tramway Museum, Manchester

The Tramway Museum is a little known museum, located in Heaton Park in North Manchester. This fascinating museum is housed in what was a tram depot. Manchester's history is linked with trams, and now the modern equivalent - the Metro - darts about the city. At the museum there are plenty of photographs and ephemera of trams gone by, plus a small selection of trams. The museum also owns horse drawn trams.

www.mtms.org.uk

Greater Manchester Police Museum

Greater Manchester Police Museum is housed in what was a Victorian Police Station on Newton Street. Original cells, old uniforms and photographs and ephemera are all there, tracing the history of policing in Manchester.

Did you know that Clara Walkden was the first sworn in woman police officer in Greater Manchester, Oldham in 1921, and that in the early 19th century police officers had to wear their uniforms in and of duty, were not allowed to vote, and had to ask their Chief Constable for permission to marry. They also wore ridiculously tall top hats!

Open every Tuesday 10.30am to 3.30pm. For groups/archive researchers on other weekdays by appointment. Closed weekends and public holidays. Please allow 1.5 hours for your visit. All group visits must be by prior appointment. Recommended maximum group size 30. Access is presently limited to the ground floor for wheelchair users and people with limited mobility. Toilets available on site, but there is no parking for visitors and there are no refreshments available.

Greater Manchester Police Museum, Newton Street, Manchester, M1 1ES. Telephone: 0161 856 3287 www.gmp.police.uk/about_gmp/history.asp

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