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Collections

Our collection documents 250 years of discoveries and innovations that began in Manchester and went on to influence the world. In this section of the blog, we want to shine a light upon the achievements and experiences of the people behind those stories.

Associate Curator Abigail Wilson takes a look at the items in the Top Secret: From ciphers to cyber security exhibition and in our collections that tell the story of Alan Turing’s incredible life and career.

In this blog, Senior Curator of Industrial Heritage Katie Belshaw examines Manchester’s unique relationship with rain, the industries that have been born out of its reputation for precipitation and the scientists whose study of drizzle helped drive their discoveries.

Associate curator at the Science and Industry Museum, Alison Crook, explores the history of cycling in Manchester, delves into our collection to track the history of the two-wheeler, and shines a spotlight in one Manchester inventor who changed the face of cycling forever.

The Science and Industry Museum is just full of old stuff, right? Wrong! The stories we tell haven’t finished, so why should our collecting?

We weren’t the only ones cooped up during lockdown. In this blog, Rachel Rimmer, our Conservation and Collections Care Manager, looks at how her team prepared for leaving the collections and objects on their own and how having no visitors brought some unexpected advantages.

Did you know that we have one of the original eggs from the Alien movies in our collection? It’s definitely one of the most unusual objects in our collections (which at several million objects is saying something!)

Last September, the museum was thrilled to welcome the iconic Stephenson’s Rocket back to the place where it had worked over 180 years ago. But the time has now come to say goodbye as it continues its tour and moves on to our sister museum, the National Railway Museum in York.

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