Collections

Have you ever wondered what our curators’ favourite collection items are? Here, assistant curator Lewis takes us through his rather surprising pick.

The Science Museum Group is delighted to announce that Peterborough Cathedral have won the competition to host Tim Peake’s Spacecraft Tour later in 2018.

A full 10 years before Neil Armstrong made his first steps on the moon, a company based right here in Manchester was making space suits. That company was P. Frankenstein and Sons Ltd.

To celebrate 2018 as being the Chinese Year of the Dog, ‘Barketing’ Assistant Shannon picked out four of her most paw-esome dog related items in the museum’s collection.

Long before this museum stood on the site of Liverpool Road Station there was an “unofficial” museum here displaying some railway treasures.

We have been working with the BBC to tell the stories of how humans built their great civilisations—using some very modern technology.

In 1914, Manchester was one of the biggest motor manufacturing cities in the world. Two decades later cars had become part of our everyday lives—but Manchester’s dominance had faded.

At the Museum of Science and Industry, Heritage Lottery Funding has helped acquire two fascinating objects, Richard Arkwright’s water frame and the only surviving piece of equipment from the Manchester hydraulic power system.

Curators are creative folk—and spending all day with the amazing objects in our collections can lead to some interesting trains of thought.

Textile production and computing—two of Manchester’s most important historic industries—are brought together in the Jacquard loom, on display in our Textiles Gallery.

This year, as part of Manchester Science Festival, we are working with Cornbrook Creative as they present A Grand Exposition: a three-day celebration of art, science, and the creativity that connects them both.

Robert Peston and his guests were under strict instructions to not eat the croissants on his desk. Exactly why were ITV’s pastries left untouched?