Greater Manchester mayors visit Stephenson’s Rocket

Please note: Stephenson’s Rocket is no longer on display at the Science and Industry Museum. To find out what exhibitions and activities are open today, visit our What’s On section.

So it is particularly fitting that the iconic loco was on display here at the Science and Industry Museum during the annual visit of Greater Manchester’s mayors, organised by the Greater Manchester Transport Heritage Partnership.

The mayors were welcomed to the museum by our director, Sally MacDonald, who spent a few minutes explaining the significance of the site to Rocket’s history. After the visit, Sally said:

“It is always an absolute pleasure to welcome the Greater Manchester mayors and Greater Manchester Transport Heritage Partnership to the museum, but this year it was particularly special to be able to show them the magnificent sight of Stephenson’s Rocket back in Manchester after 180 years, here at the terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway for which it was designed.”

The mayors arrived in a vintage bus that was built in Stockport, and as part of their visit also had the chance to watch our Revolution Manchester Show, which explores Manchester’s role as the nerve centre of the Industrial Revolution.

Here we share some images from the visit: