There's a direct train from Paddington, iirc. UK people please fill in.
An on-site museum of the WW2 Enigma code breaking activities, where they happened. This is where Alan Turing worked. Live demonstrations of the 1940s eras computer "bombes".
But, perhaps, most of all:
A chance to visit a historic site.. the activities there could very well have decided the outcome of WW2.
There's also a neat live retrocomputing display of early home computers. And it also happens to be a very lovely area to hang around in - nice buildings, park areas, ponds etc.
Bletcheley has a far, far better discussion about Turing and his influence, and far better displays of the Code Breaking work, along with the associated machines.
I last went to the Science Museum about 5 years ago and all the precision models were gone - some of which were so clever and detailed they should have been exhibits in their own right. Just a couple of hints that they once had extreme skill in model making are left. A good chunk of the multimedia and electronic displays and "experiences" were dysfunctional in some way, and a lot of the classic topics had exhibits that appeared simply worn out. The basement "scientific art exhibition" was about 5 token exhibits in a space the size of a football field, and a few dozen people finding somewhere quiet to sit and eat their sandwiches. The top floor (I think) was the for children interactive, sponsored experience. More was broken than not. The cafe with eye-watering prices seemed the most recent and best maintained exhibit.
I was so disappointed - so were the people we took, for whose benefit we made the trip at all. Manchester MSI is far better at being a science museum nowadays. Have to start to wonder if my extreme love of the place in the 60s-90s stems as much from nostalgia and rose-tinted specs. It's deeply sad, and should be criminal, that it's been allowed to decline that far - it was once a world renowned national asset.
I have to admit a deep sadness at the recent closure of the old Wellcome collection on the fourth and fifth floor; this gallery had been left largely unchanged in several decades, but it had a powerfully evocative atmosphere. It was nearly always empty (hence the understandable decision to close it) and was poorly signposted from the rest of the museum, so it felt almost like urban exploration, creeping through a once-cherished but now abandoned site. By the passage of time, it had become a sort of meta-museum, presenting a historical perspective on the history of medicine. The galleries have been preserved for posterity by Google, but pictures can't really capture the feeling of stepping into a museum that is itself a museum exhibit.
https://artsandculture.google.com/streetview/science-museum-...
I imagine budget for proper replacement displays, modelling, maintenance and restoration is far harder than it used to be... Some of those exceptionals, both known and lesser known in storage, deserve far more than they now often get.
> recent closure of the old Wellcome collection ... powerfully evocative atmosphere
Ugh. That hard to define atmosphere is the part that seems to being modernised away, and a good part of what I increasingly miss. Whether it's too many "clean" experiences with acres of empty space and a few exhibits spotted around, or the changing nature of the interactive models I'm not sure. Certainly I think a lot of the screen based stuff would be better as interactive experience on the website than in the building, though when it's additional to other means, it can often work.
I wish a lot more of how they managed was additive rather than replacing great swathes with a whole new design. Most, though not all, of the new plastic and electronic approaches seem far poorer in terms of lasting, and often less engaging.
The parts I often enjoy most are the esoteric, failed but promising ideas, and the day-to-day that we forgot. So I like the odd little packed displays of thirties electricals, analogue computers,
> By the passage of time, it had become a sort of meta-museum
This is one unexplored area they could do so much more with. Beautiful teak and brass cabinets with a perfect cutaway replica of a steam turbine or whole power station might not be the modern way to do it, but they were lasting and beautiful of themselves. 8 or 10 year old me couldn't leave the place until I'd turned every handle. :)
I'm sure there's scope for a huge, and fascinating self-referential meta-museum of presenting museum science, model making and all the other back room activities through the ages. Include some of the long forgotten exhibits that included the scent of machine oil, carbon electrical brushes, the metallic bite of a little ozone and sprinkling of burnt dust - like all machinery used to come with. Oh, and a selection of those ancient models the kids can try, and fail, to break by winding too fast.
Maybe we need a museum of the museum - maybe that's V&A's territory. :)
I just hope that now Manchester Science and Industry are under the same group it brings the London Science Museum up, rather than Manchester down.
Go on a weekday morning and you’ll be there in 40m.