Photo of the Week: Manchester Museum

Once in a while I pop to Manchester Museum to have a look at the exhibits.  This time I fancied trying out the cafe there called Cafe Muse.  The food was nice (I had a hot roast turkey ciabatta with cranberry sauce), although the cafe was jammed packed with families as it was the summer holidays.  Thankfully I found a quiet little spot in an alcove with a couple of foreign students.

The museum is a beautiful Victorian building and it is a pleasure to wander through the exhibits.  As it was the summer holidays the museum is geared to cater for the younger audience with rooms set aside for activities. 

One of the major draws to the museum is the Egyptology section, which is well presented.  However I do have a problem with the exhibition showing human remains, even though they are thousands of years old.  It's just a personal opinion, although the museum do show them with dignity.

I really like the main gallery area of the museum as it reminds me when I first visited as a child with school.  I remember not filling in the worksheet we were supposed to complete on our visit.  Knowing me I was too distracted looking at everything.

The only drawback for me with this section are the stuffed animals.  Unfortunately I have a longstanding phobia of taxidermy, which stems back from childhood when one of my Mum's cousins used to have a stuffed fox in her hallway.  That said I love the use of neon in this section, which gives the space a contemporary feel.  On the top level of the gallery is a picnic areas for families to eat their packed lunches.  I think that's a nice touch as the cafe is too expensive for families on a budget.

My favourite exhibition was about the history of Whitworth Park.  It was tucked away in a quiet corner of the museum, but I love social history and it was nice to find it here.

Manchester Museum is great for families and the museum certainly caters well for them.  Although next time I go I'll try to go midweek when the kids are at school, as they kept running into shot when I was taking photos.

Here are a couple of photos from my trip:

©Anne-Marie Marshall 2014

©Anne-Marie Marshall 2014