MANCHESTER.- The Science and Industry Museum marked a monumental milestone by welcoming visitors back inside one of the UK's most significant industrial heritage buildings.

Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery is a free working gallery that reopened on Friday 17 October, when visitors can immerse themselves in the sights, smells and sounds of the engine-driven ideas and industry that started in Manchester and went on to change the world. It is the latest building to reopen as part of a multi-million-pound regeneration project currently taking place across the Science and Industry Museum to conserve its historic buildings and reveal new spaces for all visitors to enjoy, play and learn in.

Expect the return of iconic engines, including some that are running for the first time in more than a decade, alongside a host of new interactives, perspectives and people stories that reveal the innovation of Manchester's industrial heritage.

Originally built as a shipping shed for the world's first inter-city steam powered passenger railway, Power Hall is a globally important, Grade II listed building. It was the building that the museum first opened back in September 1983, when it became home to one of the UK's largest collections of historic working engines.

Power Hall temporarily closed in 2019 to allow for urgent repair works, a pioneering de-carbonisation project to reduce the building's carbon emissions and a reimagining of its displays, interpretation and visitor experience.

A new experience

All the senses are engaged while exploring this living gallery that showcases a unique collection of historic 19th and early 20th century working engines, powered by 21st century, carbon-neutral infrastructure.

Stepping back inside Power Hall, visitors will rediscover iconic engines that powered everything from cotton mills to chip shops, electricity generators to railways. These include Pender, a steam locomotive used to transport holiday makers around the Isle of Man in the 1870s, which offers a unique view into its inner workings through its cut away side. The Durn Mill steam engine is also up and running. Originally used to power weaving machinery at an 1800s mill near Rochdale, engines such as this dramatically increased production and profits, which in turn increased exploitation both locally and globally. Returning visitors will also be pleased to see a replica of the Planet steam locomotive, built by skilled volunteers inside Power Hall in 1992. The original Planet pulled passengers between Liverpool and Manchester from 1830 to 1840 and was the next iteration of steam locomotive after Stephenson's famous prototype, Rocket.

There is also a wealth of new stories on display that focus on the people who have powered our lives both past and present. Whether it's one of the first women to have a full career as an electrical engineer, or a woman forced to pick cotton on American plantations that was supplied to Manchester's mills, or a present-day designer of wind turbines, or a control systems engineer who uses 'digital twins' to improve real-world industrial processes, Power Hall showcases the people whose skills and determination have shaped our relationship with energy, from the Industrial Revolution to greener futures.

Brand new interactives will get visitors' cogs turning as they build, pump, hammer and even crawl their way through a number of hands-on activities aimed at putting problem solving skills to the test. Creators of the future can experiment with motion, mechanics and building materials to discover what it takes to power industrial machines.