We start the day at the Museum of Science and Industry. The special exhibition is Robots (entry fee extra). We think of robots as a modern invention, but we've been harnessing the power of robotics for more than 500 years. Get close to a unique collection of over 100 robots, from a 17th century dancing wine goblet and an animatronic baby, to Maria from 1927 film classic Metropolis and a news-reading android from Japan. Go behind the scenes and discover recent developments in robotic research, and learn how robots are being built to resemble us, interact with us and think like us.

On 15 December 2015, Major Tim Peake embarked on the Principia mission to the International Space Station, where he spent six months orbiting Earth. Thanks to extraordinary leaps in communication technology, we watched as he broadcast live experiments, walked in space and even ran the London Marathon. On 18 June 2016, Tim returned to Earth in the Soyuz TMA-19M descent module. Now you can have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a close look at this historic spacecraft - complete with scorch marks from its re-entry through the atmosphere.

The museum's permanent collections, based around the world's first railway station, includes trains and steam engines, the history of the textile industry that made Cottonopolis, and the Air and Space Hall.

After lunch we visit Elizabeth Gaskill's House. The House, now a Grade II* listed property, was built between 1835-1841 on the outer edge of the growing city. It was built as part of a new suburban development planned by Richard Lane and is a rare example of the elegant Regency-style villas once popular in Manchester. During the time Elizabeth lived here she wrote nearly all of her famous novels, including Cranford, Ruth, North and South and Wives and Daughters. She also wrote the biography of her friend Charlotte Brontë, plus many lively letters. Notable visitors to the House included fellow writers Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, John Ruskin, the American abolitionist and novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe and musician Charles Hallé. William and his two unmarried daughters, Meta and Julia, continued to live in the house after Elizabeth’s death in 1865. When Meta died in 1913 the house and its contents were sold. Visitors to the house can find out about Elizabeth and William’s work, explore the lives of their daughters and servants and discover the Manchester that the Gaskells knew.

Nearby is the Pankhurst Centre. It is the birthplace of the Suffragette movement, and now houses a small museum and heritage centre that remains as a legacy to the Pankhurst family and the Suffragette movement, and also serves as a women’s community centre. This historically significant building was the home of Emmeline Pankhurst and her family who led the Suffragette campaign for Votes for Women, and is the place where the first meeting of the Women’s Social and Political Union was held. The heritage centre has information about the Pankhursts and the Suffragette movement.

Coach leaves Winsford @ 8.30am through to Northwich Memorial Court @ 9.00am
Full list of pickup points and times here - schedule (c).
£18 (entry fees extra) - book online
or phone Carol on 07932927694 to reserve your ticket

Back