Power to the people

HALL REOPENING AT SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY MUSEUM

- By LIV CLARKE

THE Science and Industry Museum will next month reopen the Power Hall to the public with a free exhibition where visitors can experience the ‘sights, smells and sounds of the engines’ which powered the Industrial Revolution.

The Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery will open its doors once more on Friday, October 17 - just in time for the half term holidays.

It's the latest building to reopen as part of a multi-million pound regeneration project currently taking place across the museum.

Originally built as a shipping shed for the world’s first intercity steam powered passenger railway, the Grade II listed building was first used by the museum in September 1983, when it became home to one of the UK's largest collections of historic working engines.

In 2019, it was temporarily closed 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.

Now the ‘living gallery’ will showcase 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.