Salford Museum & Art Gallery

A week or two ago I posted a round-up of great places to visit in and around Greater Manchester, one of those places was Salford Museum & Art Gallery. It’s not a place I had been to but was recommended by another blogger.

I decided it was somewhere that was worth a trip out to, so earlier this week the children and I got the train to Salford to spend a couple of hours taking a look at the Museum.

Getting there

Salford Museum & Art Gallery is really well located and was just around the corner from the Salford Crescent train station – genuinely a two-minute walk. Salford Crescent is a busy train station with regular connections from the main Manchester stations.

Driving wise it’s well located and there is a small car park at the front, as well as some University car parks around the local area that don’t look to be prohibitively expensive.  It’s worth noting that the museum is closed on Mondays.

Arriving at the museum

The museum is beautiful and located in a really pretty area. We went inside and it was lovely and bright and after being provided with a map and a ‘what’s on guide’ we were shown which was to go for the various areas. We nipped to the loo then headed straight to Lark Hill Place.

Lark Hill place is amazing, and really really well done. It is a re-creation of a typical Victorian street, and it’s a wonderfully atmospheric place to immerse yourself in. There’s opportunity outside here to dress up in Victorian style clothing (but my three were a bit reticent about doing this). There are lots of information boards outside to explain about life in the Victorian Era and how it might have been.

Lark Hill Place

We spent a decent amount of time in Lark Hill Place, looking into the various shops and the children trying to determine what they were for. It was interesting at the Tobacconists to consider just how much things have changed with regards to the sale of tobacco – I can remember the time of large scale advertising campaigns with billboards, TV adverts and sports sponsorship, but my own children didn’t even really know what smoking is. The enjoyed looking at the toy shop and it was fun to see that the toys of 100 years ago are still the sorts of toys that appeal today; rocking horses and train tracks!

Lark Hill Place is really very fascinating and for anyone studying Victorian or social history, it’s worth a visit. The street includes a general grocers and food store, printers, a toy shop, a tobacconist, a pub, a chemist (with an interesting sign that says ‘Mrs Driver, bleeder with leeches’!). There are examples of houses of varying class, a pawn shop, blacksmiths and a cloggers and possibly one of two more.

The Lark Hill Place section is so very well done, the detailing is superb and the children are keen to re-visit on a day that the sweet shop is open!

The Art Gallery

We had a good look around the art gallery, and on the way up, at the top of the stairs, there is a fabulous painting that really captures Emma’s attention. We stood for a good while looking at the characters, and, with the aid of an information sheet, managed to identify a good number of them. Once in the main gallery, there is a lot to see and we spent some time looking at various pictures and imaging the stories behind some of them

We then moved along and went in to see the A-Z collection, which is a really clever idea of displaying the museum’s pieces. Harry liked the tram in this section and they all loved the gigantic doll’s house! There’s a lot to see in here and there was such a wide array of things to see and spot.

Refreshments

Salford Museum and Art Gallery is free to visit, so usually when places are free to enter I like to at least get a coffee. As we were on the train we stopped to get some lunch. The menu isn’t huge but it’s got a good selection of lunchtime snacks. I had a bowl of soup (which was delicious) and the children had a lunch box (freshly made sandwiches, drinks, Pom-Bear crisps and fruit). It was well priced and the food was really good and fresh. We then shared a delicious cake before making our way outside.

I was really pleasantly surpised by the Salford Museum and Art Gallery. There’s a fair to see and do, and if you get an eye on their website there’s plenty of things on over the holidays.

 

You could also head over to Ordsall Hall which is a short journey away – it’s fabulous!