It’s International Museum Day on 18th May so we’re flagging up three distinctive local destinations guaranteed to inspire and spark curiosity.
Leeds Discovery Centre
For a fascinating peek behind the scenes, Leeds Discovery Centre takes you beyond what museums put out on display with a vast array of remarkable objects and artefacts. The state-of-the-art collection store, located near the Royal Armouries, cares for a staggering 1.3 million objects spanning natural history, social history, and the ancient world – elephant skulls,a medieval log boat, mummy bandages, meteorites, a 1,200-year-old Saxon pendant, and a stuffed penguin, to name just a few.
Visits are by appointment only, public tours run every Thursday at 11am and 2pm, and group or school sessions can be arranged throughout the week. Researchers are welcome to enquire about specific objects, consult collections in the dedicated research room, or book handling sessions. It’s a genuinely unique experience that shows just how much a city can accumulate over centuries.
Museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk
MathsCity
Maths may not be everyone’s idea of a fun time, but even the most numerophobic among us are likely to be swayed by MathsCity. The UK’s first mathematics discovery centre opened its new home at Zurich House on Canal Wharf in Holbeck last year, offering more space and over 40 interactive exhibits to explore. Visitors can climb inside a giant soap bubble, step into a kaleidoscope, take on the laser ring of fire, or attempt to build a Leonardo Bridge without a single tool, screw, or bolt. There are also conic sections, mirror puzzles, and an enormous Newton’s Cradle.
The centre is run by MathsWorldUK, a charity dedicated to expanding engagement with mathematics and exploring its application in effecting real-world positive change through enjoyment and play.
MathsCity aims to show how a good relationship with mathematics and encouraging people to build skills in this area can be foundational in shaping our approach to tackling some of humanity’s most urgent challenges from climate change to societal inequalities and beyond.
National Science and Media Museum
Bradford’s National Science and Media Museum is one of the most visited museums outside London and reopened last year after an 18-month closure for a major transformation. The museum now boasts a gleaming new look and the addition of two new galleries – Sound and Vision and Wonderlab. Sound and Vision’s £6.8 million, two-floor project showcases over 500 objects from the museum’s world-class collections of photography, film, television, animation, video games, and sound technologies. Highlights include an animatronic March Hare built by The Muppets creator Jim Henson, an interactive recreation of Bradford Community Broadcasting’s radio studio, and a photography gallery tracing the art form from its earliest experiments to the present day.
Wonderlab is all about experimenting with science. Through mind-bending interactive exhibits and activities, visitors explore worlds of light and sound and are encouraged to touch, try, and photograph the experience. Hear your voice echo through a 15-metre-long tube, get lost in mirrors, make art using light, and travel through a laser tunnel. There’s also the Power Up area – an absolute must for gamers – which charts the amazing history and development of video games while offering a thrilling interactive gaming experience. The museum is also home to three cinemas including the largest IMAX screen in the region.
