People's History Museum: Manchester Travel Guide (4.5★)

A pumping station full of protest

You walk in through a red-brick Edwardian hydraulic pumping station. It once pushed pressurised water under the city to power cranes and lifts. Since 2010 a modern extension has stood next to it on the Irwell embankment. The old engine hall is now a café and exhibition space, and the main galleries are in the newer wing above.

The museum calls itself the national museum of democracy. That means two centuries of ordinary people fighting for the vote, fair wages and a say in how they were governed. Expect ballot boxes, membership cards, posters and placards rather than crowns and armour.

What to look for upstairs

The two main galleries run in date order. Main Gallery One starts in the age of Peterloo and works forward. Main Gallery Two picks up the twentieth century and brings it close to the present day. Highlights include:

• Peterloo, 1819. Artefacts from the massacre at St Peter’s Field, a short walk from here, where cavalry charged a peaceful crowd demanding reform.
• Trade union banners. The museum holds the world’s largest collection, and many are huge painted silks you have to step back to take in.
• Suffrage material. Fitting for the city where Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union.
• Textile conservation. A specialist studio works on the banners. Look out for viewing points where you can see the work going on.

Two hours covers both galleries without rushing. Add more time if a temporary exhibition is on.

Getting to Left Bank

The address is Leftbank, M3 3ER. That puts you between Bridge Street and the river, at the Salford edge of Spinningfields. Salford Central station is the nearest rail stop, just across the Irwell. From the Metrolink, Deansgate-Castlefield and St Peter’s Square are both a walk of 10 to 15 minutes along Deansgate.

Easy pairings nearby:

• John Rylands Research Institute and Library on Deansgate, a few minutes away, for neo-Gothic reading rooms.
• Science and Industry Museum in Castlefield, for the industrial side of the same story.
• Manchester Cathedral and St Peter’s Square, where the Peterloo memorial now stands.

Timing it around Tuesdays and weekend afternoons

The doors are open from 10am to 5pm on Monday and Wednesday through Sunday. The museum is closed on Tuesdays, so this is the stop to move if your Manchester itinerary has a Tuesday gap. On weekends, try not to arrive between 1pm and 4pm. The galleries are busiest then, and the narrower displays upstairs fill up first.

Turning up at 10am on Saturday or Sunday gets you a clear hour in Gallery One before the peak. General entry has long been free, with donation points on site. Check the official website for paid special events before you plan around one.

Visitors usually head straight upstairs. The better route starts by reading the pumping station’s own history at ground level, so the building makes sense before the collection does. School groups are common on weekdays during term. The collection deals with real conflict, including Peterloo deaths and strike violence, so look over the text panels before bringing young children. Leave time for the shop, which stocks political history books and banner-themed prints.