Julie Page

Explorer Tom The Manchester Museum can take Tom from a dinosaur to the stories of Manchester's South Asian communities before he has finished one boast. On Oxford Road, the university's collections bring nature and human history into rooms that ask how objects were gathered and whose voices explain them. It is a lively place to be curious, and to change your mind. The museum first opened in 1890 and grew into one of Britain's large university collections. A major rebuilding brought a new entrance and galleries when it reopened in 2023. The South Asia Gallery was developed with local communities to tell the histories and contributions of the diaspora; the Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery adds another set of perspectives. In the Fossils and Dinosaurs Gallery, Stan the Tyrannosaurus rex shares attention with other evidence of deep time. Stan is a cast of a real fossil skeleton, not a recently discovered Manchester resident. General museum entry is free. Its visitor page lists public opening days, while the main temporary exhibition needs advance booking. The Vivarium is due to close for redevelopment from 2 November 2026, so check that notice if frogs are your main reason to go. Walk from the fossil gallery to a community-made display and notice how differently each room asks you to think about evidence. Tom says Stan asked him for a tour of the city and insisted on the front seat of the tram. Neither the tram nor its driver has confirmed this. Come for a favourite subject, then let an unfamiliar gallery steal some of your afternoon.