Free Museums in Clough Bottom Reservoir

"Located right in the heart of the city centre, the beautiful Manchester Art Gallery will open most areas of the gallery on May 19. Visitors will be able to explore an exhibition of works selected by artist Grayson Perry during Grayson’s Art Club, the popular Channel 4 TV series, as well as see its collection of 25,000 objects from across the centuries. You can walk in to most of the gallery, but will need to pre-book for Grayson's Art Club at manchesterartgallery.org"

"If you’re visiting the main gallery, you won’t need to book a ticket—you can just walk in. There will be lots to see including a new display, What is Manchester Art Gallery?. , which introduces the gallery, its origins, how the collection was formed and how it relates to Manchester and its people."

"If your kids love football then you can’t miss the National football museum. Throughout the museum, there are interactive objects, games and displays that will appeal to all ages. Their current activities and events programme is temporarily on hold but you’ll still find trails to take part in during your visit or you can download somr trails here before your visit."

"From people’s history to the people’s game - Manchester is also home to one of the world’s top museums of football - and amazingly, it’s free to get in!. Discovery Zone, National Football Museum. You approach the museum along the Football Walk of Fame which celebrates the greats of the game."

"Manchester is renowned for its football, the giants of Manchester City and Manchester United call the city home. Naturally then, so too does the National Football Museum. Some of the footballing world’s most important artefacts are here."

"The Whitworth relaunched in 2015 after a massive refurbishment and only went on to win an award for Museum of the Year by the Art Fund in its first year. They have a constantly changing display of collections and a wide spectrum of art in their temporary exhibitions. The Whitworth is located in South Manchester, I would recommend taking public transport as it’s quite a walk otherwise."

"The Whitworth is one of our favourite art galleries in the UK, a 50,000+ strong collection of works housed in one of the …"

"Travel a bit outside Manchester's city center to the Salford Museum and Art Gallery, which is situated int heart of Peel Park. First opened in 1850, the museum features both permanent displays and changing contemporary exhibitions, with free admission for all visitors. One of the museum's highlights is Lark Hill Place, a recreated Victorian street that lets visitors experience what life was like in Victorian Salford."

"Contemporary Six – The Gallery is a leading independent art gallery located in the heart of the city centre of Manchester opposite the beautiful Town Hall. Established in 2010 by Alex Reuben, the gallery is known for offering a warm and friendly welcome to art enthusiasts, collectors, and new visitors and explorers to the city. Specialising in original paintings, landscapes, portraits, abstracts handmade prints, sculptures, and ceramics."

"From Darrell Evanes’ scrap metal sculpture to Matthew Bourne’s natural abstracts, Contemporary Six’s repertoire is all encompassing. Having outgrown its former location of Royal Exchange Arcade, the gallery - founded by Alex Reuben in 2010 - now occupies an airy space on Princess Street, where it represents around 40 artists. Best feature: Contemporary Six offers the Own Art Scheme, which allows buyers to pay in monthly instalments"

"Located near Preston Dock, the Ribble Steam Railway museum invites you to hop aboard a heritage train ride on one of their working steam trains. The museum makes a fantastic and interactive day out for all the family, delving into Preston's historical links to steam trains and Preston Dock. See their Diesel Locomotives, Steam Locomotives, miniature railway, and much more."

"This attraction features well-maintained locomotives that date back more than 100 years. A preserved railway, it is now also the home of the collection from the Southport Railway Museum and was opened to public access in 2005. It also operates passenger services from Preston Riverside to and from Strand Road Crossing."

"CFCCA is the UK leader in Chinese visual culture, with a reputation for debut solo exhibitions and a roster of internationally-renowned artists; impressive considering that, three decades ago, it was just a series of events in Manchester’s Chinatown. As Manchester’s Chinese population is second only to London’s, the centre’s heritage is particularly important; now represented in a new archive and library. Best feature: A vibrant events schedule, spanning film screenings to workshops and even Mandarin lessons"

"Centre For Chinese Contemporary Art is a unique art gallery with a year-round programme of socially engaged exhibitions, events, and artist residencies. They have over 30 years experience of working with emerging and established artists to provide a space for conversation, debate, and cross-cultural exchange. They are the go-to place to discover new artists and explore relevant global issues from different international perspectives."

"CFCCA reopens with a duo of exhibitions investigating and unpicking themes of belonging, identity and citizenship in a globalised and hyper-connected society. Housed in CFCCA’s Northern Quarter galleries, the exhibitions are just a few minutes’ walk from the Arndale Shopping Centre. Multiplicities in Flux brings together works by contemporary artists Grace Lau and Eelyn Lee in a dialogue around identity and belonging."

"Obstructions, Castlefield Gallery’s locked-down exhibition, will open for just five days from 19–23 May. Originally due to open on Saturday 21 November 2020, and only able to welcome visitors in the virtual realm since then, the exhibition was conceived during what now feels like the early days of the pandemic. 15 artists from the North West of England were invited to remake an existing piece of their work with one condition: they had to accept a bespoke ‘obstruction’ given to them by another artist in the exhibition."

"One of the city's hidden gems, Castlefield Gallery will be able to show its Obstructions exhibition in real life for the first time - for five days only. Obstructions brought together 15 artists from across Greater Manchester during lockdown. The gallery is open from May 19 and you can see more at castlefieldgallery.co.uk."

"Located in Manchester’s city centre, Castlefield Gallery is an art gallery and agency showcasing new and contemporary fine art while also running a scheme for career development for contemporary artists."

"The Pendle Heritage Centre sits right at the heart of Lancashire’s hill country beside an ancient crossing of Pendle water. The gallery and craft shop offer displays of work and exhibitions by professional crafts people and artists, while the museum contains a wealth of information about the history and development of the farmhouse."

"Manchester’s other football team is Manchester City, and you can tour their stadium and club and learn all about their history. Tours will take you behind the scenes and you will even get the chance to see areas such as the player’s dressing rooms. Again, this is another one for the football fans out there so if you’re not into football, you’ll probably wanna skip this."

"The home of Manchester City FC was built to house the 2002 Commonwealth Games, but a condition of its building was that it could be converted from an athletics stadium into one suitable for football, and this was carried out shortly after the games…"