Any of you out there with young kids right now - I DO NOT envy you. With schools closed, you're back to having to entertain your little gargoyles at home, with a little bit of help from the BBC, Joe Wicks and inevitably - Disney+. What you wouldn't give for one of Manchester's museums to be open right now eh!? Well, unfortunately I don't have any news that will alleviate your worries right now, but once we're living in a post-pandemic world - this will come as a delight to you and your little ones. Over at the fantastic Science & Industry Museum, they're completing the final stages of their brand-new Special Exhibition Gallery, ready for it's opening (hopefully) in March. Located on the lower ground floor of the museum's Grade II listed New Warehouse, the new space has been designed by award-winning architects, Carmody Groarke, and will...

"originate and host some of the world’s best science exhibitions, helping to establish the museum as a beacon for contemporary science and a major cultural destination for years to come."

The plan is for the Special Exhibitions Gallery to open in March (lockdown permitting) with the inaugural exhibition, 'TOP SECRET' - a free exhibition that will focus on the world of codebreaking, cyphers and secret communications and features items from the Science Museum Group's and GCHQ’s historic collections. From the trenches of the First World War to the latest in cyber security, Top Secret will explore over a century’s worth of communications intelligence through hand-written documents, declassified files and previously unseen artefacts. Visitors can:

- Trace the evolution of the gadgets and devices used to conceal crucial messages and to decode the secrets of others. - Hear from GCHQ staff doing top secret work to defend against terror attacks and serious crime and discover the challenges of maintaining digital security in the 21st century. - Explore the story of Alan Turing and the team of Bletchley Park codebreakers who broke the Enigma code in 1941, uncover spy-craft from 1960’s Cold War espionage and challenge friends and family to become codebreakers in the interactive puzzle zone.

The new Exhibition Gallery forms part of a multi-million pound restoration project that is underway at the museum, conserving the site’s historic buildings, opening up new spaces and creating a more sustainable museum. You can find out more here... More Info