Magna Science Adventure Centre, UK--Part I

Magna Science Adventure Centre is located in Rotherham, UK, inside an abandoned steelworks building. Manufacturing stopped there in 1993. The main building has been preserved as a tribute to its industrial history. Even the outside retains a very industrial look, with only the sign and the playground across the road indicating the more child-friendly changes that have happened since the 1990s.

The "M" is the big addition to the front

Still looks like a steel mill

The playground was wet so we didn't go

Inside, the first exhibit we saw was the "Face of Steel." It described the life of the steel workers and the various products they made.

The World War I memorial

A steel engine

Model of an electric arc furnace

L and the steel tea set

The back of the exhibit includes some of the tools that the workers used and some interactive exhibits. J and L loved interacting.

Robotic arm!

A warning sign

In one activity, visitors could use a long pole to catch a weighted cylinder which could then be swung around to bang into pipes, producing musical notes. J tried it out.

J guides the pole

The other end with the "bells"

J and L worked together on some smaller metal tubes to make music.

Easier to hit

J gets distracted

L managed to play a solo...



From the "Face of Steel" exhibit, we went up some stairs and found the main walkway across the building. The walkway has several displays (many interactive) that tell the stories of steel and of the workers at the mill.

J drags the screen around to see more about the story of steel

L learns steel mill vocabulary (technical vocabulary, that is)

Great big hooks

Great big coffee

Some of the mill floor

The indoor picnic area

I think that's supposed to be the Grim Reaper

In the next post, we'll go down the main walkway to the Fire, Air, Water, and Earth Pavilions to learn more about the natural world!