The Kelham Island Museum in Sheffield is a must-see attraction for people interested in the…read moreindustrial history of not only Sheffield but the Midlands and North England. There are many intriguing exhibits (see my photos), and because of the informative displays it's also a wonderful venue for parents with children between, say, 8-16. Especially since children under 16 enjoy a free entry. Several times a day you can enjoy a working display of the largest surviving steam engine in England. That's great for the kids, of course. The entry fees for adults are £5.50 (standard) and £4.50 (concessions). The museum is located off the beaten track, a slow 15-20 minute walk from the city centre. But if you're an adult you can always fill up your "batteries" at the Kelham Island Tavern on Russell Street or The Fat Cat on Alma - both distinguished real ale pubs on the way to, or from, the museum. You will get an exhaustive and systematic overview on industrial history in this part of England (and both the temporary wealth for the plant owners - but also the dire living conditions for their workers). On a visit to Sheffield, this is one of the finest tourist attractions. Opening times: Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm Sunday 11am to 4.45pm

The museum was opened in1982 so they could preserve & show old industrial machinery etc that had…read morebeen used in the past or made in Sheffield.The museum stands on a man made island (hence the name)that is over 900 years old They have a great transport collection which includes the 1920's sheffield simplex car,a charron laycock & a rolls royce jet engine.There are also displays of products made in sheffield (spanners,knives,toast racks,saws) The 2,000 horse power river Don engine built by Davy brothers is housed here & is the most powerful steam working engine remaining & can still be seen steaming.Another great viewing here is of the grand slam bomb which is reckoned at being the heaviest in the world at 10 tonnes & they used to be carried by the lancaster bombers that were adapted to carry all the weight of these. They also have the Bessemer converter which is one of only three left in the world So here is a definate great exploring of the past day out & is only £4 for adults (accompanying children go free),they have a cafe,toilets,baby changing facilities,gift shop,parking & mobility access The only warning here is don't touch unless you ask first as most of the items held here are very dangerous

A fantastic asset to Rotherham. Great for kids! Also holding great Events. Disabled Friendly Too!read more

Magna is located in an old steel plant just off the M1 in Rotherham. It is clearly signposted and…read moreeasily found. It is a hands-on interactive science learning centre, primarily aimed at children, although adults can learn things as well. There is no heating in the building, so be prepared to wear your coat all day if it's cold. It is also quite dark in places, which creates an eerie feeling, like walking through an abandoned building. Inside there are four main areas, or pavilions, which are based on the four elements (Fire, Air, Earth and Water) and an exhibition area. There are also two fun/playareas outside: Sci-Tek an adventure playground) and Aqua-Tek (a very wet play area). The first thing we encountered was an exhibition on colour, what it is and how it effects our lives. This is a good exhibit, and if you don't know the difference between addictive and subtractive colour mixing, then this will teach you! You walk past the restaurant, and enter the main part of the building. Each of the pavilions is on a different level and there are stairs and lifts for access. We headed of towards Fire first. To get there you have to walk along a long gantry which runs alongside one of the old furnaces. It is very dark here with very little natural light. Every hour there is a display of how the furnace worked using lights and pyrotechnics which lasts about 10-15mins and is very good. In the Fire pavilion you can find out about fire and heat. The displays range from heating up a piece of wire with electricity, to how heat is used in making steel and there is an impressive fire-tornando in the centre of the room. Our next stop was up in an air-ship which was the Air pavilion. Here we found out how a dyson vacuum cleaner works, all about sound and various other things. Two floors down is the Water pavilion. Again this is hands on, so expect to get a bit wet. You can learn all about whirlpools, water flow and play with an industrial water soaker. Good fun for little ones! Down underground is the Earth pavilion. This is all about rocks and other natural resources. You can pretended to excavate rocks, carry them in a wheel barrow and watch how they move around a convey-belt system like a real quarry. It's even possible to lift yorself of the ground by pulling on a rope. There are three eating areas in the building: a restaurant which provides hot meals and sandwiches, a cafe (which we didn't sample) and a large area for eating picnics. This is also a reasonable gift shop which sells science related products and toys. This is a good example of a hands-on science museum that teaches children all about science without them realising. However, you'll probably find they want to spend all they're time outside playing in the play areas - probably the Aqua-Tek one. It is a good idea to bring either a swimming costume or a spare set of clothes for them as they will be absolutely soaked. Should you find you have finsihed here and there is still some time left in you day, then just 5mins away is Meadowhall Shopping Centre.

Pleasant gallery/museum to kill an hour when in Sheffield. A five minute walk from Sheffield…read morestation. This is a modern building that houses various small exhibitions, not to be confused with the Graves Gallery, the city's art gallery, which is located close-by. The Millennium Gallery focuses on some visiting/special exhibits as well as on a few permanent exhibitions, like the "John Ruskin Collection" - a 19th century selection of various crafts and natural history objects, with a few watercolors and paintings thrown in for good measure, that the philosopher John Ruskin collected to create a small museum for the working class of the time, most of them being kept ignorant of history and the arts by the ruling classes. While none of those objects are in any way spectacular, one can well imagine that they must have delighted and astounded their target audience at the time. Then, there's an permanent exhibit on Sheffield's history as a centre of metal and silver manufacturing in the late 18th and 19th centuries. This is actually the most impressive part of this gallery (see photos). Photography is allowed in these permanent exhibitions. The venue is free of charge, and it's bright, modern and friendly, with a long garden gallery that you can sit in and relax from the bustle of the city. There's also a café on the ground floor, as well as a small museum shop on the first.

Nice gallery in Sheffield city centre, just off of the Winter Gardens. When you enter, you are…read morefirst greeted with their extensive giftshop, filled with local goods. They have 3 main halls for exhibits - the permanent metalwork exhibit was the star for us. Very interesting to learn a bit about Sheffield's history, and there are a lot of pieces to look at. The gallery is not huge, I think we spent between 45 minutes and an hour there, but it's location means it's not exactly out of the way and it's free, so I would still recommend you pop in. It's also surrounded by a few nice restaurants and independent cafes, so I imagine it would be quite nice to visit around lunchtime.

A fantastic independent gallery with a 'get-involved' ethos, as well as exhibitions by…read moreinternationally renowned artists.

A nice art gallery in Sheffield which focuses on pre-20th century paintings mostly…read more Close to the Millennium Gallery, which is more of a museum, there is the Graves Art Gallery, located - somewhat confusingly - above the city's central library. It's on of the third floor of a historic, Grade II listed building. Perhaps, and this is just a suggestion, they should get their own place. It's a smallish art gallery by the standards of British cities - after all, Sheffield is the 5th biggest in the country. While there are few major masterpieces (one is a pre-Raphaelite painting by Edward Burne-Jones), it's a likeable "regional collection", so to speak. The focus is on traditional paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries, plus a changing temporary exhibit in Gallery I. Most of the permanently exhibited works are of British origin, though there are some minor international paintings as well. Nothing earth-shaking, but nothing boring either. Long story short, it's a good place to kill an hour or two when in Sheffield. Photography, due to copyright restrictions, is allowed only in the 19th century and before galleries. Which is great for those of us who care.

I went to the Graves gallery to see the Andy Warhol exhibition last year. It was called "Andy…read moreWarhol: Late Self-Portraits" and featured some of Andy's most iconic work in the spacious, clean building that sits atop a huge library. The exhibition offered a unique insight into the 'real' Andy Warhol from the people who knew him best - a series of audio recordings of Warhol's family and close friends talking about the artist's childhood, relationships and approach to his work. The area was small but it sufficed, a nice little gift shop at the end where I bought a couple of postcards to send to my American friends. I loved the presentation of the work - it was very Warhol and complimented the minimalistic nature of his work. I took my grandma to see it because she is like me - constantly thirsty for knowledge and art - and she loved it as much as I did, sitting at the circular table which housed the tape recorders and listening for ages to the recollections. The only bad thing I could say was that it contained neither the famous soup can image, nor the Marilyn Monroe piece. I would have ended this review by recommending you to go see the exhibition, but unfortunately it ended on the 1st of December last year! I would still urge you to visit the gallery, it is one of the most pleasant I have ever visited (and I have been to a LOT!).

Beautiful gardens quite a lot to see, didn't have time to see everything as you would expect for a…read moreBotanical Garden.

Sheffield is filled with nothing but the architecture beauty to the gorgeousness of natures. The…read moreparks and museums are free. Same applies for the botanical garden. I just love going to botanical gardens to look at what each city preserves or keeps in their garden, many will have other plants around the world. There is a water fountain that leads through the aisle to the green house. Weddings are held here and I can visualize the beauty of it. The green house is bigger than I thought it'll be when I was inside. There is also a bear pit, reminds me of The Gladiator. It is very beautiful and will have to come back one day again when it is warmer. Sheffield will always have a special place in my heart.

Bishops' House is a half-timbered house in the Norton Lees district of the City of Sheffield,…read moreEngland. It was built c. 1500. and is located on the southern tip of Meersbrook Park. It is one of the three surviving timber-framed houses in the city (the others being the Old Queen's Head and Broom Hall). It is known as Bishops' House because it was said to have been built for two brothers. John and Geoffrey Blythe, both of whom became Bishops. There is, however, no evidence that they ever lived in this housethe first known resident being William Blythe, a farmer and scythe manufacturer, who was living here in 1627. It is a Grade II listed building and has been open as a museum since 1976. It is managed by the Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust, and contains exhibitions on life in the 16th and 17th centuries with two rooms decorated in Jacobean Style. The house is within Meersbrook park, a local and bright woodland park. The House is easily accessed through both bus and car.

Given that the other review seems to have been taken from Wikipedia, I'll not describe it again…read more More info can be found at http://www.bishopshouse.org.uk/ Most information seems to be aimed mainly towards children or school groups. There are nice displays and several 'hands-on' opportunities for learning. It's probably a place to take children, rather than toddlers, as our toddler was a little bored, but we will be taking her again soon. It also looks like there might be reduced hours to visit in the near future, unfortunately.

I love going to this art gallery. It's central position is great (right ontop of the Central…read moreLibrary) for people who haven't been to galleries before and don't want to step off the beaten path. There is a good range of different modes of art, from classical paintings to sculpture and changing exhibitions. The gallery is of course, completely free, and because it's of a middling size, it doesn't take hours and hours to go around, but there is enough space and exhibits for it to be really worth a visit. I'd say that it's a hidden gem in the town centre, and well worth a visit! The only downside to Graves Art Gallery is that it is probably the main public gallery in Sheffield, and I really really wish there were more..hopefully, in time there will be!

I have spent many a saturday afternoon wandering round here! While not the biggest and best art…read moregallery ever, there are some interesting pictures and exhibitions. The majority of the collection remains the same but there are often temporary exhibitions which are of some interest and for free, well you can't really complain!