Royal Armouries Museum Leeds Thackray Museum Leeds West Yorkshire UK

Royal Armouries Leeds

The Royal Armouries Leeds stands as one of the city''s top attractions. Purpose built to house the country's national collection of arms and armour, the museum's galleries take you through significant periods of warfare and weaponry development and include the war galleries Ancient and Medieval Warfare, 17th and 18th Centuries and 19th and 20th Centuries. Each of these galleries takes a close look via exhibits and film shows at the shifting technologies and war strategies during each of the time periods, culminating in the rapid pace of weaponry technology during the 20th century. On display is Hiram Maxim's first machine-gun, the birth of automatic weapons, which sees you in the World War 1 section and the extensive display of trench warfare weaponry including Vickers machine-gunner.

Other themed exhibition galleries include the fascinating 'Peace - Farewell to Arms?' exhibit in conjunction with the Bradford Peace Museum. The focus here is the idea of conversion from war to peace looking at areas such as the history of CND. More spaces include the Tournament Gallery, Self Defence and the Hunting Gallery tracing Hunting practice through the ages and into the realm of sport.

The distinctive Horned Helmet logo of the Royal Armouries is taken from one of the museum's prized treasures the Horned Helmet made in Innsbruck between 1511-1514 and given to Henry VIII by Roman Emperior Maximillian. Such treasures hint at what essentially is one of the world's best collections of weaponry here in the Royal Armouries Leeds. The Royal Armouries is also one of Yorkshire's best family attractions (like Jorvik in York queues build at the Royal Armouries in peak holiday season). Displays are superbly interactive for children and special events include jousting displays in the adjacent arena, special kids activity days and daily live performances which help bring history to life. A thoughtful and rigorously organised museum, you're looking at the hard facts via definitive collections, interactive display, film and live performance. The visitor makes up their own mind.

Royal Armouries Museum, Armouries Drive, LEEDS, West Yorkshire. LS10 1LT. Tel 24 hour information 08700 344 344. See the Royal Armouries Leeds webguide right for up-to-date opening times, events listings and kids activities days programmes. Entrance is free, but some charges apply for activiites and events. The Royal Armouries sits just south east of the city centre alongside the Aire & Calder Navigation at Clarence Dock. This historic Leeds waterfront area is seeing considerable renovation promising in the future an exciting mix of leisure facilities within a waterfront complex. The River Aire pushed west towards Victoria Bridge and Granary Wharf to connect with the Leeds Liverpool Canal, the longest single canal in Britain at 127 miles.

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Thackray Medical Museum Leeds

Just north of Leeds city centre you'll find the award winning Thackray Medical Museum housed within the Grade II listed old workhouse building of St James Hospital. The medical collection here is ever growing, and its roots stem from Paul Thackray's archive of the Leeds based international medical suppliers Chas F Thackray Ltd.

Combining a prized medical collection with superb interactive features and educational fun activities for children, the Thackray Museum is another of Leeds' top family attractions. Like Edinburgh's superb 'Surgeons Hall', you push back in time in galleries within the Thackray, touring the slum streets of Victorian Leeds to learn about public health and just why not many of Leeds' poorest residents lived past 40 years. Follow Hannah Dyson's grusome ordeal as she undergoes a leg amputation after a factory accident. The Lifezone interactive gallery guides kids through all aspects of the body - kids get to test their strength, see how high they can jump and so on.

The medical collection here at the Thackray is impressive, with over 35,000 objects held here. Prized collections are particularly in the areas of medical equipment and the medical supply trade archive. Some of the extensive photographic archive from the Chas F Thackray collection depicting the public health problems of Leeds between 1930 to 1970 are a fascinating highlight.

Thackray Museum, Beckett Street, Leeds, LS9 7LN. Tel. 0113 244 4343. The museum is spread over two floors, and has full wheelchair access throughout with adjacent orange badge parking. For opening times, directions and bus details from Leeds city centre checkout the Thackray Medical Museum's extensive webguide right.

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The New Leeds City Museum (Opening 2008) & Leeds Discovery Centre

Exciting new museum projects are afoot in Leeds, particularly around the new Leeds City Museum set to open in August 2008 based within the old Grade II listed Civic Institute building situated just off Millennium Square. This cutting-edge museum project, which has seen the largest injection of regeneration funds from the Heritage Lottery Fund in Yorkshire, will include the exhibitions 'Ancient Worlds', 'Living Planet' and an entire floor designated for the 'The Leeds Story' exploring the history of Leeds from pre-historic times to the present.

Highlight features will include the Central Arena where huge screens hanging from the ceilings will show film clips of Leeds life (much like the Imperial War Museum's main arena area in Manchester). Visitors will also be able to walk across an interactive large scale map of Leeds, picking out their own street if they're a Leeds resident. The project will further boosts Leeds' already fine choice of museums and many are waiting with baited breath.

In conjunction with the new Leeds City Museum, the new recently opened Leeds Discovery Centre near Clarence Dock serves as an accessible archive store for the huge Leeds Museums collections which are not on display. For more information and updates checkout the Leeds City Council Museums & Galleries weblink right.

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