Close By. Oxford Road

The Whitworth Art Gallery is on Oxford Road, Manchester’s so-called ‘cultural corridor’ that links the city’s universities with its museums, galleries and the city centre. Just a little further down Oxford Rd from the Whitworth, for example, you’ll find The Manchester Museum. It is part of the Alfred Waterhouse-designed university campus (Waterhouse also designed the gloriously neo-Gothic Manchester Town Hall). One of the UK’s leading university museums, with over three million objects in its stores, the Museum has an interesting history. It has, for example, a long association with Charles Darwin. When it opened in 1890, the Museum took as its guiding principle Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection – promptly setting itself up in competition with the then anti-Darwinist Natural History Museum in London. The result was impressive: the museum created a model for natural history museums that was subsequently copied across the globe.

It’s thus appropriate that in 2010, as part of the anniversary celebrations of the birth of Darwin, Manchester Museum goes all out to celebrate the life and legacy of the great man. The main event is Charles Darwin: Evolution of a Scientist. As befits the revolutionary scientist, the exhibition itself is no dry and dusty affair: it is presented in a graphic novel style, with illustrations from artist Chrissie Morgan, and includes objects that were collected and studied by Darwin himself, such as a finch he ensnared during the voyage of The Beagle.

The permanent collections at the museum are just as good: a full-size replica of a T.rex (rargh), more ancient Egyptian mummies than you can shake a scarab beetle at (woo) and the skeleton of Maharajah, an Asian elephant with a Mancunian past (aw)*, are just some of the highlights. Close by, Kro Bar is a good bet for Danish-inspired grub and atmosphere, though better for older families (stick to the museum’s café if your tots are toddling). This independent pub is housed in the former Temperance Society, a Grade II listed building on Oxford Road restored by local architects, Stephenson Bell – its original features merging sympathetically with newer ones. Closer to town you’ll find Cornerhouse, a contemporary art space that has recently hosted some of Manchester’s most exciting exhibitions, that also serves up good casual food.

* We once overheard a little boy ask what this tusked skeleton was. ‘It’s a woolly mammoth,’ replied his Dad confidently. He paused, peered at Maharajah’s old elephant bones and then added, ‘A very small woolly mammoth.’ Quite. You can find out more about Maharajah’s story, including his, er, ‘mammoth’ walk from Edinburgh to Manchester, here.

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The Manchester Museum, Oxford Road M13 9PL (0161 275 2634). Free. Kro Bar, Oxford Road M13 9PG (0161 274 3100). Cornerhouse, 70 Oxford Street M1 5NH (0161 200 1500). Images: Susie Stubbs and Steve Devine.