As many of you may already know, the Science and Industry Museum in Castlefield, Manchester, is undergoing significant renovations. Over the past few years, several parts of the museum have been closed for refurbishment, including one of its key areas, the Power Hall. This space is central to the museum's original mission and houses an interesting and varied collection of stationary steam engines, many of which were salvaged from local cotton mills, along with a selection of replica, restored, and original railway engines that were originally built in Manchester. When the Power Hall's reopening was announced recently, the club felt this would be the perfect exhibition to visit.

We started our day at a local, historic pub before heading into the museum.

The reviews of the Power Hall were mixed, but since the museum is part of the national collection and entry is free for everyone, I won't provide a full review here.

After our visit, we reconvened at another historic pub in the area and enjoyed a relaxed and social afternoon.

To mark the 60th Anniversary of the club we got together to do what we do best - play with steam engines.

Unfortunately the rain gods were also out to play, but that wasn't going to put us off at all.

Starting at the Hazel Pear pub (Acton Bridge), we first visited the Tiger's Head in (Norley), then to the Carrier's Inn (Hatchmere), round to the Hare & Hounds (Crowton) and back to the Hazel Pear. The run was a total of 20 miles, including some challenging hills and a lot of water coming out of the sky! Nevertheless, it was completed by eight full sized steam engines, one miniature and a couple of vintage tractors. One engine joined on route and two stayed back at the pub.

Once back at the Hazel Pear we enjoyed a clean down, excellent buffet and live band.

Well done to everyone who braved the weather to complete the trip and special thanks go to those who worked behind the scenes to put the event together, you know who you are. A thoroughly great day, enjoyed by everyone, and a fantastic way to mark this point in the club's history.