invented a hitherto unheard of machine: the water frame. It could spin fine yarn in a way which only hand driven spinning wheels had been able to do until then: but at an unprecedented speed. In 1771 Arkwright

them in the traditional kilns, before painting and glazing begins. Creative visitors can try their hand at the pottery wheel. Everything is just as it was here. The soot-black walls of the building, the

expertise on how to monitor, survey and control the London water supply network. They can also try their hand at steering a robot through pipes too small for human workers in order to find and eliminate any

weaving traditions and the rapid transformation of agricultural workers and homeworkers into factory hands. Extremely tall glass cases can be seen everywhere throughout the museum: the arrangement of exhibits

history of the Solingen cutlery industry in a more living manner. You would not believe how many hands scissors had to pass through before they were ready for sale. The amount to which the factory affected

1904 this number increased to six. At the end of the First World War they were all confiscated and handed over to the "Societe Anonyme des Forges et des Acieries de Nord et Lorraine". By 1965 they had been

talents of the colliers who knew how to exploit gravity to their own ends. This museum is all about hands-on activities. All the guides are ex-miners who can give you good solid information about the everyday

workings 100 m below the surface, many of which are narrow and difficult of access, and were worked with hand tools. It is also possible to view the mining landscape of the region from the top of the mine headstock

why not take a trip to the ropery. It is not only long but still in operation. You can even try your hand at making rope yourself on the machines which are up to 200 years old!

of the vast Dinorwig slate quarry. Here you can see slate-splitting demonstrations by traditional hand-craftsmen revealing the skills and artistry of generations of quarry workers. Much of the site still

museum. Here visitors can find out more about the past history of the local textile industry at first hand. In the offices they can eavesdrop on the clerks. Later they can travel alongside the bales of jute

course the museum also tells of the work in the local brickworks. At first everything was made by hand here. It was only in 1922 that machines began to take over production. These have all been preserved

the boat is particularly impressive. You get the impression that you are holding the rudder in your hand yourself. This can only be beaten by a trip on the Oscar Huber, the last remaining steam barge on

the Bochum suburb of Dahlhausen arouses a lot of nostalgia. On Sundays there is always a hand-lever trolley at hand on which to drive up and down the huge site to inspect the points, water tower, turntable

the path of the rat offers exciting experiences for children. But there is even more to discover: a hands-on foundry where visitors can try their skills as casters and moulders, a collection of ores including

techniques, spring mattresses, filigree jewellery and even a wire chain tanga. There are plenty of hands-on activities too. Visitors can try their skills on historic wire-drawing and rolling machines. In

return to the start of the region’s mining history when mines were small enough to get by with just a handful of pitmen. The main attraction in the engine room is one of the oldest steam engines in the region

the region and shows the history of technical improvements in the craft of forging from traditional hand forging via the tilt or stretch hammer to the mighty strap-lift drop hammer. On demonstration days

almost everything to do with the history of tool making in Germany and central Europe from a stone-age hand axe to computer-controlled machines. The star exhibits are the world’s first production furnace for [...] the industrialisation of tool making. Which stages in technological progress marked the path from hand-forged files to mechanical file cutting? What did this mean for the workers concerned? How are precision

expression of the latest state of technology; yet it has already taken on a museum function. On the other hand the housing settlement that looks like an open air museum is still a part of everyday life. The rise