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Fifteen minutes' walk southwest of St Peter's Square lies Castlefield , Britain's first "urban heritage park". Since the early 1980s, an influx of money allied to a fair amount of speculative vision has resulted in a cobbled canalside, outdoor events arena and some attractive cafe-bars. Find out about its various festivals, street markets, towpaths and canal cruises at the Castlefield Visitor Centre at 101 Liverpool Rd (Mon-Fri 10am-4pm, Sat & Sun noon-4pm; free; tel 0161/834 4026). The castle-in-the-field itself is a Roman fort whose reconstructed north gate and the foundations of a few houses can be seen on Liverpool Road. This is just a hundred yards from the Museum of Science and Industry (daily 10am-5pm; last admission 4pm; free, admission charge for special exhibitions; ), which mixes technological displays and special blockbuster exhibitions with trenchant analysis of the social impact of industrialization. Pride of place goes to a working replica of Robert Stephenson's Planet - for which his father George's Rocket was the prototype. Built in 1830, the Planet reliably attained a scorching 30mph but had no brakes; the museum's version does, and uses them at weekends (usually Easter-Nov Sat & Sun noon-4pm; Dec-Easter Sun only; small charge), dropping passengers a quarter-mile away at the world's oldest passenger railway station . A reconstructed Victorian sewer below the station illustrates the problems of sanitation in the 1870s, when poor areas were still using street-end standpipes. There's also a hands-on science centre and interactive gallery, and displays dealing with fibres, fabrics and fashion, while the museum's comprehensive selection of carding machines, bobbin threaders and cotton looms crash into action at weekends in the Textile Gallery. Another glimpse into the past is provided by Warehouse for the World , a sound-and-light show (free) which delves into the history of the warehouses whose goods fuelled Manchester's early wealth.
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