Good And Bad! (Magna ( Science Adventure Centre))

Member Name: TUVOK

Product:	Magna ( Science Adventure Centre)
Date:	08/04/02 (1003 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb Adventure Play Area, Great Range Of Themed hands On Activities, Huge!

Disadvantages: Some areas will Frighten Some Children, Needs More Signs, Alternate Routes to areas, larger lifts., Dark/Cold

Magna is a Science Museum situated in Rotherham in old steel foundries, its reasonably close to Meadowhall but I recommend a car to get there as it actually fairly out of the way and beyond regular walking distance from there.

I went as a guest as a friend of mine works there as part of one of the exhibitions they are currently running, the Living Robots.

Now this opinion is my personal experience and not necessarily that of others (obviously), we didn't get all the way round, partly because it's so big and also because of what happened with my daughter (see below). On arrival you go through the red hall entrance (many red lights!) where there is the shop, and cafe.

There are four main areas, named Fire, Air, Earth and Water. The first sub-area to come across once you exit the entrance area is the "Face Of Steel" which has evocative, eerie noises and sounds of the work that went on when the foundry was bustling, displayed on huge TV screens, showing the life and times of those who worked there. I had with me my 5-year-old daughter and my Mother. We promptly moved on to the main walkway up some steps, which really gives an idea of the massiveness of this place-its absolutely huge. It's also very dark in 95% of the museum so beware! We walked down the walkway and came to the end of it, along the way we could see what looked like an airship up above and to the right of us, this is the "Air" area. Below and to the left is the ground level and water area.

We turned right into the only room available (I think its called "Transformer house", if you go through it you can then get to the fire area.) And this was where our problems began. This "room" had various lifts leading to the different floors/area, and a doorway leading to the fire area. The room makes alarmingly loud crackly electric noises and lights spark at the sides, which scared my Mother and Aimee, (my daughter) to de
ath!

My Mother was ok but Aimee was, unusually for her, very upset and became tearful, she wanted to leave and get out of there as quickly as possible. The problem was that you have to stay in there just to see where you want to go next, looking at the arrows to see whether you want to go up or down, this would be made worse by having to wait to get in one of the lifts which would happen if busy which it was when we were there (Sunday). I carried my daughter through to the other end, which led down a passageway to the fire area.

We came back as she was still upset, and didn't want to go to the fire area. All the time I had tried to console and reassure her and say that it was just pretend and there was nothing to be afraid of but you just know when a child does really not like something then its best to avoid. So we went back through and downstairs to the main area again, where we bought her a bouncy ball with the morph character inside and a crystal, which she was happy with with, the shop looked to have some good toys, inclduing baloon powered cars and boats and a selection of the Robot Wars Robots Miniatures.

But, even so, she still did not want to go back in! Eventually we assured her and we went back upstairs via a lift to the walkway, which we again went down towards the "scary room" with the lifts. We managed to get in a lift and down to the water section. This was highly entertaining and informative and Aimee perked up after a while in there. So much to do, from shooting large stationary water guns at wooden discs with pictures of fish/whales on, which rotate at speed when you shoot them, great fun and just the tonic for Aimee.

Other notables included a computer game where you have to guide a salmon through the river at different points in our history-span, avoiding pollution, chemicals etc. Also a miniature Canal/locks/canal boat set-up where you can open the gates and get the boat to rise higher, exc
ellent stuff, and a wave maker which you can move to make a light come on in a mini lighthouse- great hands-on activity.It's worth putting on one of the overalls, which are situated at the entrance of this area, as we did get a little wet!

There are also towels at the exit to dry down, a good idea. After this we went to the air area but came out when we realised it was time to see the Living Robot show, a "spectacular show" featuring the Predator and Prey Robots, stunning special effects and a lively commentary- a world-first experiment into artificial evolution where the Living Robots have one goal - to obtain enough energy to survive and breed. The prey find their food from light sensors within the arena, while the predators feed off prey by stalking and chasing them before sucking away their power. We went to queue up on the ground floor at around 12.05, which I felt was far too early (show didnt start until 12.30) and didn't want Aimee to be standing up for that long in a cold, dark area. She again became agitated; it's really due to the eerie sounds emanating from all round, the darkness, and the cold. Fine for adults but obviously not for some children. They do advise you to wear warm clothing, as the main building is not heated as its too big, although certain sections are heated. Aimee was reasonably dressed but I knew then that we would not be seeing the Robot show which I had been advised would be well worth the wait. She then needed the loo so we went back to the main area and when we got back a few minutes later the queue was very long.

Aimee wanted to go out to the playground anyway now and I felt this was what we both needed. I wasn't particularly bothered now as I was anxious to make sure she enjoyed herself while there.

We went outside and we stayed there for 2hours!! The adventure playground is THE best playground of any sort I have ever seen-absolutely brilliant, loads of stuff to do, from sw
ings to large rope climbing frames, to a "pulley" (remember the one on the Krypton factor or when you see army training?? its like that!). There's a large sand area with stationary "diggers" which can be rotated round in a circle and used to dig-excellent for children, it makes them think about what they are doing. There was a unique roundabout that the kids can lie down on to hold onto with their arms and legs, hard to explain but very safe and fun. Too much to remember! There are seating areas with tables at the side so you can sit down to eat and have a drink. There is a drinks/ice cream kiosk there also. Aimee was in her element here and it really made her day to play here, she forgot about before. We popped back in to get a banana Milk drink and a chocolate Cookie for Aimee that came to £2.17-Prohibitive.

So we stayed there until time to go. We didn't see the Air, Fire or Earth section or the robot show but still ended up having a great time.

Most telling was a lady doing a questionnaire on the museum, what people think about it and suggestions for improvements. When I told her what had happened with Aimee she agreed with me straight away and said that there had been quite a few others including her 8 year old Granddaughter who had been also frightened by the same thing as my daughter. She agreed with me that there should be a warning outside the "Transformer" room down the main walkway as it was scaring some children, and that an alternate route to get to the areas should be in place.

So to sum up, a very good, possibly future great museum, I will go back for sure to see it all. Water section was great, other sections unknown as didn't visit apart from the face of steel, which was average in my view. Food was expensive, not the easiest place to find one's way around, signposting could/should be brighter/clearer, there appears to be only one initial way to get to all the areas and tha
t's through the main walkway, there may be others but its not clear at all, and I'm used to traipsing round the Royal Armouries which is big. The good thing about all this is that they care about your opinions so hopefully will put into place some of the suggested changes mentioned above.

But what a fantastic play area, and a place I would come back to for just that, on a hot summers day, take some cold drinks and a picnic and it will be great, children will love that. Hopefully Aimee will one day go back inside the whole museum but until then we will try and avoid those areas that scared her, (and others, according to the guide who interviewed me outside, who was genuinely understanding).


I would recommend a visit to anyone, despite my daughters experience, although just beware of the above mentioned if taking children. Entertaining, informative, fun, dark, and BIG! Find them online at www.magnatrust.org.uk

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