Bury: Art, Memories and Black Pudding

I have a habit of picking up brochures about interesting places, tours, exhibitions, walks and so on. Thus, while browsing one such brochure, I came across the Bury Art Museum. Having done further research it was revealed that Bury is not very far from Manchester and can be easily squeezed into a day trip. What was even better was that the Bury Art Museum and The Fusilier Museum were both a two minutes walk from the bus station.  Hence, without much ado, I choose a bright weekend and boarded the bus to Bury. If you are travelling from Manchester, then the buses 163 and 135 leaving from Church Street are the best buses to catch.

The Metropolitan Borough of Bury rests on the bank of River Irwell. It is most famous for its Bury Markets, museums, arts and culture and of course the Black Pudding. In fact, former Bury resident Sir Robert peel had also served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Bury is well-connected to nearby boroughs through buses and metro links (trams)  I had gone in mind to visit the Bury Art Museum and The Fusilier Museum. Unfortunately, time did not permit me to stay and visit the open air markets or taste the black pudding as it started raining with thunderstorms.

Bury Art Museum:

One of the most famous art museums in the UK, the Bury Art museum was formerly known as the Bury Museum and Art Gallery before being given its revised name in 2011. The gallery consists of over 200 paintings and sculptures including water colours, oil paintings and sketches. Here are glimpses of some of the best photographs. The section I liked the most was the exhibition of a local photography competition. The photographs were truly inspiring and there was so much to learn about the technique from each of those photographs. At times, it seems that the vision is more important than the camera but one cannot rule out the improvement in the quality of the photographs due to a better camera. The Bury Art Museum is free to enter and would take around an hour and a half to visit all the galleries of photographs, paintings and sculptures. There is a souvenir shop that you can visit to get little tit bits for yourself. You can also order prints if you would like to have them for your personal collections. That apart, you can enjoy some tasty dishes in the local café.

The Fusilier Museum:

This museum commemorates the more than 300 years of history of the Lancashire Regiment. With the history of the Lancashire Regiment and the World Wars, it is an interesting museum to dig up the past and see how the brave hearts who fought for the country survived and lived. With almost human –like figurines at the exhibitions, at times you get confused whether they are humans or statues. The various artefacts of those days help us in transporting back to those times and almost reliving them. The Fusilier Museum is just opposite the Bury Art Museum. There is a nominal fee of 4.95 for adults and 3.95 for children and concessions. The ticket is valid for twelve months from the date of purchase. When in the museum, you must have a look at the beautiful gardens with gravestones, sculptures and beautiful daffodils in bloom.

Sightseeing:

Bury is a lovely place to take a walk around in the city centre. As the bus station and both the museums are just in the city centre, we decided to have a little walk around before catching the bus back home. The Bury Church which was unfortunately closed is another must if you love to steal sometime and spend it in the quaint company of the almighty. You can also visit the World Famous Bury markets and pick up little souvenirs for yourself and of course try the black pudding. The Railway Museum is also another place worth visiting but it is more towards the interior of Bury and you would need to catch another bus or a cab to go to the museum.

Bury is a nice place to spend some time with friends and family. It is a melting pot of history and culture. I would not recommend spending the night here unless you have friends or relatives  but I would certainly recommend a day trip covering all the main sites and activities as it is totally worth it.