Catalyst — Attraction in Knowsley

The Catalyst is an excellent museum for the chemical industry and has something for everyone. For children, there are many interactive exhibits ranging from videos, building bridges, jigsaws, a scarf blower, and many others. For teenagers, there are many artefacts and factsheets for the chemical industry, electrical circuits, geometric and topological puzzles, and a life-sized periodic table of elements. Finally, for adults, there are several detailed exhibits and factsheets, access to an archive library, a café, and an opportunity to use hundreds of reference books that are carefully managed by the staff.

The Catalyst is easy to reach, and there is ample parking, which ensures that you can stay for an extended period of time without worrying about the whereabouts of your car. The staff at the front desk are very friendly and helpful, although this does not extend further into the museum, where finding a member of staff was difficult and, when present, did not come across as approachable. However, this may have just been due to the time of our visit being close to opening, and there were very few staff to be seen.

As for the scientific exhibits, they are all thoroughly enjoyable to read due to the extensive detail and topics covered. Almost every exhibit was flawless in their spelling, punctuation, and grammar, there were some mistakes on the electronic exhibits surrounding the smartphone, incorrect spellings on the periodic table, such as of darmstadtium, and some absent products in the shop.

On the whole, the Catalyst is a fantastic place for a day out for an exceptionally fair price, especially when factoring in the annual pass that comes with the tickets. We will definitely be returning, whether for the exhibits or for talks being held by the Royal Society...

The children found the science museum very interesting and always enjoy interactive activities, we had a 7 and 15 year old with us. Our 7 year old enjoyed the light show and joined in. Unfortunately, when we went for lunch we were about to give our food orders in and the fire alarms went off. Staff in the cafe did not have a clue what to do. We were eventually evacuated and returned at 14:03 hrs and tried to order our lunch to be told they do not do food after 14:00 hrs only snacks (biscuits and cakes) from the counter. There was nowhere that said no food after 14:00 hrs no notices or on the website. Then the cafe staff all sat at a table with cooked meals and had their lunch, a member of staff came in and one of the staff got up and made him sandwiches. My daughter went over to complain, the way she was spoken to was disgusting. We asked to speak to the manager, and was told she was the manager, then we were told to go away because she was not arguing with us. As a manager I would not expect arguing with customers but attempt to sort out the situation. We understood it was an unusual situation, but surely there could be give and take on both sides. All in all it spoilt what started out to be a lovely birthday treat for my grandson. The only recommendation I would make is get rid of...

Excellent science museum situated in Widnes on the banks of the River Mersey. The museum goes more into the Chemistry side of Science than other aspects of Science. There is an Interactive Gallery, which is particularly good for children with some touch screen displays about Hydrogen and also The Periodic Table of Elements all of which is very interesting, detailed and enjoyable to learn about. The other gallery is the Brunner Gallery detailing about his life, his part in building the Mersey Bridge between Widnes and Runcorn and also his dealings in the Chemical Industry. There is a gallery on the birth of the Chemical Industry and the processes in it along with some information about the Soap Industry and how Soap using the necessary Chemical processes. There is the Baker gallery discussing his endeavours in Chemical Science and also about the discovery of Chlorine and its role in Chemical processes. There is the Observatory at the top of the Museum, which offers some picturesque views of the River Mersey towards Runcorn to the South but also towards The Welsh Mountains to the West. There is a small cafe and gift shop on site offering a small and nice amount of refreshments and gifts. Overall this is an interesting and enjoyable...