Bury: Art, Market and Heritage Railway

The museums, market, The Met and the East Lancashire Railway appeal to different interests. If you’re looking for a hotel in Bury, you can start by deciding which aspects of the town matter most for your trip: art and collections, regimental and transport history, market activity or live performances.

Art and collections

Bury Art Museum was purpose-built in 1901 to display Wrigley’s Victorian art collection. Its museum collection comprises around 60,000 objects. The museum’s founding purpose and the size of its collection offer two clues to its art-historical focus.

The Fusilier Museum preserves the collections of the XX Lancashire Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. This adds another subject area alongside the art collection: the holdings of two named regiments. If you want to tailor your stay to a particular historical interest, you can clearly distinguish between these two museum profiles.

Transport history in buildings and on the rails

Bury Transport Museum is housed in a listed former railway warehouse dating from 1848; it is designated Grade II. On display are historic vehicles such as buses, steam rollers and trams. The building’s history and a collection of different vehicle types come together here as a distinct focus alongside art and regimental collections.

The East Lancashire Railway (ELR) is a heritage railway with a 13-mile route. It runs between Heywood and Bury, both in Greater Manchester, and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. The route therefore extends beyond Bury. For a particular journey, it’s worth checking the timetable; the heritage railway is a travel experience in its own right and should not be confused with Bury Transport Museum. The ELR operates as a heritage railway between several towns, while the museum displays vehicles.

Market, local speciality and live performances

Bury Market is in the heart of Bury town centre and has more than 370 stalls. The market is also known for Bury Black Pudding. It therefore combines a central town-centre landmark with a distinctive culinary association. If you want to get to know Bury through its market and local food culture, this offers a different focus from a stay centred mainly on the museums.

The Met presents music, theatre, comedy and festivals. Its programme of live performances complements the collections and market with a variety of events. If you want to plan your trip around a particular performance or festival, check the event dates against your travel dates.

This keeps the choice of destination and the specific features of accommodation as two separate decisions.

Discover more destinations: Mottram In Longdendale, Sale, Shaw, Ashton-In-Makerfield, Mellor, Hazel Grove, Romiley, Hindley

Go to the main travel overview: Greater Manchester.