The Greater Manchester Police Museum, Manchester

The history of Greater Manchester Police is consecrated to Newton Street where the police headquarters used to be located in the Victorian era. The entrance decor is a fine testament to that time. However, today the museum sits rather unassumingly amidst the bustling wholesale fashion shops and a Newton Street post office.

You will be taken back to the years when Manchester was lit by gas lamps, inhabited by immigrants, and plagued by street crime. On display in the museum are the police uniform and paraphernalia, while the fans of forensic science will delight in several blood-chilling stories. As befits any museum of this type, there is an example of a prison cell, complete with a wooden pillow. Truly, it was hard to be a criminal in the 19th century.

Admission is free, and the museum site states that photography for non-commercial purposes is permitted.