idgewater Hall!
Welcome to The Br
– can
try our tre asure trail
t
no
hy
w
,
re
he
re
Whilst you’
ing? Follow
e secrets of the build
th
of
e
m
so
t
ou
d
you fin
nd the clues. the musical trail arou
Whilst
you’re
outside, look for a
big head.
Sir John Barbirolli
rebuilt the Hallé
Orchestra
after
World War II, when
only 36 players
re tu rn e d
f r om
fighting.
When did Sir John
Barbirolli become
conductor?
_______________
For how long did
he conduct the
orchestra ?
____________________
Raining?
Start
here!
Start by heading outside through the main front doors. Can you see a massive pebble? It was brought here from Italy by Japanese sculptor Kan Yasuda in 1996 and cost £200,000. The artist called it a touchstone – go ahead, touch it! Can you find a plaque telling you the Japanese name of the Touchstone? __________________________________
Now go into the Hall. The floor of the foyer is made
of Jurassic limestone from under the sea – it’s almost
200 million years old. Limestone is made when millions
of tiny grains of sand are pressed together by the
weight of earth or water on top of them. Sometimes,
the skeletons of animals get caught among the grains
to create a fossil.
Finish the quote; “Or walk with kings….”
There are lots of fossils in the floor ‐ can
you find one? What shape is it? Draw it
here:
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
It’s a line from a famous poem called ‘If’ by Rudyard
Kipling – you might know him as the author of The
Jungle Books and The Just So Stories. It suggests that
even though Barbirolli was so successful, he wasn’t
too proud to get on well with people around him.
Did you know that none of The Bridgewater
Hall touches the floor? The whole building is
suspended on huge springs on 250 columns
underground, which you can see if you
come on a building tour. The springs stop
any noise from outside – from trams, or
traffic, or building work – from spoiling the music. If
we filled the building with people and asked them
all to jump up and down, we might be able to get
it to shake a tiny bit ­ I bet you can’t make it move
on your own! If your fossil looks a bit like a beetle, it’s a
trilobite. If it’s shaped like a spiral, it’s
called an ammonite. They were both small
sea creatures that lived in the Jurassic
period – the same time as the dinosaurs!
Adults! This trail is designed for children aged 7­11, and can take up to 30 minutes ­ please leave yourselves time to be seated in the concert. Please accompany children throughout your visit.
Go upstairs to the Choir Circle on Level 2. The two
huge bronze doors lead into the auditorium. They‛ve
been made so big so that as you step inside, you feel
like you‛re going into somewhere important and
amazing.
The doors are made of bronze, which
changes colour over time.
Can you see any fingerprints on the
metal?
We never polish the doors, because the
colours change differently where they have been touched by
people‛s hands. Over time, the doors will change to reflect all
of the people who have ever visited the Hall.
Make sure you add your handprint before you move on! It looks like strands of cotton, because that’s The next the industry that made level is called Manchester great. the Circle – stop here and take a look at the sculpture on It reminds me of water, to reflect the canal outside. the wall. It was created b y Derryck Healey, but he didn’t give it a name. Nearly there! Climb to the very top level, the Gallery, and What does it look out of the glass windows. Can you see: remind you of? It’s like waves of music rippling through the air c
c
c
c c
The Rochdale Canal? _______________________________________________ this stretch of the canal was created specially when The Bridgewater Hall was built in 1996. Is the fountain ________________________________________________ working? What name would you give to the sculpture? The tallest building in Manchester? the Beetham Tower is 47 storeys high! A tram? ‐ can you see where it’s going? ___________________________________________ Two hotels? ‐ can you spot their names? ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ (You might have to skip this one if it’s dark outside!) Four diagonal lines on the pavement outside? These lines point at four important Manchester landmarks. The line on the left points to the Free Trade Hall, where classical music was played before The Bridgewater Hall was built. The next three lines point towards Manchester Cathedral, Albert Square – the main square in the city – and Manchester Town Hall. If you couldn’t get outside earlier, you can spot our big pebble from here too! _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________
Well done ! You’
ve found most of
the treasures of
The Bridgewater
Hall. But the mos
t important pa rt of
the building isn’t
out here in the
foyers – it’s th
rough those hu
ge
bronze doors, in
side the audito riu
m
where you can
hear some of th
e
world’s greatest
music and see
some of the
g r e a t e s t
musicians.
That’s where
you’ll be going
next for today’s
concert. H ave a
wonderful time!