Each month, we bring you a selection of UK exhibitions that complement each other or draw on similar themes. You can discover more about these exhibitions on Bloomberg Connects, a free app which allows access to museums, galleries and cultural spaces around the world. For unique content and behind-the-scenes commentary, download the app today.

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This month, we look at museums and galleries that celebrate the innovations and ideas that have shaped Britain – spanning science, technology, engineering and industry.

Britain has a long history of industrial heritage, emerging from its role as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Initiating a period of huge technological advancement, this revolution from 1750–1900 transformed an agricultural or handicraft economy into one led by large-scale industry powered by factories and machines.

This encouraged a range of new innovations – not least the invention of the steam engine to efficiently power factory machinery. The growing demand for coal led to the opening of coal mines across northern England, the midlands and south Wales.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway, hinting at the dramatic changes in transport initiated by industrial change. Iron bridges – huge feats of engineering – allowed travel and trade across rivers, while canals enabled goods to be transported across waterways. Later, in the early twentieth century, Britain emerged as a leading proponent of aircraft production. Much of this history can be discovered in the permanent collections of dedicated museums which reveal the extent of Britain's industrial and technological might.

SS Great Britain, Bristol

Launched in 1843, the SS Great Britain was an important vessel in the Industrial Revolution. Designed by engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the ship – the largest of its day – was a feat of maritime technology in its combination of a number of innovative elements – the world's first iron hulled, screw propeller-driven, steam-powered passenger liner. As the SS Great Britain's guide on Bloomberg Connects makes clear, the ship's 'advanced new design transformed global travel and connected the world as never before'.

SS 'Great Britain' at Brunswick Wharf, Blackwall

The SS Great Britain consists of two museums as well as the Victorian steamship itself, which is docked in the Great Western Dockyard where she was built. You can get up close to the ship's iron hull below the 'glass sea' in the dry dock – the Bloomberg Connects guide includes an audio about the dockyard and the ship's launch, alongside a video explaining how the ship is conserved today given the degradation of the iron surface.

The 'Being Brunel Museum' allows you to move beyond the ship to experience Brunel's world, examining his life through a series of themes – as a designer, engineer and entrepreneur.

Clifton Suspension Bridge and Museum, Bristol

Bristol is also home to another museum detailing the achievements of Brunel. The Clifton Suspension Bridge, which spans the Avon Gorge, is one of the oldest surviving iron suspension bridges in the world. Brunel was appointed chief engineer via a competition when he was only 24.

The Bloomberg Connects guide to the museum includes a fascinating audio guide detailing the complex history of how and why the bridge was built. The project was plagued with delays and Brunel died before the bridge was complete. It was eventually built to his designs 33 years later in memory of his contribution.

The Ceremony of Laying the Foundation Stone of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, 1836

The museum's free exhibition tells the story of the bridge, from Brunel's winning competition design to how the bridge is maintained today. An audio guide on Bloomberg Connects talks about the opening ceremony on 8th December 1864, which was attended by 150,000 people. To this day, the bridge stands as an important symbol of Bristol.

Jackfield Tile Museum, Telford

Jackfield was at the centre of British tile production and this museum delves into the history of the industry from 1840 to 1960. The museum is situated in Jackfield in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire – the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution – and is one of ten museums managed by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.

Jackfield Tile Museum is situated in a working tile factory building which formerly housed one of the area's most successful tile manufacturers, Craven Dunnill and Company. As the Bloomberg Connects guide to the museum makes clear, an introductory gallery explores the history of the site, outlining how transport links such as canals and railways contributed to the success of the local tile industry by offering essential trade routes.

The Bloomberg Connects guide also gathers a selection of oral histories from the museum's archive, in which local workers and family members share personal memories of the Jackson site during its industrial heyday.

Museum of Lead Mining, Wanlockhead

The Museum of Lead Mining, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, is situated in the highest village in Scotland. The museum was set up in 1974 thanks to the intervention of visiting industrial archaeologist Geoff Downs-Rose who immediately understood the importance of the site. Lead mining in Britain dates back to Roman times, becoming much more prevalent in the nineteenth century. There are many works on Art UK about lead mines, by artists such as Thomas Jones and Tristram Paul Hillier.

Tasked with preserving the site, the museum also has an educational mission across a number of venues. The Straitsteps cottages give some sense of domestic life across three periods, 1750, 1850 and 1920 – you can find out more about these three cottages on the museum's Bloomberg Connects guide – while the Lochnell Mine, which was active between 1710 and 1860, allows visitors to take an underground mine tour – the only one of its kind in Scotland. An evocative video on Bloomberg Connects gives a taste of what you can expect.

National Coal Mining Museum, Wakefield

The National Coal Mining Museum, located in Caphouse Colliery in Yorkshire, traces 180 years of coal mining in Britain. The museum reveals the impact coal had on Britain, giving some sense of the life of a coal miner and what a tight-knit coal mining community felt like. Highlights from the Mining Lives Gallery, which you can view on the museum's Bloomberg Connects guide, include works by Betty Miller, an artist brought up in Royston whose sculptural works draw on her childhood in a coal mining area.

Miller is included in the museum's current exhibition, 'From the Earth Comes Light' (until 28th September 2025), guest curated by Jennifer Jasmine White, which explores the role played by women in mining communities. As the Bloomberg Connects guide to the exhibition explains, 'Many women artists have drawn inspiration from mining, but just as importantly, working-class women have long lived creatively too'.

The guide is divided into different sections: 'Histories from Below' details how women such as Constance Stubbs turned to the pit for inspiration despite not being allowed underground, while 'Creativity and Struggle' marks the 40th anniversary of the Miners' Strike by highlighting female solidarity. You can explore more about women and mining in this story on Art UK.

Aerospace Bristol

If you're interested in aerospace history, look no further than Aerospace Bristol, which charts the evolution of aviation across 100 years. The Bloomberg Connects guide to the museum includes information on the main building, Hangar 16S, or the Heritage Hangar, which was built in 1918 as part of an aircraft acceptance park. The Concorde Hangar, meanwhile, is home to the last Concorde to ever fly – listen to the audio guide about what it was like to fly Concorde between London and New York, which took under four hours!

The guide also includes 'Aerospace Lives', a digital heritage project that transforms previously unseen archival materials into stories about the people who worked in the industry.

Imelda Barnard, Commissioning Editor – Exhibitions and Bloomberg Connects, Art UK

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This content was funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies