Bristol's £27m M Shed museum opens

Bristol's multi-million pound M Shed museum has opened to the public.

The harbourside museum, which cost £27m to build, is two years late and £8m over budget.

The Heritage Lottery fund has contributed £11m to the project while the Department for Culture, Media and Sport gave £1.5m, with other funding from Bristol City Council.

The museum has three galleries with objects and stories illustrating the city's past.

It has been built on the site of the former Industrial Museum in Prince's Wharf on Wapping Road.

It was opened following a ceremony on Bristol's harbourside on Friday.

Electric cranes

The museum was given the name M Shed after a 1950s transit shed which used to occupy the site.

Exhibits include models and props used for the Wallace and Gromit films, Technics record decks used by Bristol band Massive Attack and a 10-metre long mural of a fantasy landscape of Bristol.

Children from local schools took part in the opening ceremony

There are working exhibits such as the electric cranes at the front of the building.

The cranes are the last four of eight which were originally used in the 1950s to unload ships on the harbour.

A working fire boat, a diesel tug and a steam locomotive are other exhibits at the museum.

Councillor Simon Cook, the council's deputy leader, said the museum would add to the city's "cultural mix".

"M Shed is a fitting tribute to all the people who have helped shape the city's history," he said.

"I share the pride of local people who see this new museum as a bold statement of who we are, where we have come from, what we have achieved and our optimism and enthusiasm for the future."

Julie Finch, the council's head of museums, said the M Shed would be "world-class".

"I hope M Shed will become a destination for the understanding and celebration of the history of Bristol and its people and a vibrant learning resource for the future, open to all," she said.