After a major refurbishment, Scotland's noisest museum has reopened in the heart of Lanarkshire's former industrial capital, Coatbridge.

Old favourites such as the tram rides, trips down the coal mine, the miners’ cottages and the playpark have all been retained and improved, and the whole experience has been updated for the 21st century. 

Far removed from the dusty display cases of old, a huge amount of effort has gone in to has been paid to making the museum interactive and stimulating.  Core to this is a brand-new area called 'The Discovery Zone' where children of all ages can try out simple experiments involving water, levers and pulleys.

As Lanarkshire was at the heart of Scotland's 19th-century industrial revolution, the story of iron and steel forms a major part of the interactive displays.  A huge virtual reality blast furnace will allow visitors to try their hand at making iron, then pouring it out into 'pig beds' on the floor – courtesy of digital lighting effects, rather than the real thing!

Working machinery has always been an attraction at Summerlee – not for nothig is it nicknamed 'Scotland's noisiest museum' – and the first thing visitors will feel is the sheer scale of the new displays which now  includes the huge winding wheel from the former Cardowan Colliery at Stepps.

Summerlee  is a museum that not only locals but Scotland as a whole can be truly proud of, one that keeps an important part of our rich heritage alive and kicking.

Admission is free and the museum is open seven days a week, from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm until the end of October, and to 4.00 pm during the winter.