"YESTERDAY is history," says Pauline Webb, collections manager at the Museum Of Science And Industry in Manchester.

She's referring to the fact that while many of the exhibits in MOSI's new 25th anniversary exhibition might still be fresh in the memory of most people in Greater Manchester, that doesn't make them any less relevant for a museum space.

I have to admit, it feels a little bit depressing to see so much of what was so recently up and running now confined to the annals of history.

There are banners from the now defunct Agecroft Colliery, machinery that stood in the area's once-proud Ferranti factories, and even the loading bay doors of the legendary Hacienda nightclub. "It's hard not to sound a bit like a vulture," Webb adds.

"But factory closures and modernisations provide some of our best opportunities for collecting machinery.

"It does feel a little depressing but it isn't really and as time passes, people become increasingly grateful that we have safeguarded memories from the places that they worked.

"If we didn't do that, then there's a good chance that they would simply disappear."

Having opened in July to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Museum of Science and Industry,

The Making Of MOSI exhibition is split into three key components.

Dilapidated

There's a timeline around the wall, charting the building's transition from the dilapidated former Liverpool Road Station to the museum of today, which is set for further multi-million pound investment.

In the middle of the room is a series of what might best be described as over-sized time capsules, based on the decades straddled by MOSI's history, from the fading coalfields of the 1980s, through the factory closures of the 1990s, and the brief moment in which all ears were on Manchester music.

There's a nod to the demise of the Boddingtons brewery on the edge of the city centre, and a more up to date look at the way that the scientific community has suffered similar upheaval in recent times to that faced by industry in the 60s and 70s.

The last `time capsule' includes artefacts from the Daresbury scientific laboratories.

"All of these things are from industries and movements which are still there in some way," Webb adds.

"People think the cotton industry died, but it didn't, it just evolved into something very different.

Daresbury

"Likewise, the experiments conducted at Daresbury now take place elsewhere."

The third and final section of the Making Of MOSI exhibition encapsulates the way that Manchester has played at least some small part - and a surprising one at that - in some of the biggest events in recent history.

A 1909 Crossley limousine - the most expensive exhibit the museum ever bought at £55,000 - points to the days when Manchester had an automotive industry.

Then there's the Jacquard loom which once wove fibreglass used in Concorde, and a costume that was worn at the opening ceremony of the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games.

"The last 25 years have seen huge changes in Manchester science and industry, as the city moves away from core products of manufacturing and engineering, and into the service sector and creative industries," Webb added.

"The Museum of Science And Industry is very much part of this story.

"We are ourselves based in the railway buildings which are part of Manchester's industrial past, and our collections reflect the changes in Manchester's economy."

The Making of MOSI exhibition runs until Sunday, January 4. For more details visit msim.org.uk.