Access to The MERL periodicals

Author
Alison Hilton
Published Date
February 8, 2017

Due to essential maintenance work, we regret to inform you that The MERL periodicals will be unavailable from Monday 13th February 2017 until further notice.

These are the volumes found in the rooms at the far end of the open access library corridor and includes Country Life, The Engineer, Farmers Weekly, Farmer & Stockbreeder, The Field and Royal Agricultural Society Journal among other journals.

We will make an announcement when they are accessible again.

Merle the bat, asleep in a glove
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
August 19, 2026

So we found a live bat in our galleries (again)

Seven years after we gave a bat a library card, another bat has visited The Museum of English Rural Life.

three glass pint milk bottles
Author
Madeleine
/
Published Date
June 15, 2026

Milking Time: Bacteriology and Pasteurisation

Explore the University of Reading’s role in dairying research into milk pasteurisation.

Richard Watts film archive
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
May 12, 2026

Watts in the Country: Inclusive Approaches to Rural Film (with the BFI)

We’re collaborating with film NGO Real Time, volunteers, and focus groups to bring the Richard Watts archival film collection to rural communities across Britain.

Author
Madeleine
/
Published Date
March 6, 2026

International Women’s Day 2026: Hidden histories

Discover the stories of three women curators, collectors, and designers in the 20th century.

Handwriting in a farm letter
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
February 25, 2026

Queer histories in the farm records

What can farm records teach us about same-sex relationships? Researcher Tim Jerrome shares his work exploring queer rural experiences.

Exterior of E.M. Barraud's cottage in Cambridgeshire
Author
Lottie
/
Published Date
February 19, 2026

“I am the farm worker going home at evening”: gender fluidity, rural landscapes, and the Women’s Land Army

Library trainee Lottie Wood reflects on gender fluidity in the work of E. M. Barraud, and Barraud’s reflections on her time in the Women’s Land Army

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