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Weekly What's On: 24 to 30th March

Author
Alison Hilton
Published Date
March 24, 2014

You can find full details of all our forthcoming events and activities in our What’s On and MERL Families guides, which are now available from the Museum or to download from our website You can also see all events on our online calendar

 Selecting objects#MuseumWeek
Join us this week for a virtual event over on Twitter. MERL is joining museums across Europe in a week-long @TwitterUK campaign. Look out for tweets on a different theme each day. On Monday we’re giving an insight into a ‘Dayinthelife’ of staff and volunteers at the Museum. Tomorrow there’ll be a ‘guess the object’ quiz as part of #MuseumMastermind. We’d love to hear your #MuseumMemories on Wednesday – tell us about your visits to MERL! You can also get involved by tweeting questions for our Curators which we will answer on Friday (#AskACurator) and if you’re visiting this week, why not take a selfie and tweet it on Saturday using the #MuseumSelfies hashtag!

 

 

Guided tourGuided tour
Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 3-3.45pm
Free, booking advisable
Let our fully trained tour guides tell you the stories behind the objects on display and visit the object store to see MERL’s hidden treasures

 

 

 

Rural reads library booksRural Reads book club
Thursday, 27th March, 5.30-7pm
Free, drop-in (£1.50 for tea & biscuits)
Join us to discuss this month’s book ‘The Last Runaway’ by Tracy Chevalier and bring along your suggestions for our next ‘rural read’
For details visit the Rural Reads web page

 

 

Copy of H&P comic cuts - compressedToddler time – biscuit special!
Friday 28th March, 10-11am,
£2 per child, drop-in
Suitable for families with children aged 2-4
Come along to the Museum with your little ones and enjoy rhymes, songs and craft activities.
We are launching our Village Fete Biscuit Bake-Off competition at Toddler Time this week! Bring along home-baked biscuits and Andrew Palmer, a descendant of the famous Reading biscuit family will taste them! Try biscuits baked from an old Huntley & Palmers recipe and decorate biscuits with lots of sugary things!! Join us for this special event – free entry for anyone bringing homemade biscuits!

 

Hedgehog extravaganza
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
July 24, 2025

The Friday Walks, with Man in the Woods

In this episode of The MERL podcast, we speak to Bristol-based artist Scott about his artistic practice documenting weird Britain.

School group in the garden
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
July 21, 2025

Another brilliant school year

Learn about the highlights of our schools and learning programmes from the 2024/25 academic year.

Jo Clement (a woman with long brown hair and glasses) holds an object at The MERL
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
April 4, 2025

Announcing our new Fellow, Dr Jo Clement

Read how our new MERL Fellow, Dr Jo Clement, is engaging with the Robert Dawson Romany Collection to explore the heritage of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people in England.

Shepherds herding sheep across a valley.
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
February 7, 2025

Voices: introducing our 2025 programme

Get the highlights of what’s coming up in the first half of 2025: from exhibitions and displays, to free tours and talks, plus the announcement of our official podcast.

The top of a letter to William Champion, farmer
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
February 5, 2025

Thomas and Austen: a gay relationship in the MERL archives?

For LGBTQ+ History Month 2025, researcher Tim Jerrome shares how he’s using rural archives to research same-sex relationships in the countryside.

A. Hedley Richmond's drawing of a proposed garden and Lewisham Hospital
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
January 6, 2025

Landscapes of public health

How does public health impact the design of public spaces? We recap the contents of the 2024 symposium of FOLAR (Friends of the Landscape Archive at Reading), held at The MERL.