Family - The Museum of English Rural Life

Romany & Traveller Heritage Day 2025

Attend the opening of our newly-curated GRT gallery, The Long Road Meet special guests and community experts. From the Romany and Traveller Family History Society, to award-winning poet Dr Jo Clement Delve into the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller artefacts and archives in the Robert Dawson Romany Collection Bring a picnic, enjoy live music in the [...]

Rainbow Rescue

Children happily jumping over a rainbow with a blue sky and stars in the background

Come visit The MERL on Saturday 1 March to see Reading Rep’s vibrant new children’s show Rainbow Rescue It’s Jesse’s first day as an official member of the Rainbow Sighting Society! Jesse bumps into our audience whilst recording his first Rainbow Sighting. When suddenly, the colours of the Rainbow start to disappear from our world! […]

Magical Lights

star shaped lights on a green hedge background

Wrap up the year with an evening of lights and lanterns in the museum garden. Choose from two versions: the main event (6pm to 7:30pm), or an earlier session with sensory provisions for neurodivergent visitors and their loved ones (4:30pm to 5:45pm). Magical Lights 6pm - 7:30pm Celebrate the end of the year with crafts, [...]

Grimwood Museum Adventure trail

Get ready for a wander into the woods – and to meet some unique characters along the way! The Grimwood Museum Adventure celebrates the release of Party Animals, the fourth book in the brilliantly anarchic comedy-adventure series, Grimwood, by bestselling author-illustrator Nadia Shireen. Fox cub siblings, Ted and Nancy escape urban life and find themselves […]

Miller’s Ark, My Way at The MERL

A mother goat snuggling with her baby in the MERL garden

Bring a picnic, meet the Miller’s Ark farm animals and enjoy other activities in the MERL garden. This event will be a relaxed session with additional sensory provision, geared towards neurodivergent visitors and their families. Please only book this session if you feel it is appropriate to do so. Limited spaces: Booking required £2 per […]

Native Species – FULLY BOOKED

GET UP CLOSE TO AMAZING ANIMALS! See and learn about the awesome animals we have living here in the UK. Zoolab will use their bigger brighter versions of things to tell you all about the Frogs, Snakes, Lizards and all sorts of amazing insects that we can find in our gardens, parks and countryside. This […]

The Twitchers Museum Adventure

Join birdwatching detectives the Twitchers and explore the beautiful birds and amazing animals at The MERL this February half-term. The Twitchers Museum Adventure from Kids in Museums and Walker Books celebrates the release of Feather, the fourth book in The Twitchers series from bestselling author M. G. Leonard. Find the birds and make your own […]

Climate Crusaders

Get up close to amazing animals! Linking to The MERL’s Our Green Stories campaign and global environmental concerns, this lively animal workshop shows how we can all do more to protect animals, habitats all over the world. By seeing and hearing about real animals and insects, this show will cover issues including recycling, biodiversity, climate […]

The MERL Family Picnic and Farm Event with Miller’s Ark

JOIN US AT THE MERL TO MEET THE MILLER’S ARK ANIMALS AND ENJOY THE GARDEN Bring a picnic and blanket and enjoy a range of hand-on activities from The MERL and visit real farm animals from Miller’s Ark. List of free activities to enjoy on the day: Miller’s Ark mobile farm – pet and feed […]

Wind of change: curbing cow burps to fight climate change

cows against a blue background with Burp! written on clouds above them

Milk comes from cows and cows eat grass everyone knows that. But along with milk, the average dairy cow also burps out over 600 litres of methane, every day. That’s enough to fill more than 40 party balloons. And methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, which is making climate change worse. That's why the University [...]