CLOSED: LADYBIRD IN FOCUS: ONE GIANT LEAP
To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the moon landing, One Giant Leap looks at how Ladybird Books has illustrated our fascination with space and the inventions that helped us reach it. Beginning with books about the night sky and constellations, Ladybird Books has covered humanity’s interest in the sky since the 1960s. Showcased in the Ladybird Gallery, this exhibition […]
THE MERL SEMINAR SERIES: FARM ANIMALS
The MERL Seminars, Autumn 2019: Farm Animals For the majority of us, our image of farming would be incomplete without working animals or livestock. The role of farm animals as part of our future food systems, environmental lives, or global health often plays a part in the headlines. However, our ideas about those animals are […]
ROMANCE OF THE HIVE
Discover treasures from the Cowan Bee Collection Described as the most comprehensive collection of its kind in the world, the Cowan Bee Collection contains 1,800 volumes of books, pamphlets and journals relating to bees and beekeeping, including many rare foreign language titles. The items date from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, and were owned […]
GAMBLING WITH FLOODS?
As floods are expected to become more frequent in the future, and with an increasing population at risk, it is vital to predict these events well in advance. Machines have an ever-growing role in the anticipation of floods. But how much can they really predict in nature’s noisy chaos? Enter the heart of the forecasting […]
APRIL SESSION CANCELLED: MONTHLY CODE CLUB
New, free MERL monthly Code Club sessions Children will learn programming languages such as Scratch and Python to create games, animations and websites in engaging and motivational sessions by trained, DBS-checked volunteers and museum staff. We will supply all the technology needed for the session. All the children need is curiosity and imagination! Drop your […]
NATURE ARTS AWARD
See the world around you in a new way when you join us on the Discover Arts Award Adventure. Nature has inspired artists throughout history. In this not-to-be-missed Discover Arts Award series you will be inspired by some of those artists, exploring and investigating art and the natural environment. You will work with a professional […]
THE MERL ANNUAL LECTURE: RARE BREEDS AND FOOD
The MERL welcomes Jimmy Doherty as speaker for our 2019 Annual Lecture. As a traditional livestock farmer, TV presenter, and advocate of sustainable farming, Jimmy Doherty, who is the president of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, brings to The MERL his passion for rare breeds. The social and cultural value of native breeds is clear, and they […]
THE MERL’S MAKING SENse
Join us to celebrate the launch of the new purpleSTARS interactive exhibits & activities Your hosts for the day will be the purpleSTARS, artists and technologists with and without learning difficulties/disabilities, who have transformed The MERL experience to make it really inclusive. Generously funded by the Earley Charity, the purpleSTARS have created fabulous new interactives […]
TEA AND TRACTORS
For a chilled out Welcome Week come along to the MERL extended hours for tea tasting, trails, and hands-on activities. Stroll around our galleries, meet fellow students, and learn more about volunteering with collections and how they can be used for research. Find out about museum volunteering opportunities Tea tasting with Tregothnan https://tregothnan.co.uk/ Silent Disco: Tea […]
ANIMAL MAGIC: A MERL LATE
JOIN US FOR A FUN EVENING OF DRINKS, LIVE MUSIC, ACTIVITIES AND TALKS ON THE THEME OF ANIMALS LIVE MUSIC BY THE NEWTOWNERS– COCKTAILS BY MILK READING – SILENT DISCO The Being Human Festival of the Humanities is sponsoring a free late night extravaganza where you can find out more about our animal friends and […]