Public - Page 7 of 27 - The Museum of English Rural Life

MERL Fashion Week: Reminiscence Session

Join us for this opportunity to share your family histories in relation to sewing machines. There will be a unique chance to view some of the MERL’s sewing machines from our stores and see what memories they evoke. We would like to collect your reminiscence, which will be turned into an online exhibition, with potential [...]

Watercolour Workshop: Medieval Bestiary

This one-day art workshop is aimed at sharing the work of an exciting Wellcome Trust funded project on animal feeding. The project looks at why people keep and feed animals in zoos and as pets, and how and why we feed wildlife either deliberately or unintentionally. Perhaps most importantly the project looks at what the […]

Earth Day: Invest in Our Planet

child painting flowers for Earth Day event

Get Inspired. Take Action. Be a part of the green revolution! Join teams from Reading Museum, The MERL, Nature Nurture, BBOWT and others, for creative activities and displays on the theme of ‘Invest in Our Planet’. This event is part of Museums Partnership Reading’s Our Green Stories campaign. *Please note that the garden will be [...]

Our Green Stories Gallery Trail

Follow our gallery trail to delve into environmental issues past and present Our Green Stories is a Museums Partnership Reading campaign exploring climate change, sustainability, and biodiversity loss through collections. Pick up a free copy of the trail at reception, and use our galleries to help you consider ways we can all care for the […]

Reading Walks Festival: Mindful Museum Walk

a person walks down a wooded path in the MERL garden

Join us as part of Reading Walks Festival 2023 We are delighted to be taking part in the first ever Reading Walks Festival. We are offering two gentle, accessible walks in and around the museum and its immediate surroundings on campus. This one, with Saranjit Birdi takes place in the MERL garden and galleries, and […]

Reading Walks Festival: Five Ways to Wellbeing Nature Walk

a path leading to a bench in immersed in greenery in the herb garden at The MERL

Join us as part of Reading Walks Festival 2023 We are delighted to be taking part in the first ever Reading Walks Festival. We are offering two gentle, accessible walks in and around the museum and its immediate surroundings on campus. The first is this Five Ways to Wellbeing Nature Walk, and the second is […]

Chatty Café

Two people laughing in one of the museum spaces.

These drop-in sessions are a welcoming environment for care-givers and loved ones to socialise, discuss, reminisce, and share stories inspired by our historical collections. There are also optional activities, like crafts and MERL-themed board games. Refreshments are also available. Booking is not necessary, though we would appreciate groups of 4 people letting us know in […]

Sew What?

We're all starting to ask more questions about fashion. Where do our clothes come from? How environmentally sustainable are they? Should we be making more and buying less? These questions aren't just relevant to modern society. The history of garment making is deeply intertwined with British culture, both rural and urban. In Sew What, we'll [...]

In Conversation with Bill Hooks

A small bill hook with a wooden handle lying on top of a larger blade

This display in the Digging Deeper gallery at The MERL links to a collaborative recent project between artist Alice Blackstock and designer/maker Philip Crewe that investigated a bladed tool called a billhook. The 2019 collaboration was initiated by a visit to the extensive collections of The MERL and developed into the creation of five object […]

Archives, History and Memory in Memoir Writing

Spines of books of WHS press cuttings and an inset of the front cover of Inventory of a Life Mislaid by Marina Warner

Cover design by Sophie Herxheimer Join writer and academic Marina Warner as she discusses drawing on archives and the interweaving of history and memory in memoir-writing. Dame Professor Marina Warner CH, DBE, FRSL, FBA is a writer and academic. Her works include novels, short stories and studies of art, myths, symbols and fairy tales. She [...]