Sew Engaging at the Rising Sun
Dr Jane McCutchan is back in Reading for the latest stage of the Sew Engaging project… Drop in at Rising Sun Arts Centre, near the Royal Berks Hospital on a Thursday morning, and you are close to Heaven. Eleven o’clock and the clients have stopped for a tea break. The chair under Dennis (not his real […]
Discovering the Landscape #13: From garden space to masterplan
Seminar series round up: Written by Claire Wooldridge, Project Senior Library Assistant: Landscape Institute Our captivating landscape inspired seminar series has drawn to an end. We’re delighted the series has been so well attended; a testament to the speakers and to the fascinating subject matter. If you attended any of the talks (or were unable to) and want to […]
Discovering the Landscape #12: Brenda Colvin
Written by Claire Wooldridge, Project Senior Library Assistant: Landscape Institute Brenda Colvin (1897-1981) was a founder member of the Institute of Landscape Architects and its first female president (elected in 1951). In anticipation of FOLAR’s (Friends of the Landscape Library and Archive at Reading) study day focusing on Brenda Colvin here at MERL on Saturday 21 March, […]
Discovering the Landscape #11: Great new seminar series
Written by Claire Wooldridge, Project Senior Library Assistant: Landscape Institute Great news! Our fascinating new seminar series entitled ‘Discovering the Landscape’ kicks off on Tuesday 10 February with an overview of the collections (‘From garden space to masterplan: The Landscape Institute collections at MERL’) with our archivist Caroline Gould and landscape architect Annabel Downs. In 2013, MERL received […]
Tremendous trees & the science of surveying
Earlier in the year, Project Archivist, Nancy Fulford went on a training event organised by RE:LEAF in London, a partnership campaign led by the Mayor to protect the capital’s trees and encourage individual Londoners, businesses and organisations to plant more trees. Nancy discovered that there are several national and local initiatives to survey trees. Inspired by her […]
Coopering in the MERL collections
Since May I’ve been working on the Reading Engaged project to research content for the new galleries which will form part of MERL’s redevelopment project, Our Country Lives. True to my passions as ever, I’ve been taking the opportunity to focus on researching craft, as we’re hoping to dedicate a large part of one of […]
Food Glorious Food at the MERL Village Fete!
Food Glorious Food at Uni Museum Fete Visitors to the Museum of English Rural Life Village Fete on Saturday 31st May should get ready to have their tastebuds tempted. The theme for this year’s family friendly Fete is food. On the menu are cookery demonstrations, food science experiments, food-inspired craft, stories, and trails, as well […]
Press release: What's cooking in the community? Find out at the MERL Village Fete
Food Science students at the University of Reading have been challenged to create new dishes from ingredients used by the diverse communities in Reading. The results will be revealed in the ‘Reading, Steady, Cook!’ demonstrations at the MERL Village Fete on May 31st. The Village Fete at the Museum of English Rural Life, which is […]
Weekly What's On: 14th – 16th April
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 Easter Closure Please note that the Museum is open on Tuesday & Wednesday this week. University Easter closure means […]
Weekly What's On: 7th to 13th April
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 Guided tours Wednesdays, Saturdays & Sundays, 3-3.45pm (Please note that we are closed on Thurs 17th April and over […]