Weekly What's On: 20th to 26th January
This week’s What’s On includes links to our new events guides and details of the new seminar series which starts tomorrow… Our new What’s On guide to events and exhibition at MERL is now available to download from our website. Find out about our full, fascinating and fun programme of public events from now until […]
Weekly What's On: 13th to 20th January '14
Toddler time Friday 17th January, 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. Collecting the countryside: 20th century rural cultures Temporary exhibition space Free, drop in, normal museum opening times Since 2008 the Museum of English […]
Weekly What's On: 9th to 15th December, '13
Christmas trail until Friday 20th December, normal museum opening times Free, drop-in Suitable for families with children of all ages Pick up a copy of our free Christmas trail at reception and learn about Victorian traditions on your way around the Museum Toddler time Friday 13th December, 10-11am, £2 per child, drop-in Suitable for families with […]
Weekly What's On: 2nd to 8th December
MERL Annual Lecture: Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP ‘in conversation’ with Sir David Bell, University of Reading Vice-Chancellor Thursday 5th December 7pm, Great Hall, London Road Campus Free. Tickets in advance or on the door (Doors open 6pm. Bar and MERL ‘pop-up’ shop available) Click here for details Toddler time Friday 6th December, 10-11am, £2 […]
Weekly What's On – 25th Nov to Dec 1st
What’s on at MERL this week? Rural reads book club Thursday 28th November, 5.30-7pm Free. (£1.50 for tea & cake) Drop in and join this informal group discussing books on a rural theme. This month the book we’ll be talking about is Trespass by Rose Tremain. As there is no meeting in December, we have […]
MERL Traditional Craft Fair, Nov 9th 2013
Greta Bertram, MERL Project officer and Heritage Crafts Association trustee, explains how our Traditional Craft Fair connects with MERL’s extensive craft-related collections… It’s nearly time for the annual MERL Traditional Craft Fair, and this year we’ve got fifteen of our most skilled local craftspeople exhibiting (and in some cases demonstrating) throughout the Museum. As ever, we […]
Press release: Apples in abundance? Turn your surplus into juice at Uni Museum's Apple Day, Saturday 19th October
Press release, October 14th 2013 Wondering what to do with the extra kilos of apples from your garden tree? The Museum of English Rural Life has the answer! Bring your surplus apples to MERL’s Apple Day on Saturday 19th October and watch special guest Richard Paget press them into delicious juice. The Museum (MERL), which is […]
New exhibition: 'Collecting the countryside: 20th century rural cultures'
The new temporary exhibition at MERL is now open to the public. Collecting the countryside: 20th century rural cultures is largely comprised of objects drawn from the Museum’s recent Collecting Cultures project. This ran from 2008 until earlier this year and involved the Museum’s curatorial team selecting items that connected in some meaningful way with the twentieth century countryside […]
"Strictly Fab" – Len Goodman joins MERL for Farmyard Fun
written by Guy Baxter, Archivist. Last Thursday was quite a day at MERL, with over 500 visitors enjoying Farmyard Fun with Miller’s Ark, who brought us their sheep, goats, pigs, geese, ducks (with their own paddling pool!) and colourful rare-breed chickens. It was also great to see so many visitors having fun with the animals […]
Guest post: My year in the Harris Garden by Jenny Halstead
Our first guest post is by Jenny Halstead, whose exhibition, An artist’s year in the Harris Garden opened at MERL last week. Jenny is a local artist who spent a year as Artist in Residence at the University of Reading’s beautiful Harris Garden. The resulting exhibition showcases the paintings and sketchbook studies which take us […]