Volunteers' Voice: Work Placement – Daisy
Daisy tells us about her work placement at MERL and the benefits of volunteering after university. The question of what to do with my life after I graduate has been particularly pertinent this week as, on Tuesday, I received the results of my history degree. I got a first, in case you were wondering. Even if […]
Discovering the Landscape: Dublin of the Future (1922)
This post highlights Dublin of the future: new town plan by Patrick Abercrombie, Sydney Kelly and Arthur Kelly (University of Liverpool Press, 1922) – a title from our MERL Library Landscape Institute collections with intriguing context and provenance. Patrick Abercrombie (1879-1957) was a town planner active in the interwar period. He played a leading role in planning […]
Fun and festivities at the Big Band Lunch
Science Engagement Officer, Robyn Hopcroft, reveals what we got up to at the Big Band Lunch on Sunday. Last Sunday we enjoyed glorious weather and fabulous big band music at the University of Reading’s annual Big Band Lunch. This was a chance to bring the University and local communities together over lunch, and celebrate the […]
Interview with Reading Room Assistant Ceri (Pt. 1)
Marketing Volunteer Whitney continues her series of interviews with staff talking to Ceri Lumley, Reading Room Assistant What does your job entail at MERL? I’m split between working in the reading room and doing background tasks. Three days of the week I’m down in the reading room answering enquiries, doing production, getting documents out and […]
Reading Readers – Felicity McWilliams
For this month’s Reading Readers blog, PhD student Felicity McWilliams (a familiar face at MERL) gives us an insight into how the MERL collections are playing a part in her research of draught power technology in the 20th century. Last September, I left my post as Project Officer at the Museum to embark upon an AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral […]
World Hunger Day: Where does MERL fit in?
Written by Science Engagement Officer, Robyn Hopcroft. Saturday, 28 May is World Hunger Day. It’s a chance to consider and act to create sustainable solutions to hunger and poverty. MERL is a museum “dedicated to the spirit of the English countryside and its people”. So what do we care about world hunger? Well, we care […]
Discovering the Landscape: Treasures Exhibition at the University Library
We’re delighted that this exhibition can now be seen at the University Library: Discovering the Landscape: treasures from the collections of the Landscape Institute Where? University Library Foyer, Whiteknights campus When? April – June 2016 (during opening hours) What? This display will showcase a selection of important archive materials and books from the Landscape Institute collections, […]
Chalk or Cheese? Winner announced!
The votes are in, the people have spoken and the wall hanging chosen for display in the new Museum of English Rural Life is…Kent! Over the past month we asked you to vote between our Kent and Cheshire wall hangings, two of a series of seven made by the artist Michael O’Connell for the 1951 Festival […]
Interview with Art Collections Officer, Part 1
Volunteer, Whitney continues her series of interviews with members of staff with a chat with Jacqueline Winston-Silk, Art Collections Officer, about her role. Can you give me a little background of the work you do here at MERL? I am based at the Museum and employed by the University of Reading. I manage the University’s Art Collections […]
Wellcome news! MERL has rural life down to a science
Our new Science Engagement Officer, Robyn Hopcroft, provides an update on the Wellcome Trust funded project: ‘Our Country Lives: Nutrition, Health and Rural England’. What is the relationship between rural life and science? In my role at MERL I’ll be investigating this question and finding new ways to work together with our visitors to explore […]