Weekly What's On: 23rd to 29th June
You can find full details of all our forthcoming events in our What’s On guide, which are now available from the Museum or to download from our website You can also see all events on our online calendar MERL Seminar series: The Great War & the countryside Food, diet and consumption on the Home Front: standards of living amongst rural […]
MERL archive contributes to US National History Day
Written by Guy Baxter, University Archivist. MERL, along with academic colleagues at the University of Reading, has contributed to a documentary film made by a middle school student for the US National History Day. The film, entitled “Operation Pied Piper: Balancing Parental Rights and Government Responsibility”, drew on the Evacuee Archive, the Humphrey Fisher Archive and […]
Weekly what's on: 16th to 22nd June
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 MERL Seminar series: The Great War & the countryside ‘Be you Berkshire?’ The Berkshire Yeomanry during the First World […]
Our Country Lives update: Volunteering opportunities
Written by Adam Koszary, Project Officer for Our Country Lives. Since last week was National Volunteering Week, I thought it would be worth dwelling on the volunteering opportunities for this week’s update. Volunteers play a massive part in the operation of MERL, from staffing events to carrying out vital work on the conservation of objects, […]
Weekly What's On: June 9th to 15th
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 Universities Week 2014 Research in Action: Buckets , baskets and boots: Sensory Objects showcase Monday 9th June, 12.30-3pm, free, […]
Volunteers' Voice #13: Volunteers' Week 2014
Written by Rob Davies, Volunteer Coordinator. This week is the time of the year we stop to think about and celebrate volunteering across the country, whether you are a volunteer yourself, an organisation who works with them, or indeed is entirely run by volunteers, this is the week in which we say thank you on […]
Biscuit recipe of the week: Threadneedle Street biscuits
In case you need biscuit-baking inspiration, we’ve been digging in our library and archives for examples of biscuit recipes you might not have come across before. Our Librarian has managed to find several interesting recipes in the rare books collection, such as Lemon biscuits and Drop biscuits from ‘The London Art of Cookery’ by John […]
Volunteers' Voice #12: A tale of rural protest in Berkshire
Written by Kaye Gough, Volunteer. Well, we did it! After months of discussions and script conferences; research teams trawling through local archives; rehearsals, sourcing costumes and music, the MERL Players presented two performances of our tableau Performing Protest: Riots against technological change in the 19th Century to full houses at the Museum on Saturday 22nd […]
Weekly What's On: May 27th to June 1st
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 tour Wednesdays, Saturdays & Sundays, 3-3.45pm Free, booking advisable Let our fully trained tour guides tell you the […]
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 […]