Huntley & Palmers and the MERL shop
Claire Smith, Visitor Services Assistant, looks at MERL’s links with biscuit company, Huntley & Palmers, and the development of new related products for the MERL shop MERL has very strong links with Huntley & Palmers. Not only do we look after their archives, we’re based in Alfred Palmer’s former home! The University of Reading Special […]
Rural Reads review #7: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Written by Rob Davies, Volunteer Coordinator. For the warm, sun-filled month of June we read Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, a quintessentially English book and author. We decided to read it because we realised that in the four years of our book group we had not read a single Jane Austen novel, so we thought […]
Weekly what's on: 7th to 13th July
You can find full details of all our forthcoming events in our What’s On guides, which are now available from the Museum or to download from our website You can also see all events on our online calendar Graduation parties notice Weds 9 to Fri 11th July As a University museum we are delighted to be able to host graduation […]
Our Boneshaking connection to cycling
Written by Adam Koszary, Project Officer. At the moment of writing, 198 lycra-clad men from across the world are cycling through the Cambridgeshire countryside. They’re riding the best bicycles in the world (with the best thighs in the world), aiming for a finish line at Buckingham Palace, the prize of a yellow jersey and a […]
Weekly what's on: 30th June to 6th July
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 Eggs Enlisted? Egg production and the impact of war by Dr Nicola Verdon, […]
Our Country Lives goes ahead with £1.7m HLF grant
We are all very pleased and excited to announce that we have been successful in securing a further £1.7m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, in order to redevelop MERL as part of the Our Country Lives project! You can see our press release here. That we have got to this stage is testament to […]
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, […]