Weekly What's On: 12th to 18th May
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 Pop-up lunchtime concert: Albert Ball’s Flying Aces Tuesday 13th May, 1.10-1.50pm Free. Drop-in Refreshments available. This term the University […]
Biscuit recipe of the week: Chocolate chip cookies
Another recipe to practise for the Biscuit Bake-off, written by Alison Hilton At the recent launch of the Biscuit Bake-off competition, Andrew Palmer’s wife, Davina, very kindly presented MERL staff with a signed copy of her book ‘Kitchen Diplomacy: 30 years of Foreign Service Cooking’. I was amazed to discover, on reading the introduction, that […]
Discovering the Landscape #5: Mawson’s ‘The art & craft of garden making’ (1900)
Written by Claire Wooldridge, Graduate Trainee Library Assistant As progress continues to integrate the library and archive of the Landscape Institute into our MERL collections, here’s a brief look at another of our favourite items: The art & craft of garden making by Thomas H. Mawson (London: B.T. Batsford, 1900) In his first book, Mawson […]
Volunteers Voice #11: Reviewing your volunteer programme
Written by Rob Davies, Volunteer Co-ordinator. As in all aspects of an organisation, it is always a useful exercise to review your volunteer programme. This isn’t a review of the volunteers themselves but an overall review of the entire programme. A review enables you to take a step back from your day to day work, […]
Weekly What's On: 6th to 11th May
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 The origins of the First World War: an historical perspective […]
Crowning the May Queen – origins of a folk tradition
Inspired by our seminar series earlier this year, MERL Curator, Isabel Hughes, reflects on a timely example of intangible heritage from her childhood. Earlier this year, MERL hosted a series of seminars under the banner of Untouchable England. Inspired by the fact that the MERL collections may soon be packed away temporarily as part of […]
Focus on Collections #5: Brewing Beer
Written by Adam Koszary, Project Officer. England is ale, and ale is England. It is an old adage, and people grasping at a description of ‘English culture’ very often reach for the low-hanging fruit of ale, pubs and Morris dancing (when they’re not already listing smocks, village greens and other aspects of the rural idyll). […]
Weekly What's On: April 28th to May 4th
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 Reading’s First World War Tuesday 29th April, 1-2pm Free. Drop-in […]
Biscuit recipe of the week: Anzac biscuits
Since the recent launch of our Village Fete Biscuit Bake-off , we have started publishing a biscuit recipe each week to inspire you to practise baking biscuits and to enter the competition at the Fete on May. Our Librarians and archivists are digging out some interesting recipes from the MERL collections, and we’d also welcome […]
Weekly What's on: 22nd to 27th 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 tour Wednesdays, Saturdays & Sundays, 3-3.45pm Free, booking advisable Let our fully trained tour guides tell you the […]