Student Spotlight #2: Man Traps
Henrik Yau is a second year Archaeology student at the University of Reading, who chose to research our Man Traps because they caught his eye, because they looked dangerous and he had no prior knowledge of them. I’ve always loved going to museums. Looking at vast collection of objects always excited me as a child, […]
Student Spotlight #1: Veterinary Medicine Box
This is the first in a series of blog posts focusing on particular objects, researched by University of Reading Archaeology students as part of their course. Kelly van Doorn is a second year BA Archaeology and Ancient History student at the University of Reading. On completion of her degree, she hopes to take up a master’s […]
Rural Reads review #5: The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier
Written by Adam Koszary, Project Officer. We had to take February off for Rural Reads this year, which allowed us plenty of time to stew on our latest book: The Last Runaway. Its author, Tracy Chevalier, is probably better known for her other historical novel Girl with a Pearl Earring, since adapted into a movie. Set in the […]
Weekly What's On: 31st March to 6th 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 Reading University College: WW1 and beyond Tuesday 1st April to 31 August, 2014 Staircase hall, MERL Free, drop-in, normal museum […]
Guest post: Our Country Lives project goes global with a ‘Stitch in Time’
MERL Fellow, Dr Jane McCutchan has written a guest post about her project with ‘Permeate’ trainee, Genell Watson, to encourage more visitors to MERL by local people with a BAME background Local community and wider audiences are at the heart of our re-display and there are many chances to influence how we explore English rural […]
My Favourite Object #5: ‘Four Hedges', a book by Clare Leighton
By Fiona Melhuish, UMASCS Librarian The wood engravings of Clare Leighton (1898-1989) were among the most exceptional examples of the art form produced during the revival of the art of wood engraving in the 1930s. She illustrated numerous books, several of which she had also written, and wrote a manual on her craft entitled Wood-Engraving and Woodcuts, published in […]
Weekly What's On: 24 to 30th March
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 #MuseumWeek Join us this week for a virtual event over on Twitter. MERL is joining museums across Europe in […]
MERL on Twitter: from dabbling to #MuseumWeek
Alison Hilton, MERL Marketing Officer, looks back at 5 years of MERL on Twitter and forward to an exciting @TwitterUK campaign I have been tweeting for MERL since 2009. I signed up following a training course in which I was introduced to the wonders of social media (Back in the day before I was even […]
Collections Based Research opportunities
There are currently several opportunities to work and study with the University of Reading’s museums and collections: Collections Based Research Programme Director We are seeking an outstanding candidate to be responsible for the formulation, development and delivery of a strategic programme of University of Reading (UoR) collections-based research (CBR). Please see the University website for details of this […]
Weekly What's On: 17th to 23rd March, 2014
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 Seminar series: Untouchable England MERL and the BBC: Rural re-enactment and gestural reconstruction in the 1950s Dr Ollie Douglas, […]