Volunteers Voice #8: Plot plans for 2014
Our two gardening volunteers, Tony and Roger, spent the last year transforming our plots into bee friendly areas, designed to encourage bees into our garden and to show visitors how easy it is to support them. Tony and Roger have kindly written a post for us about what they have in store for 2014… Following […]
Pictures of the month #7 – Floods in Berkshire
Photographic Assistant, Caroline Benson has selected 2 particularly topical images from our collections this month… The subject of this month’s photographs will seem all too familiar to many people living by the Thames. They show the floods of November 1895 in the riverside village of Pangbourne in Berkshire. Small boats & punts can be seen […]
Weekly What's On: 13th to 20th January '14
Toddler time Friday 17th January, 10-11am, £2 per child, drop-in Suitable for families with children aged 2-4 Come along to the Museum with your little ones and enjoy rhymes, songs and craft activities. Collecting the countryside: 20th century rural cultures Temporary exhibition space Free, drop in, normal museum opening times Since 2008 the Museum of English […]
Gerry Westall
It is with great sadness that we have learnt of the death of our longest serving volunteer, Gerry Westall, who passed away peacefully shortly before Christmas. A former employee of Sutton’s Seeds and a well-known local historian, Gerry brought an enormous depth of expertise and knowledge to the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) during […]
'Life on canals': a Takeover Day exhibition
On Friday 22nd November, the Museum of English Rural Life worked with the Institute of Education and took part in Kids in Museums’ Takeover Day. Throughout the day we welcomed Year 5 and 6 students from Geoffrey Field Junior School, Reading, and invited them to explore artefacts in the collections that relate to canal life […]
Pictures of the month #6 – Canal life
Photographic Assistant, Caroline Benson has resisted the temptation to select a festive image this month, instead sharing images she discovered whilst preparing materials for an education session last month… The photographs this month are from a collection depicting canals & canal life. The two I have chosen were amongst a selection used by Philippa Heath, […]
Weekly What's On: 9th to 15th December, '13
Christmas trail until Friday 20th December, normal museum opening times Free, drop-in Suitable for families with children of all ages Pick up a copy of our free Christmas trail at reception and learn about Victorian traditions on your way around the Museum Toddler time Friday 13th December, 10-11am, £2 per child, drop-in Suitable for families with […]
Our Country Lives project update: Activity planning
Isabel Hughes, MERL Curator, updates us on the work on the ‘Activity Plan’ for our Heritage Lottery Fund project Earlier in the year, the Cultural Consulting Network was appointed to help MERL produce an activity plan as part of the Round 2 submission to the Heritage Lottery Fund for Our Country Lives. The first section of […]
Weekly What's On: 2nd to 8th December
MERL Annual Lecture: Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP ‘in conversation’ with Sir David Bell, University of Reading Vice-Chancellor Thursday 5th December 7pm, Great Hall, London Road Campus Free. Tickets in advance or on the door (Doors open 6pm. Bar and MERL ‘pop-up’ shop available) Click here for details Toddler time Friday 6th December, 10-11am, £2 […]
Archive inspiration in the MERL shop
Visitor Services Assistant, Judith Moon, also manages the MERL shop. In this post, Judith reveals the story behind some beautiful new products inspired by our archive collections… The shop at MERL occupies a small but important part of the reception and introductory area of the museum and the past 8 years has seen the range […]