Monthly Gallery Tours – June

Curator of MERL Collections, Dr Ollie Douglas, will be joined by a different specialist for each of these monthly tours. Together they will take visitors on a short conversational guided trip through the galleries approaching our collection from a different perspective that reflects the guest speaker’s expertise, ensuring you’ll learn something new every time.

Each tour will last about 45 minutes and will culminate in a pop-up display or an opportunity to peek behind the scenes. At the end of the session there’ll be a chance to ask questions and to chat with Ollie and his guest.

10 June: Professor Tom MacMillan, Royal Agricultural University

This month, Ollie will be joined by Tom MacMillan, Elizabeth Creak Chair in Rural Policy and Strategy at the Royal Agricultural University. They’ll discuss Tom’s past roles at the Soil Association and as part of the team that developed the National Food Strategy, exploring the climate crisis and the wider push towards net zero and sustainability in farming. Together they’ll unearth examples of farmer-led innovation in the Museum’s galleries and consider the past and future of agricultural technology. They might even talk about how Elizabeth Creak’s story connects to the origins of The MERL!