News and Views

Discover stories from our collections, work, research, and events. Warning: may contain absolute units.

A black and white photograph of a person cooking.
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
September 21, 2022

Ten rural objects for your student kitchen

Discover a selection of cooking utensils from The MERL collection. Some will be more useful for your student kitchen than others!

Workers in the H&P factory.
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
September 14, 2022

Heritage bakes: three historical biscuit recipes from our collections

Explore and follow three heritage recipes for baking historical biscuits, including an original recipe by Huntley & Palmers.

Community members in The MERL garden.
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
August 19, 2022

Wild Being: how museums can care for health and wellbeing 

Learn about how we have worked with organisations across Reading to create museum opportunities that promote creativity and wellbeing.

An illustration by Sarah Hannis of labourers on a strawberry farm.
Author
Ollie Douglas
/
Published Date
July 8, 2022

Feeding the Nation: Serving us our strawberries

In time for Wimbledon 2022, learn about the many challenges that labourers and farmers face in growing strawberries.

Students visiting The MERL galleries
Author
Susanna Ivy
/
Published Date
July 6, 2022

Widening participation at The MERL

Read about our learning team’s work with schools as part of The MERL’s widening participation programme.

Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
July 5, 2022

Mrs Beeton’s vegetarian feasts: vegetarian recipes from 19th century England

Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management was a staple of the Victorian kitchen. We tried our hand at recreating several of her recipes.

Workers in the Huntley & Palmers factory.
Author
Tim Jerrome
/
Published Date
June 6, 2022

200 Years of Huntley & Palmers in Reading: about the exhibition

Find out about our 2022 Huntley & Palmers exhibition in the Staircase Hall, commemorating 200 years of the Biscuit Town in Reading.

A ration book.
Author
/
Published Date
May 8, 2022

How did rationing work in the Second World War?

Few items are more symbolic of daily life during the Second World War than the ration book. Learn about their history on our blog.

Author
Joe
/
Published Date
April 11, 2022

We are AMuSED: creating a toolkit for multisensory reminiscence

Learn how staff at The MERL have worked with University of Reading scientists to develop a multisensory toolkit for reminiscence.