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Pictures of the month #6 – Canal life

Author
Alison Hilton
Published Date
December 16, 2013

<<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, our Public Programmes Manager, in a school workshop held last month. The primary school children visited MERL as part of  Takeover Day and used pictures from our collection to create mini exhibitions (see an online version here) about life on the canals.

Unfortunately we don’t know the names of the people nor the location of the canal in these particular pictures but the date is August 1965.

The collection includes a variety of activities but here we have crocheting and painting.

Crochet on the canal - P DX1096_39
Crochet on the canal

 

 

 

Painting on the canal
Painting on the canal

 

 

Robert Davey
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
September 1, 2026

Remembering Robert Davey

All of us at The Museum of English Rural Life are deeply saddened by the recent passing of Robert Davey – a valued member of our community.

Merle the bat, asleep in a glove
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
August 19, 2026

So we found a live bat in our galleries (again)

Seven years after we gave a bat a library card, another bat has visited The Museum of English Rural Life.

three glass pint milk bottles
Author
Madeleine
/
Published Date
June 15, 2026

Milking Time: Bacteriology and Pasteurisation

Explore the University of Reading’s role in dairying research into milk pasteurisation.

Richard Watts film archive
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
May 12, 2026

Watts in the Country: Inclusive Approaches to Rural Film (with the BFI)

We’re collaborating with film NGO Real Time, volunteers, and focus groups to bring the Richard Watts archival film collection to rural communities across Britain.

Author
Madeleine
/
Published Date
March 6, 2026

International Women’s Day 2026: Hidden histories

Discover the stories of three women curators, collectors, and designers in the 20th century.

Handwriting in a farm letter
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
February 25, 2026

Queer histories in the farm records

What can farm records teach us about same-sex relationships? Researcher Tim Jerrome shares his work exploring queer rural experiences.