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Weekly What's On: 24 to 30th March

Author
Alison Hilton
Published Date
March 24, 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

 Selecting objects#MuseumWeek
Join us this week for a virtual event over on Twitter. MERL is joining museums across Europe in a week-long @TwitterUK campaign. Look out for tweets on a different theme each day. On Monday we’re giving an insight into a ‘Dayinthelife’ of staff and volunteers at the Museum. Tomorrow there’ll be a ‘guess the object’ quiz as part of #MuseumMastermind. We’d love to hear your #MuseumMemories on Wednesday – tell us about your visits to MERL! You can also get involved by tweeting questions for our Curators which we will answer on Friday (#AskACurator) and if you’re visiting this week, why not take a selfie and tweet it on Saturday using the #MuseumSelfies hashtag!

 

 

Guided tourGuided tour
Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 3-3.45pm
Free, booking advisable
Let our fully trained tour guides tell you the stories behind the objects on display and visit the object store to see MERL’s hidden treasures

 

 

 

Rural reads library booksRural Reads book club
Thursday, 27th March, 5.30-7pm
Free, drop-in (£1.50 for tea & biscuits)
Join us to discuss this month’s book ‘The Last Runaway’ by Tracy Chevalier and bring along your suggestions for our next ‘rural read’
For details visit the Rural Reads web page

 

 

Copy of H&P comic cuts - compressedToddler time – biscuit special!
Friday 28th March, 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.
We are launching our Village Fete Biscuit Bake-Off competition at Toddler Time this week! Bring along home-baked biscuits and Andrew Palmer, a descendant of the famous Reading biscuit family will taste them! Try biscuits baked from an old Huntley & Palmers recipe and decorate biscuits with lots of sugary things!! Join us for this special event – free entry for anyone bringing homemade biscuits!

 

Author
madeleineding
/
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.

Exterior of E.M. Barraud's cottage in Cambridgeshire
Author
lottiewood
/
Published Date
February 19, 2026

“I am the farm worker going home at evening”: gender fluidity, rural landscapes, and the Women’s Land Army

Library trainee Lottie Wood reflects on gender fluidity in the work of E. M. Barraud, and Barraud’s reflections on her time in the Women’s Land Army

"Cluttered Countryside." A pastiche of different technologies and activities that disrupt the English countryside - from cars, to petrol stations, to tourism.
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
February 13, 2026

Voices of the Countryside

Explore our new exhibition celebrating 100 years of CPRE, whose vital work protects and maintains rural English spaces.

The MERL building, as viewed from the garden.
Author
Ollie Douglas
/
Published Date
January 5, 2026

What’s coming up in 2026

This year we’re celebrating the organisations, artists and activists who defend the voices and soul of rural England.

Hedgehog extravaganza
Author
Joe
/
Published Date
July 24, 2025

The Friday Walks, with Man in the Woods

In this episode of The MERL podcast, we speak to Bristol-based artist Scott about his artistic practice documenting weird Britain.