Weekly What's On: 3rd to 9th March, 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

MERL Seminar series: Untouchable England
The Museum of British Folklore: a new cultural venture
Simon Costin (1-2pm) and Obby Robinson (2-2.45pm)
Tuesday 4th March, 1pm
Simon Costin shares progress of the Museum of British Folklore project which aims to provide a physical home for a heritage which is both tangible and intangible, including British custom, superstition, and tradition.

Followed by a reading in the Museum gallery by Obby Robinson of poems from his recent collection, The Witch-house of Canewdon and Other Poems, inspired by English Folklore.

For full details of the series, visit our website

Guided 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.

Toddler time
Friday 7th 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.  This week we are making binoculars!!

Italy at war: a selection from the archives
Tuesday 11th February to 30th March
Staircase hall, MERL
Free, drop-in, normal museum opening times
Highlights from the University’s fascinating records relating to Italian history. 

Collecting the countryside: 20th century rural cultures
Until Autumn 2014
Temporary exhibition space
Free, drop in, normal museum opening times
Since 2008 the Museum of English Rural Life has been adding even more objects to its collection, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Collecting Cultures programme, in order to represent each decade of the last century. (Find out more in Curator, Isabel Hughes’ recent post) This exhibition gives a taste of what has been acquired and challenges visitors to suggest the modern-day objects that the Museum needs to collect for the future. The exhibition will help the Museum to explore how to incorporate more recent histories and representations of the English countryside into its displays as part of the new Our Country Lives project.

Find more events at the University of Reading, including an International Women’s Day lecture on ‘The female role model in 2014’ taking place on Thursday March 6th.