Welcome Area
Universal themes: Arts and crafts, Colonialism, Countryside, Farming and agriculture, Food and drink, Health nutrition and medicine, Historical era, People
No. of Objects: 63
The Welcome Area gives you a chance to rest or play, enjoy a cuppa and a slice of cake, browse the shop, or admire the eclectic collection of objects in our Welcome Case. The objects here–such as a beehive chair, a Ransomes Newcastle plough, and a Laura Ashley dress–are just a taster of the variety of the objects that await you in our galleries.
An introduction to The MERL
Below, The MERL Curator, Dr Ollie Douglas, explains how the the Welcome Case introduces the visitor to The MERL displays.
The MERL Google Streetview tour
Did you know
...city families used to pick hops on holiday?
Hop picking holidays allowed city families to earn money. Pickers were paid with tokens, which were used in local shops or exchanged for wages.
Did you know
...Elizabethan mattresses were used for both childbirth and corpses?
Mattresses, plaited from sedges, were made to support a mother during childbirth or a corpse after death. After use it would have been burned.
Did you know
...farmers used to sow seeds by fiddle?
Sowing by hand can be slow and inaccurate. Seed drills were developed in the 1800s to sow seeds quickly in a straight line at regular intervals.
Did you know
...Lady Eve Balfour (1898-1990) was one of the earliest organic farmers and co-founded the Soil Association?
Women continue to play a key role in this movement, with organic farms employing significantly more women than chemical farming.
Did you know
...Suttons Seeds invented the seed packet?
The local Reading firm, founded in 1806, popularised paper packets of seeds for gardeners.
Did you know
...villages often used to run their own fire services?
The National Fire Service was only created in 1941.
