The Museum of English Rural Life
@TheMERL
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We explore the history of the English countryside and its people. Chaotic Good. Part of @UniofReading. See our pinned tweet for new posts.
Reading, Berkshire, UK
Joined February 2009
hello if you're thinking of leaving this website and going to another one, here's a Helpful Resource for your reference: https://t.co/NsNNpivm3z
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the brits are it again (or, not at it) https://t.co/eONq2e8Cqd
@TheMERL So far I’m only seeing my British friends saying that. I can get on so maybe it’s local.
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yeah we can't get on either right now but please do come back because it's so worth it! https://t.co/esLOxsNliL
@TheMERL I would immediately follow you there, but once again the site is acting hard to get, not fully loading
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we explain what this is on The Other Site you should follow us there ok https://t.co/c1W5esjCTG
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if you like Invalid Handle just wait until you see this Pick Axe Handle
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who'd have thought the counterweight keeping us all here would be the Funny Sheep Account
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we are very humbled by this status and, also, agree https://t.co/iF0ATQzKWO
@TheMERL okay NOW we've reached the tipping point
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Also here's a little something we made earlier: https://t.co/NsNNpivm3z
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fyi we are there *and* we are loving it!
@TheMERL Please come to BSky. Ewe’ll be very comfy there 🐑🤗
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👀Want to catch-up with our new series of free, online, art-historical talks? 🖥️'Closer Look: Conversations with a Curator' are now available on YouTube! ✨ https://t.co/FHYo5533Ny
collections.reading.ac.uk
Hosted on the first Thursday of the month, we have been delighted to see everyone’s reaction to the first two...
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The @TheMERL is England’s most extensive museum dedicated to farming, food, craft and rural life. The innovative galleries contain an astonishing array of items telling this important part of history... https://t.co/CDTJMo43yh
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Art! Tonight! Online! For Free! 🎨
Tomorrow evening, grab a drink and settle in at home for an online talk about ‘Gwen John’s Nudes’ - the first in a new series of exciting free online talks from @TheMERL and @unirdg_artcol
https://t.co/gJAjr6oKyn
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You still have time to sign-up for our 'Conversations with a Curator' free, online talk this Thursday evening!🎨 ⏲️7.30-8.15pm 🍑Dr Rebecca Birrell will be talking about Gwen John's nudes! 🔗 https://t.co/nSHYdNVDmn
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We’re proud to announce next spring’s exhibit charting the rise of Reading’s role in the UK’s ‘Silicon Valley’: Reading’s DIGITAL Revolution. 💾: https://t.co/IQUeixau79
#NationalLottery30
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You can find out more about this project on our website: https://t.co/fi0gmSAslu Thank you to the National Lottery Heritage Fund @HeritageFundUK, which celebrates its 30th birthday this week, for making the project possible! @LottoGoodCauses
merl.reading.ac.uk
National Lottery Heritage Fund project to collect 20th century rural cultural objects, from Glastonbury Festival programmes to Arts and Crafts furniture.
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Today, our work continues. We’re still collecting and building a comprehensive view of England’s countryside heritage, highlighting the connections and contradictions between an increasingly urban society and its rural imagination.
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Our goal is more than just collecting physical objects from the countryside’s past and present. It’s documenting and sharing the stories we tell each other about what the countryside represents, and what it means to invoke England’s rural past in our everyday lives.
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Ideas about rural England can be found everywhere in 20th century culture, from film posters to pop albums to fashion. We consulted collectors, reached out to icons of rural pop culture like Glastonbury co-creator Michael Eavis, and deployed a cutting-edge technology: eBay
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In 2008 we broadened our focus to include objects that evoke rural England’s legacy and pop cultural attitudes towards it. This project, Collecting 20th Century Rural Cultures, began with a question: 🤔 ‘How would you represent the 20th century countryside through objects?’
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We began our work in 1951, as England recovered from World War II. Our goal was to preserve knowledge and tech that rural England had relied on for centuries, at risk of extinction due to post-war mechanisation. Wagons, used and repaired for decades, were abandoned in ditches.
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The Barbour jacket. The Laura Ashley dress. The Glastonbury welly. The Land Rover. England’s rural past casts a long shadow in contemporary culture. Here’s how we began broadening our collection in 2008 to reflect it. 🧵
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