searched for Jimothy in our collection

I was not prepared for the amount of delights in this thread about a plant sale.

Sorry pal, you're not going to dox me that easily

hands up if you're a rural history museum who's also running a plant sale

h/t New Bedford Whaling Museum

Our @olliedouglas.bsky.social was on BBC R4 yesterday! Have a listen:

thanks to whoever left this awesome giant sheep outside the museum! we're sure nothing bad is going to happen

One of the few good things about living in Reading, is knowing that you have the best Museum in the country for light-hearted shitposting. They also have an exhibit which looks like a small horse gimp suit, so 10/10 all the way down.

Latest episode. It’s a deep one. Enjoy!

Wonderful to see @readingmuseum.bsky.social's replica Bayeux Tapestry get a mention by @theguardian.com! www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

yes the Odyssey is getting 5* reviews but does it have one of the UK's top 50 museum cafés and free parking? your move, Matt Damon

Absolute Units returns! We're back with the @uniofreading.bsky.social's Tom Oliver and Marzia Briel, talking about how we can rethink and rebuild humanity's relationship with nature. Listen wherever you get your podcasts! merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

There's a lot we can learn from museums. For example: imagine how much better England would have been last night if there had been a dry-stone wall in front of Pickford's goal.

...and England after facing Argentina #WorldCup2026

look at this absolute unit

do you think of us as MERL or The MERL

You don't often see a ladder as quality as this, lads. Drink it in.

look at the size of this lad

we are in our shark arc (the sharc)

This is true! For example I was absolutely delighted to learn that they do "horse shoes" a little different in England:

AI isn't inevitable. You know what is? Having a great time when you visit The Museum of English Rural Life. merl.reading.ac.uk/visit/

Reminds me of the famous gag in Jaws: "We're gonna need a bigger ladder"

It's like the blue whale that used to be in the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History sealife exhibit, but a ladder.

Today is #SharkAwarenessDay. We don't have any sharks in the collection but we do have this absolutely enormous 36-foot ladder, which is so long that we have to display it on its side.

As an archive we're open to professional historians, casual historians, and competitive ranked historians.

Brb, gonna print this skeet out and put it in my office.

I have visited @themerl.bsky.social and got a lot more out of it than Meta Glasses. Meta glasses don't have a Wagon Walk.

Meta Glasses: • expensive • impractical • people may judge telling your peers you have visited The Museum of English Rural Life: • free • highly ergonomic • people will instantly fall in love with you

It's heartening when someone gets collectively remembered so fondly. Feels someone we'd all like to have known.

live the kind of life that has MUSEUMS posting nicely about you lmao

Farewell to the extraordinary Sam Neill. Among his brilliant highlights, we'll remember him for his wonderful social media updates about his farm and his many brilliantly-named animals. www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAaK...

ok who wants to play Meccha Chameleon (square sheep edition)

one of the best parts of being at The MERL is that every day you get to log in and look at cool pictures of cows

England vs Norway is going to be rough for us ever since we learned that the etymology of Ødegaard is 'abandoned farm'

good news to all England fans: the museum will be closed today in solidarity with Harry Kane and his vocal chords

Heads up: if you're planning to visit us tomorrow, we expect to be very busy during our Romany and Traveller Heritage Day event! As we manage capacity, there may be queues and wait times. merl.reading.ac.uk/visit/

When is DC going to publish an Absolute Unit ongoing series?

We’re back. Latest episode is here!

#AbsoluteUnits is back baby

the pod- is cast

Absolute Units has returned! This time, we chat with Professor Tom Oliver and Marzia Briel (both @uniofreading.bsky.social) about how we can rethink and rebuild humanity's relationship with the natural world. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

Able to make it to Reading? We have a handful of tickets left for our Romany and Traveller Heritage Day this Saturday. Join us to celebrate these communities' rich histories and cultures, with activities like blacksmithing, flower making, dance, and more. merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/rom...

@themerl.bsky.social inspired a slide in a keynote I gave today at the University of York. My title is GEORGICAL TECHNOLOGIES in the long 18th century. In my coda, I discussed MERL & its commitments to community in the broadest & most generous sense as exemplary. Plus, the Absolute Unit.

Public Service Announcement:

Absolute Units returns next Thurs! We're joined by @uniofreading.bsky.social's Professor Tom Oliver and Marzia Briel, to explore their work rethinking our relationship with nature and how we can better advocate for the natural world. Catch up on past pods: merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

in this heat we are officially a set of airconditioned corridors attached to a rural history collection

Free and air conditioned if you’re nearby. Maybe you will see the Bluesky pig. It was gigantic at last report! #Hedgewatch

If you're looking for something to do in this extreme heat and you can make it to Reading, we welcome you to drop in and see us at The Museum of English Rural Life! We have cool and air-conditioned spaces (including our galleries and learning studio), plus water refills in the café.

we have reflected on this podcast's prediction that England would beat Croatia 20-0 and feel that we may have been too aspirational