Oh! Excited for this @timjerrome.bsky.social Did lots of research for #GhostsoftheFarm @themerl.bsky.social My book tells the true story of several lesbian & queer women farmers who were adored & active members of their rural communities. Hope still to return to The Merl. Hope it’s in the bookshop!

Big thanks to everyone who's listened to our podcast with @timjerrome.bsky.social about queer rural history! We'll be back with Tim in 2 weeks' time for another pod, sharing some of the stories that Tim has found in our archives to date. Search 'Absolute Units' wherever you get your podcasts.

Excellent episode of Absolute Units. Also: Tim Jerrome is looking for a queer lumberjack, can we help him?

This is a fascinating listen on how researchers uncover rural LGBT+ lives in the archive, and the difficulties in doing so compared to in urban histories:

Here is a brilliant new episode of Absolute Units with @timjerrome.bsky.social. Co-presented and very professionally produced by the inimitable @joevaughan.net, as always. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

This awesome episode about queer rural history also introduces our Further Afield project, as part of which @themerl.bsky.social has been working with Rainbow Canopy (LGBTQ+ staff network of the Forestry Commission). We currently have a small display in our Community Case about this work!

I have a very long podcast subscription list, but my regular listening these days is basically "a bunch of horror audio drama and MERL's Absolute Units".

Another reason to love @themerl.bsky.social:

Thank you to the eternally wonderful Joe and Ollie for guiding me through my first time on a podcast - if intense ramblings about finding queer snippets in rural archives is your thing, give it a listen! @themerl.bsky.social

MERL is awesome y'all

🐏 New Absolute Units 🐏 Same-sex relationships have always been part of rural England, but they've been underrepresented in our collections. In the first of 2 episodes, @timjerrome.bsky.social shares his work tracing queer rural lives in The MERL archives. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

‘Which fonts do you want for the sale poster?’ ‘Yes’ #fonts #typography #museum #allthefonts @fontsinuse.com @themerl.bsky.social

This bound volume of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and volume I of The Ghost Seer by Friedrich Schiller is exactly what we need at this time of year! These illustrations depict iconic moments from the stories, though Schiller's tale remains unfinished…

Our next free monthly gallery tour takes place tomorrow (14 October, 11.30 am)! Join our very own Dr Ollie Douglas with @uniofreading.bsky.social's Associate Professor Jeremy Burchardt to learn about the history of fences, and why we divide and enclose the countryside. No booking required!

it makes us extremely proud to know that among @bsky.app's 2 billion posts, our hog was biggest

This was an excellent, wide-ranging episode.

wake up babe new generational James Joyce exhibition just dropped

Visit the exhibition any time during @themerl.bsky.social's regular opening hours. Plan your visit via The MERL's website today! merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/

Find out more about James Joyce: Enigmas & Puzzles in the latest @uniofreading.bsky.social blogpost: www.reading.ac.uk/news/2025/Un...

🥳 Now open 🎉 Discover rarely-seen letters and artefacts from the personal archive of beloved author James Joyce in James Joyce: Enigmas & Puzzles. Explore Joyce's social network of friends and artists, his family life, his inspirations, and the adjustments he made to work despite ill-health.

Never-before-seen papers from beloved author James Joyce, part of @uorspeccoll.bsky.social's remarkable new Solange and Stephen James Joyce Collection, will form the free exhibition, James Joyce: Enigmas and Puzzles. Opens 7 Oct at @themerl.bsky.social whatsonreading.com/venues/museu...

Latest episode folks. With thanks to @katrinanavickas.bsky.social and @joevaughan.net for general awesomeness!

New Absolute Units is live! Join us and @katrinanavickas.bsky.social as we explore resistance to enclosure in the modern era: from riots, to raves, to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Listen below, or search 'Absolute Units' wherever you get your podcasts! merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

Don't sleep on this podcast.

Tomorrow, we're back with another episode of Absolute Units! We continue speaking with @katrinanavickas.bsky.social about the history of the commons and resistance to enclosure, this time focusing closer to the present day. Expect riots, raves, Stonehenge, golf, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

2 years ago I worked on a project to restore a 1920s WHS railway station bookstall. It was in pieces & in a bad state. A colleague & I found old photos of it in the WHS archive at @themerl.bsky.social which helped the restoration work. Look at it now👇 Full story www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

woah

Visiting @themerl.bsky.social was one of my highlights of the year. Absolute Unit energy.

yeah we're into LLMs (Large Lamb-bridge Models)

Our new season of free online art talks begins next week! Join our friends at the University of Reading Art Collection (@unirdg-artcol.bsky.social) on the eve of Thurs 2 October for a Zoom call with Dr Henrietta Hammant. Book online: merl.reading.ac.uk/event/conver...

Spotted at @themerl.bsky.social today. #TheArchers

New Blog alert! Our Youth Panel has had a lovely year working with us and @themerl.bsky.social Find out more on our recent blog post here rdguk.info/HcMca

40% off @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social's "The Medieval Pig‽" 😲 What in the name of all that is porcine are you waiting for? Perhaps listening to this superb interview she sat with the @themerl.bsky.social's "Absolute Units" podcast hosts will nudge you to act. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

I AM GREATLY HONORED

this is the most fun I've ever had at a museum. now if you'll excuse me there is a drawer of tuberculosis calling to me

The history of the commons is important! Esp as more of our parks get filled up with single-use spaces.

oh ho ho oHHH @themerl.bsky.social you shouldn't have. *tips hat* M'ERL #HatTagTheMERL

no notes

I had already forgotten about this post because *laughs in ADHD* so the thoughts I just experienced, in order were: - oh no another game to Doom me - OH? AN INVITATIONAL DRAWER? don't mind if I d— - OH HO HO HO - HERE HE IS - ah yes I literally should have seen this coming

After something to listen to over the weekend? Our newest podcast with @katrinanavickas.bsky.social dropped yesterday! We talk about the history of the commons (communal resources), enclosure, and resistance to that encroachment. Plus, Untitled Goose Game. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

Exceptional skeet/bloot

should we make this playlist so you can all just hang out there

what if we..,,,,kissed,,,, among the crops during the harvest...,,, haha......unless? 🥺

This was really surprisingly stressful when I tried playing it. My poor sheep...

you haven't truly visited The MERL until you see your life flash before your eyes while stress-playing our whimsical lambing time interactive

I am quite literally going to come back tomorrow or tuesday to try to beat my score. I will take my ADHD meds and everything

first I need to help some sheeps, it's very important also - while I come with my own cane that folds out into a chair - I am DELIGHTED that you all have folding chairs available. so many museums were inaccessible to me before I got my lil seat

I have only just finished the tea and cake I was so leisurely enjoying and now it is time for LEARNING so far I have learned that it is in fact possible to burst out laughing reading Jane Austen and also that my desire to see s h e e p s was well founded

let's ask my shades if I owe u anything.....

Ooh - this is good. (Adds "Contested Commons" to the to-read list)