Dry your dishes with a dash of history using this beautifully designed cotton tea towel depicting scenes from the Bayeux Tapestry! reading-museum-shop.myshopify.com/collections/... #RDG #RDGUK #BritainsBayeuxTapestry

🌾 Common carder bumblebees nest on the ground, often in tangled grass1️⃣ 🐦 Tree bumblebees prefer to nest above the ground and will seek out nest boxes2️⃣ 🐀 Buff-tailed bumblebees nest underground in abandoned rodent nests3️⃣ ⛲ Some bumblebees nest in more creative places, like under the edge of a pond4️⃣

What has changed, and what has stayed the same? Crown Bridge aka Factory Bridge in 'Reconstruction, Reading' by Ellie Mary Beadle in about 1937 and again in 2026 by Dagmara Mętel. See these and more in our ‘Reading: Then and Now’ exhibition in the Art Gallery 1976.29.1 #FridayFinds #ReadingHistory

We are very excited about the Bayeux Tapestry coming to the @britishmuseum.bsky.social in September, complementing our beautiful Victorian copy in Reading! So we were delighted to show round colleagues from the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, Normandy last week, pictured in front of Bayeux Castle!

From rocks & minerals to wedding dresses, our loans boxes contain (almost) more than you can imagine! So have a sneaky peek at all the work that goes into maintaining our Loans box collection.

This Saturday, join American author and photographer Jim Donahue at @readingmuseum.bsky.social. Jim will be presenting aspects of his new book, The Thames Valley: Past, Present and Future – A Snapshot of English Life. 1/

Enjoyed our current exhibition Reading Then & Now? This Saturday Jim Donahue will be presenting aspects of his new book, The Thames Valley: Past, Present and Future – A Snapshot of English Life. Book Now: www.readingmuseum.org.uk/talk-thames-valley-past-present-and-future

For National Biscuit Day we are sharing this photograph. Trains delivered H&P biscuit tins around the country and brought visitors to Reading. Just like this excursion party to Huntley & Palmers in 1934. Museum object no. 1999.2.9 Reading Museum

It's National Biscuit Day, so we have been celebrating our Huntley & Palmers heritage with our friends at Didcot Railway Centre with a Great Western Railway excursion steam train that once ran to Biscuit Town aka Reading!! 🍪🍪☕️

It was wonderful to host the Sumer is Icumen in manuscript this spring, on loan from @britishlibrary.bsky.social and @blmedieval.bsky.social! Watch a @uniofreading.bsky.social Medieval History professor dive into all things Sumer and Harley 978: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Fabulous half term fun at Reading Museum. Pop in and join us. Free entry to the Museum! (Donations very welcome). Find out more on our website here www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/fam...

'Old Cottages, Caversham' by Faith Ashford (1884-1967) This is probably the view from her home on Matlock Road, Caversham where she lived with Anne Pritchard. In the 1920s and 30s Faith taught handicrafts at the University of Reading’s School of Art. Following retirement she retrained as a painter.

Paul Robeson performed at Reading Town Hall in 1960. He was the final act in a line-up at the Concert Hall arranged by Reading and District Association for Peace, see our blog for more: www.readingmuseum.org.uk/blog/robeson-reading-coming-home-project

Do you have the skills, experience and enthusiasm to reinterpret and enhance the visitor experience of our Roman Gallery, connecting a wider range of people to Reading’s Roman heritage? 📆 This is an exciting opportunity to join Reading Museum’s team. Find out more and apply at rdguk.info/J716R

Don't miss our brilliant *Free* family sessions with artist Fakhira Nezami next Tuesday... For more information about all our May Half term events and how to book: www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/fam... #RDG #RDGUK #LowCost #FamilyFun

⭐ Planning low-cost, fun activities with your family this May half term? 📢 Join us next week at Reading Museum for some brilliant activities! ⭐ www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/family-fun-reading-museum

What is this boy about to do? It’s part of an artwork of cartwheeling boys. The drawing is a design for the sculpture, a gift from the twin town of Dusseldorf commemorating the friendship between the two towns. Cartwheeling is traditional in Dusseldorf. See it outside the Civic Centre. #FridayFinds

📢 Job klaxon!! We are recruiting a collection interpretation officer for our Heritage Fund supported project to create a new Roman Gallery. It will tell new stories about the Roman town of Calleva, based on archaeological research by the University of Reading reabcli.webitrent.com/reabcli_webr...

Drop into Reading Museum to see 'By Association' - a new body of work by Adi Toch, developed in response to our Roman collection. Find out more here: www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/adi... Adi's beautiful book 'Place to Place' is also available in the Reading Museum Shop Photo Sylvain Deleu

We have a very exciting opportunity for someone to become our new Community Partnerships Curator! You'll lead on the co-creation of a major public exhibition, exploring and reimagining Britain’s relationship with displaced communities. Find out more and apply: jobs.reading.ac.uk/tlive_webrec...

We have loaned a remarkable object to the V&A’s exhibition The Music Is Black - an African thumb piano made using a Huntley & Palmers biscuit tin. This early 20th century instrument transforms an iconic Reading export into a living piece of African musical heritage. 🎹 1992.162.18 #FridayFinds

The evidence for the Sumer is Icumen in manuscript belonging to Reading Abbey, laid out by a @uniofreading.bsky.social Medieval History professor. On loan from @britishlibrary.bsky.social, supported by the Dorset Foundation, in memory of Harry M Weinrebe. With thanks to @blmedieval.bsky.social.

It's May Day! Here's a photo of Maypole dancing from 1934. The children from St. John's School on Watlington Street in Reading are creating an interesting pattern with their ribbons! 🖼️ Object no. 2016.64.17 Reading Chronicle Collection, Reading Museum #FridayFinds #mayday

The Reading Walks Festival is nearly here! Local Reading artist Cath Baldwin has designed a unique, limited-edition t-shirt, available in the Reading Museum Shop: Reading Walks Festival 2026 programme here: www.ticketsource.com/readingwalks...

Today's @artukdotorg.bsky.social #OnlineArtExchange theme is ‘women artists’ 👩‍🎨 This is ‘Two Imaginary Girls’ by Jennifer McRae, painted in 2001 🖼️ 🔎It is part of the Reading Foundation for Art Collection at Reading Museum. © The artist. Image Reading Museum

Find out more about the Reading Abbey History on one of our fabulous walking tours of the area. Search our website and book a date soon! www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/rea...

Take a close look at an expert scribe’s work on the Sumer is Icumen in manuscript on loan from @britishlibrary.bsky.social supported by the Dorset Foundation, in memory of Harry M Weinrebe. With thanks to @blmedieval.bsky.social See the work until May 9th. More on our website.

Reading has a rich engineering heritage. This Geryk air pump creates very high vacuums, making them essential tools for scientific and laboratory work. Our Pulsometer display is now open, celebrating 125 years of Pulsometer Engineering (now SPP Pumps). Object 2025.48.1 Reading Museum #FridayFinds

Can anyone identify this mystery country church?🔎 It's an oil painting in our collection, probably 19th century, but we have no information about it! 🖼️ It's probably in the Reading area, most likely Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire or Hampshire, certainly southern England. Any ideas⁉️

🌳 Reading Museum Shop is proud to support local publishers Two Rivers Press.. 🌍 In honour of Earth Day yesterday here is a selection of some of our favourite books about nature, available in-store or online: reading-museum-shop.myshopify.com/collections/...

St. Laurence, Silchester, Hampshire. #SteepleSaturday The oldest walls date back to the early 12th century. The building features flint and stone dressings, partly plastered, with a fish weather vane atop its shingled bell turret. Set charmingly on a mound near the buried Roman city by a pond.

🦇 There’s nothing quite as entertaining as settling down in a comfy garden chair to watch the bats come out to swish and swoop on their hunt for food. They’re fascinating creatures, but they need our help. Here’s how you can do your bit 👇

Sumer is Icumen in is world-famous...but why? A @uniofreading.bsky.social History Prof will be able to tell you why. Come to the talk on 2nd May. On loan from @britishlibrary.bsky.social, supported by the Dorset Foundation, in memory of Harry M Weinrebe. With thanks to @blmedieval.bsky.social.

The Ogham stone is a unique and fragile artefact. This battered column is inscribed in Ogham, a Celtic script. It was found in the Roman town of Calleva. View a 3D replica, in stone. In the Art Gallery alongside artwork ‘By Association’ by Adi Toch. 🪦 1995.1.24 Reading Museum #FridayFinds

Come see the famous and spectacular Sumer is Icumen in manuscript, back in Reading for the first time in over 750 years. On loan from @britishlibrary.bsky.social, supported by the Dorset Foundation, in memory of Harry M Weinrebe. With thanks to @blmedieval.bsky.social (Harley MS 978)

New display now open: Pulsometer 125: Engineering at the heart of Reading since 1901 🔧 Engineering (now SPP Pumps) and Reading’s global impact on science, industry and wartime engineering. #Pulsometer125 #Reading #IndustrialHistory #Engineering #MuseumDisplay #LocalHistory #WWIHistory #VictoriaCross

Was the Reading Rota manuscript, which features Sumer is icumen in, really created in Reading? Don't miss our talk on Saturday 2 May with Anne Lawrence-Mathers, professor of medieval history at the University of Reading, book now! www.readingmuseum.org.uk/talk-sumer-i... @rdgwhatson.bsky.social

Reading Abbey, 177 years apart... Watercolour of Reading Abbey ruins by Mary Webster, drawn from nature 16th August 1849, and a photo of the same ruin by Dagmara Mętel in 2026. Make sure to check out our ongoing exhibition Reading: Then and Now for more trips down memory lane!

We have been awarded £80,000 from DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund for our Roman Britain – Reimagined in Reading project The funding will help create a new interactive gallery to bring to life the story of Romans in Reading Find out more at www.readingmuseum.org.uk/roman-britain

A familiar sight shown through different mediums 📸 This is Duke Street Bridge over the Kennet: a 1975 photolithograph from a drawing by Susan Norman and a 2026 photograph by Dagmara Mętel for our exhibition Reading: Then and Now. On display now! 🖼️ object no. 1986.127.5

Easter Opening Times at Reading Museum ⭐ Good Friday: Closed Saturday 4 April: Open as usual! Easter Sunday: Closed Bank Holiday Monday: Closed We are also open today until 4pm: Families can enjoy our Egg Hunt, Easter Bunny Activity and our Victorian Schoolroom session rdguk.info/Family_Fun_a...

We still have places available on tomorrow's Victorian Schoolroom Experience, inside the historic Reading Abbey Gateway (the location of Jane Austen's school!) Book now online at: www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/victorian-schoolroom-experience-gateway

Our Little Dragon Easter Egg Hunt has started at Reading Museum! Families can also enjoy our Easter Bunny Ears Activity - both available every day during opening hours 🐇 🥚 🐉 www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/fam... #RDG #RDGUK #EasterFun #ReadingMuseum

We are getting ready for the Easter Holidays here at Reading Museum! From Saturday onwards you can enjoy our Easter Craft packs - available every day throughout the holidays during opening hours. For more info see the Family Fun page on our website.. #RDG #RDGUK #EasterFun #ReadingMuseum

Then 👉 Now Travel around 150 years in time with just one glance - St Mary's Butts painted by an unknown artist, late 19th century, and photographed by Gab Gibek in 2026. See this and many more views of the town in our new exhibition Reading: Then and Now! www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/rea...

We're getting ready for the Easter Holidays here at Reading Museum! Book now for our The Big Chocolate Dig Activity next Wednesday 😋 www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/fam... #RDG #RDGUK #EasterHolidayFun

WHAT A NIGHT! Last night's What's On Reading Awards at Reading Biscuit Factory was truly wonderful - the place was packed to the rafters with nominees and their supporters, plus our fabulous cast of judges and presenters, and it's fair to say a great time was had by all 1/

The Big Jacksons Talk is coming to @readingmuseum.bsky.social this Saturday Thomas Macey, former employee, company archivist and author of a book about Reading's famous department store, will give an illustrated talk using original archives. SELLING FAST... whatsonreading.com/venues/readi...

What connects 70s horror The Wicker Man and kids TV classic Bagpuss? Well, both feature ‘Sumer is icumen in’ one of the earliest pieces of English music. The 750-year-old manuscript is at Reading Museum until 9 May, on loan from the British Library. www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/sumer-icumen

Thank you to everyone who came to this year's Games Day! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did – did you have a favourite game? #boardgames #TabletopGaming #DnD #TTRPG #ttrpgCommunity #rdguk