Absolute Units

Old Crockern returns! We're back for a second episode with the legendary giant of Dartmoor, plus giant maker and dancer Ruth Webb (of The Lost Giants) and storyteller and environmentalist Lisa Schneidau.
Last time, we set the scene of Crockern's story and introduced a repetition of history, as Alexander Darwall sought to restrict wild camping on Dartmoor. This time we delve deeper into that story, coming almost right up to the present day, as we explore Crockern's return and what that meant for those who love Dartmoor and England's green spaces.
View more video of Old Crockern at The MERL, plus Lisa and Ruth, via our Instagram or TikTok. Search 'The Museum of English Rural Life' across your chosen social media.
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Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Themetune by Tai Dawson.
Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan
Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html
Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

There's an ancient spirit who rules over Dartmoor, an uplands region in South West England. His face is granite grey. His eyes are dark as peat pools. His name is Old Crockern. And right now, he's at The Museum of English Rural Life.
In the first of two episodes, we're joined by environmentalists and activists Ruth Webb (of The Lost Giants) and Lisa Schneidau (storyteller and author). We explore the mythology of Old Crockern, his 19th century origins, and what's brought him back in recent years to defend access to Dartmoor.
Old Crockern arrives at the Museum as part of Radical Rural, our new gallery trail celebrating the people, movements, and forces defending access to rural England and championing England's green and wild spaces. Plan your visit on our website.
Radical Rural
Voices of the Countryside: 100 Years of the Campaign to Protect Rural England
Crockern arrives at The MERL
The Lost Giants
Lisa's website
This episode uses audio from Epidemic Sounds and Freesound.
Special thanks to Philip Goddard for the clip 'In Fernworthy Forest, on Dartmoor — ambience in a stand of Sitka spruce' from https://freesound.org/s/671088/ (License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0)
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Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Themetune by Tai Dawson.
Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan
Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html
Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

Content warning: This episode contains references to antisemitism and prejudice. Listener discretion is advised.
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Last episode we talked about the founding year of The Museum of English Rural Life. But what was our significance within wider museum practice? How did our founding relate to Britain's waning empire? And what does the future hold for The MERL?
In this second episode marking our 75th anniversary, Joe and Ollie delve deeper into the theory and politics of our making.
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Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Themetune by Tai Dawson.
Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan
Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html
Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

On 1 January 1951, on the same day that the first episode of iconic radio drama The Archers aired on the radio, academics at the University of Reading officially founded The Museum of English Rural Life.
What inspired these storied scholars to make a museum? What did establishing a museum involve? And why aren’t all our team dressed up in smocks?
On this episode, Joe and Ollie chat about The MERL’s earliest years.
Fair warning: there is a long intro where we ramble and catch up after not seeing each other in about 2 months. If you’d like to get right to the action, listen from 5:58. Enjoy the show!
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Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Themetune by Tai Dawson.
Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan
Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html
Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/

Jane Austen’s novels are classic books of the English countryside. Yet they reveal so much more about English culture, industry and society than simply presenting prettified scenes of village life.
In this episode, we're back with Professor Paddy Bullard (University of Reading) and Isabel Hughes (The MERL) to talk about how Jane Austen’s novels explore space in rural and urban England: how it was used, developed, and destroyed. We also discuss Austen’s own experiences of living in rural and urban settings.
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Join the Fobney Marshians' Christmas stomp: https://whatsonreading.com/venues/reading/whats-on/massive-marshian-stomp-fobney-marsh
Read the latest blogpost by Reading's Fobney Marshians: https://ruralreading.com/2025/12/16/1906/
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Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Themetune by Tai Dawson.
Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan
Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html
Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/