A new exhibition explores the complex relationships between wellbeing and the countryside.

The exhbition runs until 31 October at Reading University's Museum of English Rural Life with the help of rural stakeholders and local community groups.

Life in the countryside presents both challenges and opportunities for rural people, says the museum.

The MERL’s collections and contemporary accounts of rural life provide insights into various aspects of rural wellbeing - online and at the museum itself.

The MERL has been working with various community groups including Ridgeline Trust, the Farming Community Network and the Rural Services Network.

All have selected objects and images for the exhibition.

The exhibition is part of the MERL’s Wellcome Trust funded science engagement project, Our Country Lives: Nutrition, Health and Rural England.

This project aims to examine the past, present and future science of rural life, and reveal compelling stories of nutrition, health and medicine.

Ridgeline Trust chairman Graham Johnson helps run a therapeutic garden in East Reading to help people with experience of mental and physical difficulties.

He said: "Our gardeners say they can gain better physical health through exercise, along with the mental health benefits of a sense of purpose and achievement that gardening brings.

"Gardening as part of a team can reduce the feelings of exclusion and isolation that people with disabilities sometimes experience.

"And when it rains that’s a good excuse to go indoors for a cup of tea and a chat. We firmly believe that gardening is good for you.”

MERL audience development manager Phillippa Heath said: "A significant motivation for our recent redevelopment project at The MERL has been to more effectively represent life in the countryside today, as well as in the past, through our displays.

"This project has been a great opportunity for us to learn about the reality of life in the countryside – the challenges and the joys – from those who experience it first-hand.

"We have been honoured to have involved communities from both rural areas across England and urban Reading in this project to powerfully communicate the complexity of this subject."