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Bronte restoration cash boost

 

Bronte Spirit chairman Averil Kenyon, centre with councillors Glen Miller and Rebecca Poulsen 

 

An initiative to restore a historic Haworth building has received a £2,500 boost.
Worth Valley ward councillors have allocated the money from the ward investment fund to support Bronte Spirit, which is campaigning to ensure the long-term future of the Old School Room. The Church Street building, which requires major repairs and renovations, was built by the Reverend Patrick Bronte. 
The money was made available by councillors Glen Miller, Rebecca Poulsen and Russell Brown. Coun Miller said: “We were keen to support this project as it still has a long way to go. We’ve given it some start-up costs.” Averil Kenyon, chairman of Bronte Spirit, said she and her colleagues were delighted with this financial backing. We are overwhelmed, it was just so timely,” she said. She added that the money would help with the costs of drawing up a business plan, needed as part of an application for further funding. Her group has staged a pair of open days to give local business people and community leaders a chance to see what potential the property has as a venue. Keighley News

Visit to Haworth

 

 

The house itself still has the bare, slightly scrubbed look that led Charlotte’s biographer Elizabeth Gaskell to comment, “I don’t know that I ever saw a spot more exquisitely clean.” The present director, Andrew McCarthy, shows me around and points out that he is at pains to keep it from becoming a “Brontë reliquary.” (This intention didn’t keep him from setting off for Sotheby’s right before Christmas with $610,000 to bid on a miniature book of Brontë juvenilia that came up for sale; he was outbid by the French.) The rooms have been decorated in keeping with the period of the Brontës; the original sofa Emily is thought to have died on in the dining room is here, as is Anne’s art box, a pair of Charlotte’s white stockings and several of her almost-child-size dresses. (She stood at under five feet.)

Read more about this visit to Haworth 

nytimes/bronte-country-beckons-a-writer-back

Top Withens

From: Bronte Weather

So, on Sunday I went up to Haworth and walked to Top Withins. It's a well trodden path and as it was a mild, sunny day there were lots of others walking out on the moors too. The birds are getting ready for spring. 


We could hear the eerie call of Curlew in the breeze and the crackle of Red Grouse being flushed from the heather.   

And I saw a couple of bees (a honeybee and a bumble bee). We had a butty at the Bronte Waterfalls by the Bronte Bridge and then continued up to Top Withins.


There's a plaque on the ruin that explains "This farmhouse has been associated with 'Wuthering Heights', the Earnshaw home in the Emily Bronte novel. The buildings, even when complete, bore no resemblance to the house she described, but the situation may have been in her mind when she wrote of the moorland setting of the Heights."

Brontes reunited in bronze for concert

Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte will be special guests at a concert in their honour on April 1. 
Life-size sculptures of the three famous writers will greet the audience as they arrive to hear the Bronte Mass.
Diane Lawrenson’s bronze sculptures, entitled Three Sisters, will be at the Victoria Theatre, Halifax, from the previous day. The Bronte Mass, along with other classical pieces, will be performed by Halifax Choral Society, the Black Dyke Band and Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra. The Bronte Mass was commissioned by Leeds Philharmonic Chorus in memory of its chairman John Brodwell, who was passionate about the Brontes.
Composer Philip Wilby set music to the poetry of the Bronte sisters and their brother Branwell. 
Choir spokesman Tina Matthews promised a thrilling concert with astounding and “simply glorious” music. 
She added: “The sound is expected to be absolutely amazing with upwards of 200 voices on stage.”


Tickets for the concert cost from £8 to £22 by phoning
Keighley News

Old School Rooms

The latest initiative of Brontë Spirit for restoring and safeguarding the Old School Rooms in Haworth: The voluntary group leading a project to restore one of Haworth’s most historic buildings wants to develop links with the business world. Brontë Spirit is working to safeguard the future of the Old School Room, in Church Street, which was built by the Rev Patrick Brontë. The group is staging open days at the premises Friday and on Saturday. It has invited many members of the district’s business sector along with community leaders to see what potential the building offers. Averil Kenyon, chairman of Brontë Spirit, said: “While we are currently discussing with English Heritage how we can restore the building to its former glory we have to consider what kind of sustainable future the building has. “For the two open days we have invited representatives from the commercial estate agency world to come and talk to us about what kind of business or community use might most easily fit into what the building can offer. “We have also invited companies from many sectors which could easily find a use for the building and community organisations looking to expand their operations now that the Government is asking us to embrace localism, or need extra space to house their current operations. “We’re very optimistic that this building will adapt to a modern use and that will ensure this key structure within the Haworth historical footprint will be saved for future generations to appreciate.” The Old School Room currently has serious problems with its roof and needs major external refurbishments. Mrs Kenyon added: “Our discussions with English Heritage are at an advanced stage and they have been very helpful. (Miran Rahman) Keighley news

Governess gown and mourning gown

 

A few shots of my last years working wardobe and the governess gown and mourning gown which was also a suitable governess outfit 

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