This recent article in The Telegraph & Argus about the recent events at the Brontë Society quotes John Huxley, Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council chairman Councillor saying some very, very silly things:
“The society has become very remote and a little bit metropolitan literati," he warned.There are so many things wrong with the words of Mr Huxley that it is hard to begin with something. Is this populist-demagogic approach to the role of the Parsonage what is to be expected from a Parish Council Chairman? Is he really so naive to think that the money given by the National Heritage Memorial Fund could have been used for anything else but buying... National Heritage? And we are trying to remain calm about the 'metropolitan literati' bit as if that could be considered a sort of insult... The metropolitan literati are the reason behind the very existence of the Brontë tourism for God's sake!
“I don’t have any opinion about what is happening within the society, but it hasn’t been edifying to see it imploding. “As a council we'd like to be involved in trying to maximise the Brontë legacy in collaboration with the society. “But on one occasion when we called a meeting to discuss the tourist offering and invited the Brontë Society, they didn't show up." He said one example of the society’s “remoteness” was its purchase of the Brontë sisters’ writing table, using a grant of £580,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. He said this came at a time when the village had lost its fire station and was facing threats to its Treetops Children Centre and its Butt Lane community centre.
He said: “While this may be a very famous table, this is an awful lot of money for a piece of furniture."
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BeantwoordenVerwijderen"Is he really so naive to think that the money given by the National Heritage Memorial Fund could have been used for anything else but buying... National Heritage?
Indeed and I think not. For whatever reason Geri, this gentleman wants to build animosity in the village towards the Parsonage. This attack has nothing to do with whatever he is saying, as you point out, in good measure it's nonsense .
The Firehouse was not getting those funds. If he's so upset about that closing , perhaps he should attack those who made the cuts and closed it ? Those responsible are never mentioned. Somehow it's all the Parsonage's fault .
Selling off Parsonage items to" help " the village I believe is a suggestion/ demand that will be coming.
His words are setting the table for that. I hope I'm wrong
Opps! Geri, I thought you wrote that post . I should have checked Bronteblog 1st !
BeantwoordenVerwijderenCertainly your English is good enough to have written it ;)
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BeantwoordenVerwijderenHa, ha Anne, my English.....
Once I received an invitation of Pinquin pockets about a competition. They wrote: It is basically a tongue-in-cheek smackdown between Team Austen and Team (Charlotte) Bronte. ( What on earth is tonque in cheek smackdown? Help I am Dutch, give me a dictionary)
They asked: What we're hoping to find are really passionate Bronte fans who could write us a short piece on why they think Charlotte Bronte is superior to Austen - something really exaggerated, funny, and engaging.
Wow, all this, ME??????????
O.k. I can read English, so, I understand what they are talking about. But I am not a native speaker!!!!!!!!Exaggerated, funny, and engaging, help, all this.
Thank you for your nice :-) witty compliment.