Auctions, windows, demolitions and ghosts

Different Brontë-related places are in the news today.

First of all, we read in the Brontë Parsonage Blog that the Brontë Birthplace in Thornton is going to be auctioned.

Barbara Whitehead, owner of the Brontë Birthplace in Thornton, wants it to be known that it is to be auctioned by Eddisons on 21 June.
She apologises for the short notice. The auctioneer's website is at http://www.eddisons.com/
The auction will be held on 21 June 2007 in the Banqueting Suite of the Leeds United Football Club at Elland Road in Leeds. I am told that the catalogue is still being prepared. If you want one, phone Eddisons at the Leeds office with your details:
+44 113 243 0101.
The guide price is 200,000 pounds. (Richard Wilcocks, Brontë Society Chairman)

Regrettably, BrontëBlog's finances don't allow us to participate. We don't know if any Japanese reader of ours is tempted but maybe after watching the upcoming "Windows on to the World", more than one will be interested. The Telegraph and Argus reports:

Film crews have been shooting scenes at Haworth for a Japanese TV programme.
The Brontë Parsonage Museum and Top Withens, pictured, will feature in a new series produced by Tokyo Broadcasting System, one of Japan's leading commercial networks.
The series - "Windows on to the World" - is a collection of five-minute stories from across the globe, focusing on windows in historic buildings.
Haworth is one of only four UK locations being used.
Production co-ordinator Kanako Hiramoto said: "We have featured windows at a 15th century thatched farmhouse in Devon, at an original Tudor pub called The Falcon, in Chester, Tower Bridge, in London, and the Brontë Personage Museum.
"At Haworth we particularly chose the window in the dining room where Emily died. We also filmed at Top Withens for an image cut' shoot to tell a story about Wuthering Heights.
"We shot on high-definition camcorder to optimise the viewers' impact and to capture the beauty of each location."
He added: "We thoroughly enjoyed filming at Haworth and working with the Bradford countryside service team, which really helped us."

The Brussels Brontë Blog informs about a demolition:

The house where Constantin Heger died on 6 May 1895, Rue Montoyer 72, has been demolished. After leaving Rue d´Isabelle (probably in 1880) Monsieur and Madame Heger moved to Rue Ducale, where she died in 1889. He then spent his last years in Rue Montoyer. (Read more) (Eric Ruijssenaars)

USA Today publishes an enthusiast article on the Pennine Way. A Brontë connection turns up:

Top Withins, better known to romantics and English majors everywhere as the supposed inspiration for Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, broods timelessly over the Yorkshire moors. Long since abandoned, the tumbledown remains of this old farmhouse are watched over by two windswept trees and a legion of lazy sheep. Just as impressive are the extensive views of the treeless hills that carry the Pennine Way further north. (Josh Roberts)

And finally, some supernatural reports at Oakwell Hall:

In her novel Shirley, Charlotte Bronte made Oakwell Hall fairly well known. In this book the Hall is recognized as “Fieldhead” and the town of Birstall known as “Briarfield”. Charlotte’s brother, Reverend Branwell Bronte was a freemason over at Haworth village. On 6th April 1936, a rose bowl was presented to the three graces lodge from “Fieldhead” at Denholme. This was to celebrate the centenary of Reverend Branwell Bronte's raising to the sublime degree of Master Mason. (Bev)

Reverend Branwell Brontë??

Categories: Brontëana, Brussels, Movies-DVD-TV