Christmas Regency Festival 2009

The Red House in Gomersal (Brontë-related through its association with the Taylor family) celebrates its traditional Christmas Regency Festival: Picture source: Panoramio

From Wednesday December 16 until Sunday December 20, there will be delightful period Christmas displays, costumed characters, festive demonstrations and Christmas craft activities each day, 11am-4pm Wednesday to Friday and 12noon-4pm Saturday and Sunday.
There is free entry to the museum on Oxford Road, Gomersal, for visitors who want to enjoy the scents and colours of Christmas. They will be able to wander through the atmospheric period rooms of this Bronte-connected cloth-merchant’s home which will be lavishly decked with traditional evergreen garlands of holly, ivy, laurel and rosemary, gathered fresh from Red House gardens.
They will be able to enjoy a taste of mulled wine with ‘Joshua Taylor’ as he tells them about the decorations, including the old-fashioned ‘kissing bough’ hanging in the Hall, complete with apples, candles and mistletoe, and in the kitchen and dining room there will be displays of period festive food. ‘Henrietta’, the 19th Century Red House cook, will regale visitors each day about her busy preparations for Christmas and explain how to make some long-forgotten but delicious period recipes including ‘Almond Shamrocks’, ‘Whim-Wham’, ‘Hedgehog Tipsy Cake’, ‘Damson Cheese’ and ‘Brandied Fruits’. Visitors can take free recipe sheets to try the dishes at home.
Costumed staff will show how to make unusual Regency and Victorian Christmas decorations, including Almond and Raisin Garlands and Gilded Walnuts. There will also be Christmas craft activities for families to do each day, such as making a Victorian ‘scrap’ tree decoration, a paper candle lantern or a Christmas cone puppet. Access to activities and demonstrations is partly by stairs.
At the weekend there will be festive entertainment, starting on Saturday, December 19, with music from The Valley Flutes. On Sunday, December 20, Victorian parlour magician Chris Black will be entertaining visitors with his mysterious card tricks, the popular Clifton Handbell Ringers will play and, to round off the festival, the beautiful carol singing of Gaudeamus will echo around the historic house.
Visitors will also be able to see the glittering ‘Christmas Past’ exhibition which takes a nostalgic look at Christmas customs and traditions. It includes rare Victorian and Edwardian Christmas cards, novelty 1950s paper decorations, exotic Chinese lanterns and 20th Century Christmas toys. The museum shop will be open and is well-stocked with unusual Christmas gifts. (7th Space)

True/Slant mentions the other big auction of the year. Next December 17 in Sotheby's:

Charlotte Bronte’s mahogany writing desk, Lot 74, is set at 7,000 to 10,000 pounds. There’s an 1858 letter from Florence Nightingale, and letters from Thomas Paine, Lord Nelson and Samuel Pepys, among many others. (Caitlin Kelly)

Apparently for The Independent the 2006 Jean-Paul Gaultier collection was inspired by Wuthering Heights:

For autumn/winter 2006, in a collection inspired by Wuthering Heights and all things gothic, Jean Paul Gaultier put rather more leggy – and nowhere near so publicity friendly – dogs onto his catwalk (pictured), causing animal-loving Brits in the audience to grimace, and fur-loving French fashion followers to cheer. (Susannah Frankel)

On the Box wants X Factor finalist Stacey Solomon to sing Wuthering Heights:

Maybe Stacey should sing Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush. At least then she can prove she has talent. Maybe she could do the ethereal dancing as well – while wearing the tracksuit of course. (Cheryl Freedman)

Teen Ink recommends unshelving classic books:

Through Jane Eyre, we see that patience can bring about unexpected results. By reading a book that has endured, we find many new concepts that open our eyes and give us a different perspective on life. (Sarah S.)

Among other things: an Iraqi translator who teaches the Brontës in the New York Times, the Southern Oregon Mail Tribune also recommends Penguins (Brontë ones of course) as Christmas gifts, Newswatch Magazine tells us about reading the classics (included Wuthering Heights) in Africa, more information and pictures of the shooting of The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister in the York Press, bookclub kits (Wuthering Heights among them) in the Burlington Times News.

Diane's Blog posts about her reading of Jane Eyre, F&K: Fiktion & Kultur reviews Jane Eyre 2006 in Danish.

And finally we welcome the presence of a new student blog with a self-explanatory title: Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Jane Eyre. A nice project at the Chinquapin School Highlands (Texas).

Categories: Art-Exhibitions, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References