The Pyramids, the Red Square, the Parsonage...

The good and bad news for Haworth are commented on by many news outlets. The more in-depth articles are of course from local papers.

The Telegraph and Argus on the Good News, i.e. the nomination for World Heritage Site:

Keighley and Ilkley Conservative MP Kris Hopkins said: “I am delighted that Brontë Landscape and Haworth Village have been put forward for consideration and, as far as I’m concerned, they are in a league of their own.
“The literacy legacy left by the Brontës is the source of immense local pride as well as fascination for people across the world, many of whom travel to Bronte Country to experience the wildness and the wonders of the moors. Needless to say the bid has my absolute support.” [...]
Announcing the bidders, Tourism and Heritage Minister John Penrose said: “The UK’s heritage is world-class and this list represents the unique variety and history present in all corners of this country and our overseas territories.
“We wanted a strong and varied list to eventually put to UNESCO and I’m delighted that so many wonderful, diverse places have been put forward.
“Any list that includes Jodrell Bank, the Forth Bridge, Blackpool and the Turks and Caicos Islands certainly doesn’t lack variety. But what all 38 sites have in common is a wow factor and a cultural resonance that makes them real contenders to sit alongside the Pyramids and Red Square in this most distinguished of gatherings.”
The selection process can take between five and ten years.
After the bid is submitted to UNESCO by the UK Government, it will then be assessed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the World Conservation Union.
If successful, the application is then judged by the World Heritage Committee, which meets once a year to decide which sites will be inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
West Yorkshire already boasts Saltaire as a World Heritage Site.

The Daily Mail also mentions the nomination.

And The Telegraph and Argus on the Bad News, i.e. the English Heritage report that considers Haworth's conservation as 'very bad'. This story also includes a video.

The best-known village in Yorkshire is “on the slide” a heritage boss said as he toured Haworth.
Trevor Mitchell, regional director of English Heritage, visited Haworth prior to the release of his organisation’s Heritage at Risk register.
He said it would not be recognised by the Brontë family.
Mr Mitchell pointed out the street clutter, especially signage, “too modern” shop fronts and the state of the setts, which Bradford Council is to repair at a cost of £600,000 over the next three years.
“This is the shop window for the whole of Yorkshire,” he said. “Hundreds of thousands of people come here and it ought to be a world-class experience but people don’t get that.
“There is a lack of a shared vision. We are worried and Bradford Council is worried that the quality of the best-known village in Yorkshire is on the slide.”
He hoped to encourage shopkeepers and homeowners to pay attention to the heritage needs of the village which would bring economic benefits in the long run.
It was hoped to draw up plans and images of what the village should look like.
He was accompanied by Christine Kerrin, City Hall’s team leader for design and conservation, and John Hogg, the Council’s design and countryside manager.
Miss Kerrin said some changes had not been for the best. “Some window details are incorrect and the cumulative effect of signage and boards is not in character,” she said. “Haworth has a wonderful image, it’s an historic place but that character is not there in all places because of poor decision- making.”
WHAT YOU THINK
Tourists
Joan Gornall is a regular visitor from Preston, Lancashire. She said: “The clutter is part of the charm. You go to a town centre if you just want normal high street shops.” But she was not impressed by some of the newer shop signs. “Planners should take that into account when they open a new shop. I think there should be restrictions on how they look,” she said.
Marilyn Zetsche was visiting from the Lake District with husband Patrick. “I think the clutter adds to the character, it’s always been quirky. We used to come a lot when the children were little,” she said. “It’s nice to have things outside the shops. But I think the shop fronts should be kept in the tradition of Haworth.”
Christine Chichester, from Cardiff, Wales, first saw the main street when her coach travelled down the cobbles. She said: “It’s very quaint, the shops are really nice. What we have seen is pretty, it’s almost olde worlde.”
Traders
Linda Presley, a member of Haworth Village Association who has run her Main Street shop, Chocolate Box, for eight years questioned what was at risk. “I don’t know many shop fronts that have changed,” she said. “These buildings are listed so we need planning permission. We are even restricted to the colour of paints we can use. The front of this shop is more or less the same as it was in 1854 when it was built.”
Stan Ledgard, who has run Spooks on the other side of the street for 30 years, agreed Haworth was at risk. “There are shop signs particularly that are out of character,” he said. “The problem is, there are rules but they’re not enforced.” (Clive White)

The Yorkshire Post echoes the Bad News as well.

In Yorkshire and the Humber region over 28 per cent of scheduled ancient monuments are under threat of damage and decay along with 98 Grade I and II* buildings, over 10 per cent of historic parks and over 10 per cent of conservation areas.
Trevor Mitchell, English Heritage regional director, said: "The economic downturn has added to the challenges of finding long term solutions for the buildings on the register."
Many of the shops and houses in Haworth – which is a magnet for tourists – are losing their traditional features and details and as a result the character and appearance of the village is at risk, according to English Heritage.
It says it has advised Bradford Council, which has developed a strategy for repairing its stone setts and has found the cash to carry out the work. (Joanne Ginley)

That was the news reported as it is, but The Telegraph and Argus also gives its opinion on both Good and Bad News and how the fact that both announcements have been made at the same time may be for the better:

Haworth and its surrounding countryside could be in with a chance of being named a World Heritage site and it would be a major coup if it eventually became the second in the district with this exalted status after Saltaire.
Brontë Country, as it is known, already attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and such an accolade could only increase its pulling power – which would obviously benefit both it and the district as a whole.
It must stand a very good chance, too, thanks to its rich social and literary history and the simple fact that, to many, it is the epitome of a West Yorkshire village for all the right reasons.
But on the day it was announced that it may make it onto the shortlist for consideration, an English Heritage report classed the village as at risk.
It said Haworth is marred by too much street clutter, some unsuitable modern shop fronts, the poor state of the setts, which are actually due to be repaired over the next three years, and a lack of overall vision.
English Heritage’s report may have taken some of the shine off the possibility of World Heritage status but it needed to be said.
After all, titles are nice but not as important as ensuring the unique history and charm of this village is preserved and enhanced for generations to come.
This assessment of its current state may have actually helped ensure that happens.

Well, onto something else. Mia Wasikowska is promoting her new film but some journalists can't resist asking her about her other projects, such as Jane Eyre. Collider interviews her on video. She says she's 'very excited about that' and she thinks that Cary Fukunaga is 'going to bring out very different aspects to the story of Jane Eyre' but also 'being very faithful to the book and the characters'.

We are not sure whether the author of this short review of Lisa Kleypas's novel Married by Morning on USA Today likes Jane Eyre or not:

For readers who wasted long wonderful summer afternoons devouring Jane Eyre, nothing makes the heart beat faster than a novel in which a plain-looking governess is underestimated by her employer. At first. That's the setup for the fourth novel in Kleypas' best-selling series about the Hathaway family. (Deirdre Donahue)

Wasted? Really?

Daphne Merkin writes in The New York Times about summer rentals and reminisces about the time when she brought...

my own daughter to join her cousins for weekends full of elaborate games like “Boarding School” (loosely based on a combination of “Sara Crewe” and “Jane Eyre,” and featuring a cruel headmistress in the form of myself), outings to the beach and swimming competitions.

And now a bit of Twilight time. From Capitol Weekly:

After years of wondering why I’d majored in English at college, I finally realized it was so I could deconstruct the “Twilight” movies. “Pride & Prejudice” and “Wuthering Heights” have nothing on “Twilight” when it comes to heaving bosoms, smoldering stares and displaced sexuality. (Malcolm)

And Salon takes a look at all sorts ot fanfiction inspired by Twilight. Classified as 'parody' is this excerpt from "How Are Things Down Under?":

Charlie gazed up at my father, tears glistening in his impressive 'stache. "That was Bella's teacher calling from their field trip in Australia. Apparently, Bella had wandered into the outback away from the group, mumbling something about 'Wuthering Heights,' and was attacked by a pack of dingoes. They tore her to pieces and ate her," Charlie choked out.

Unthinkable talks about the iRiver Story eReader:

There is also comic book viewer mode, but I can’t even imagine wanting that in black and white. I mean reading Jane Eyre in black and white is one thing, but Superman? Seriously? (US Chick)

Les Brontë à Paris writes in French about Keeper and The Anne Brontë Blog posts a 'small selection of Anne Brontë's poetry'. Libros di Amore posts in Portuguese about Wuthering Heights. Java's Journey reviews Jane Eyre 1934 and One Writer's Way considers the 2006 adaptation as 'the best Jane Eyre production to date'. Vanishing Point has started - with John Reed - a series of wonderful Jane Eyre trading cards. And finally, Flickr user Mondo_Bongo has uploaded several pictures of Haworth and the moors.

Categories: Haworth, In the News, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Wuthering Heights