'Haworth should be one of the crown jewels of West Yorkshire'

More news outlets echo the sad news about the Calderdale Council's decision on the Ovenden Moor windfarm. From the Yorkshire Post:

Campaigners say they are devastated after losing a battle to stop a £12m wind farm being built amid the wild moorland that inspired Wuthering Heights.
They warned the celebrated landscape would be destroyed forever by the turbines twice the height of Nelson’s Column that would “loom monstrously” over Brontë country.
The scheme at Ovenden Moor, near Halifax, was unanimously approved by a Calderdale Council planning committee yesterday despite passionate pleas by the Brontë Society that it would destroy “the crown jewels” of Yorkshire’s literary heritage.
Afterwards, Society chairman Sally McDonald said: “Haworth should be one of the crown jewels of West Yorkshire. These turbines will loom over the whole landscape and visitors will be disappointed because the feeling of isolation once provided by the moors will be gone. Who knows what the next planning application will be? Haworth could be increasingly surrounded by such structures.
“There has been a lack of understanding and sensitivity to the value of this unique and iconic landscape. If that had been understood, the decision would not have made in this way.”
Earlier she told the meeting: “These columns are twice the height of Nelson’s Column and where else but London do you get structures as high as that?
“They will loom monstrously over the whole of the Worth Valley Watershed.”
The scheme is one of two threatening the literary landscape overlooking Haworth Parsonage. [...]
But Calderdale Council’s cabinet member for economy and environment Barry Collins said: “Obviously, this is a really serious decision with great sensitivity around it. But while I recognise there is some opposition there is no sense of overwhelming opposition to this proposal from the local community.
“You can see these turbines from almost anywhere in Calderdale already and although they will be made bigger they will be fewer.
“They will not be overwhelmingly more oppressive than the current array.
“Calderdale has committed itself to the most challenging of targets for sustainable energy generation and to meet those targets proposals like this are quite critical. In many ways, it is practical to have high delivery arrays like this rather than a landscape dotted with individual wind turbines.”
But Ms McDonald said: “I’m gutted. The only option now is to write letters to the Secretary of State. We were not objecting to wind farms just the visibility of the turbines but they did not seem to think this would be a problem. There was nothing in the discussion about the impact on Haworth or its tourism. People all over the world will be disappointed by this.
“What visitors expect to see was ‘the high waving heather’ described by Emily Brontë – not ‘high spinning turbines’.
“We fear now this has been approved there is no reason for Haworth not to be fully encircled by similar developments in ten years.
“It is a green light for any and all such developments.”

The Daily Mail and The Telegraph & Argus cover the story too.

The London Review of Books reviews Literary Names: Personal Names in English Literature by Alastair Fowler and looks at characters' names and their implications.

The more delicately named Jane Eyre is both the invisible element we breathe and (finally) heir to the whopping fortune which enables her story to end as a comedy of sorts. (Colin Burrow)

USA Today interviews writer Diane Gaston.

Pamela: Tell us about Born to Scandal, your Nov. 20 release.
Diane: Born to Scandal is my homage to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Like Jane Eyre, it is a governess story complete with secrets and betrayals.
The Marquess of Brentmore — half Irish peasant, half English aristocrat — grew up under a cloud of scandal. Even money and a title aren't enough to stay the wagging tongues of the Ton. But he's vowed that his children will never experience the same stigma. After the death of their infamous mother, they need a reputable governess. Anna Hill is too passionate, too alluring, but she fills Brentmore Hall with light and laughter again — and its master with feelings he's forgotten.
But even if he dared risk the gossip of a lord marrying a governess, Anna's birth is even more scandalous than his own.
Pamela: Sounds captivating! What topics did you find yourself researching for this book?
Diane: I researched the role of governesses, Regency-era toys, kitchen gardens, Irish tenant farms, Irish legends, Ingatestone Hall, the model for Brentmore Hall, Gunter's Tea Shop, and a variety of other small things. (Pamela Clare)

Kate Mosse chooses Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights in the this list on The Independent:

Kate Mosse, Author and co-founder of the Orange Prize
“Wuthering Heights” was one of those songs that seemed to be the backdrop to growing up. It was the first grown-up novel I read on my own. Kate Bush, No 1, 1978 (Compiled by Sarah Morrison, Andrew Liddle and Jack Wittels)

We Do Write interviews Aviva Orr, author of the upcoming The Mist on Brontë Moor.

Such an enchanting cover! How did the idea of the story come to you?I’ve always loved the Brontës and visiting their home in Haworth, England was an awe-inspiring experience. The Brontë Parsonage Museum is so well maintained that when you are there, it is not difficult to imagine yourself going back in time and meeting the Brontës. Since I couldn’t make that happen, I did the next best thing and wrote about it. (Dorothy Dreyer)

The Onion has breaking news:

According to reports, a comprehensive global probe jointly conducted by the FBI and CIA also revealed that, in addition to Gen. Petraeus, others alleged to have had sex in the past include Leon Panetta, Condoleezza Rice, Ben Bernanke, George Stephanopoulos, John Lennon, Charlotte Brontë, Jack Nicholson, William Shakespeare, Andre Agassi, Plato, Ulysses S. Grant, Queen Elizabeth II, Ted Avery of Dayton, OH, George Washington, Karen Avery of Dayton, OH, every past and present member of the band Chicago, Sir Isaac Newton, Bill Gates, Andie MacDowell, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, Vince Lombardi, and Adolf Hitler.

PureCiné (France) is looking forward to Wuthering Heights opening there on December 5th, calling the film the 'anti-Twilight'. Blotter Paper posts about Agnes Grey. Beauty of Whatever Kind discusses Elizabeth Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë. MissLoock has uploaded to Flickr an illustration from Jane Eyre by Edmund Henry Garrett. Also on Flickr Lune Rambler has uploaded a picture of a lane leading from Cowan Bridge to Tunstall church. On Ow.ly a picture of Haworth church just half dressed for the Scroggling the Holly Weekend (next December 2nd).

Finally, @SaveHaworth is a new Twitter account where you can find the opinions of

Concerned residents trying to save #Haworth green-field land from 320 house development.