Brontë Society AGM Weekend 2013

The Brontë Society AGM Weekend takes place this weekend (June 7-11)  in Haworth:

Friday June 7: 1.30pm
Donors' event: Invitation onlyWest Lane Baptist Centre
Meet our new Director Professor Ann Sumner, and enjoy a glass of wine and a slice of cake.
Please bring your invitation, and RSVP.

Friday June 7: 2.00pm
Unlocking Haworth ParsonageWest Lane Baptist Centre
Allyson McDermott, consultant for the Museum's historic redecoration, discusses its recent programme of archaeological refurbishment, what findings reveal about the house in the time of the Brontës, and how they were used in the new decorative scheme.

Friday June 7: 5.00pm
Drop-in sessionMuseum Foyer

For any questions about the Victoria Brookland exhibition or any other Contemporary Arts or Events queries stop off for an informal chat with Parsonage Arts Officer Jenna Holmes

Friday June 7: 6pm
£20 per person
Cheese, Pâté & Wine Supper, AND Performance: The Brontë BoyWest Lane Baptist Centre

The Brontë Boy, by Michael Yates, is a play about Branwell, once ruler of an imaginary world, driven mad as a man coping with reality. Warwick St John, winner of Wakefield Drama Festival's Best Actor award for the rôle, plays Branwell.

Saturday June 8: 11.00am
Annual Lecture: The History of the Withins Farms, 1567-1930.West Lane Baptist Centre

Local historian Steve Wood gives the annual lecture on the story of the iconic Yorkshire site many deem the inspiration for 'Wuthering Heights', the Withins, in The History of the Withins Farms, 1567-1930.

Saturday June 8: 2.00pm
Remembrance & Thanksgiving ServiceSt Michael & All Angels Church

Conducted by the Reverend Peter Mayo-Smith. Address,Telling Stories, by the Reverend Richard Burge, Vicar of St Peter's Church, Hartshead.

Saturday June 8: 4.30pm
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGWest Lane Baptist Centre

Saturday June 8: 7.30pm
Keeping the Flame AliveWest Lane Baptist Centre

Val Wiseman, award-winning singer/songwriter, and London Brontë Society representative, presents a musical show celebrating the lives and passions of the Brontës.
Enjoy a glass of wine during the interval.

Sunday June 9: 9.00am
Open-door at the ParsonageBrontë Parsonage Museum
If you haven't yet seen the Parsonage's redecoration, now's the chance to look around the before its official opening.

Sunday June 9: 9.30am
Director's drop-in discussionNo charge - numbers limited to 20
Library, Parsonage Museum

Art historian and new Director Professor Ann Sumner informally discusses the Brontës' botanical drawings, and launches the Society's new range of 'Brontë Botanicals' bespoke products

Sunday June 9: 11am
LECTURE: Emily, Byron & the Development of the Artistic Self by Andrew MitchellLocation: Upper Room, Cobbles and Clay, 60 Main Street, Haworth

Sheffield-based poet and broadcaster Andrew Mitchell, author of the long poem, The Death of Lord Byron, and of the study, Darwin: A Voyage of Ideas, discusses connections between Emily and her
literary hero.

Sunday June 9: 2pm
WALK 1: Brontë WaterfallMeet outside Parsonage shop

Led by Geraldine Robertson-Brown, writer and presenter of DVD Haworth Through the Lens of History. Medium-difficulty walk on rough, unstable moorland. Length: 4 miles. Waterproof jacket & stout shoes required. Walk at own risk.

Sunday June 9: 2pm
WALK 2: Top WithinsMeet outside Parsonage shop
Led by Council member Susan Aykroyd to the site long identified as the inspiration for Wuthering Heights. Length: 6.5 miles on rough, unstable moorland. Waterproof jacket and stout shoes required. Walk at own risk.

Sunday June 9: 3.30pm
Afternoon tea21, South View, Haworth, BD22 8EX
Tea, cake and biscuits 'at home' with Council member Ruth Battye.

Sunday June 9: 6.30pm
Meals priced individually
Dinner and entertainmentOld White Lion, Main Street

Traditional AGM evening of relaxation, featuring the sketch Fawlty Parsonage performed by Trustees and Museum staff.

Monday June 10: 9am
EXCURSION: Levens Hall, Kendal, Cove House and Lindeth TowerMeet outside West Lane Baptist Centre

Levens Hall, used to film 1999's TV adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters, is an Elizabethan mansion built around a 13th -century pele tower, with a collection of Jacobean paintings and
furniture. Cove House, Silverdale, home to the Rev Carus Wilson, is where Patrick Bronte collected his daughters after the typhus outbreak at Cowan Bridge. Lindeth Tower, Silverdale, is where Elizabeth Gaskell wrote the novel Ruth.

Tuesday June 11: 9am
EXCURSION: Oakwell Hall, Birstall, 'Fieldhead'Meet outside West Lane Baptist Centre

Half-day excursion to 'Fieldhead' from Charlotte Brontë's novel Shirley. Guided tour of the house with time to explore the gardens.