Here comes the Brontë bus!

There are new buses in Brontë country to help promote the Brontë sights according to Keighley News.

A £210,000 investment in new Brontë branded buses aims to tighten the link between the main route serving the Worth Valley and the area's visitor attractions.
Bus firm Transdev in Keighley is rebranding its 500 route between Keighley, Haworth, Oxenhope and Hebden Bridge as the Brontë Bus.
It features brand new vehicles with free WiFi and more comfortable seating. The service runs hourly, seven days a week.
The company say it will also work with the Brontë Society and Parsonage Museum to help bring the Brontës to the world and the world to Yorkshire.
Alex Hornby, Transdev’s managing director, said: “Along with the many things to see and do locally in Haworth and the surrounding area, the bus journey is an attraction in itself with amazing views across the Worth Valley.
"We look forward to bringing more visitors into the area and contributing to the growth of the local economy even further.”
Rebecca Yorke, marketing and communications officer at Brontë Parsonage Museum, said: The Brontë Bus 500 between Keighley and Hebden Bridge has always been a great way for local residents and visitors to travel to the museum, particularly as part of the route offers such fantastic views of the moors that inspired the Brontës’ famous novels.
“We’re delighted Transdev has decided to rename it the Brontë Bus, especially as we approach our celebrations for the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth next year." (Miran Rahman)

Yesterday BBC Radio 4 broadcast the first episode of the new three-part series The Folk of the Pennines. Radio Times sums it up as follows:

Mark Radcliffe celebrates 50 years of the Pennine Way by travelling the route from Derbyshire to Scotland and meeting up with musicians and poets as he proceeds. In the first programme, Mark makes his way from Edale toward Haworth and meets poet Simon Armitage to discuss the final resting place of author Sylvia Plath. Bella Hardy performs her song Peak Rhapsody and at Top Withens - the supposed inspiration for Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights - Kate Rusby and Damien O'Kane perform The Lark.

You can listen to it here.

Grough tells about a recent visit of Prince Edward to the Peak District where he

met Michael Longworth, tenant farmer on the estate, and a family staying at the historic North Lees Hall, the original inspiration for Charlotte Brontë’s Northfield Hall and now let as holiday accommodation by the Vivat Trust.
National Park chief executive Sarah Fowler said: “It was a privilege to share Stanage-North Lees with Prince Edward, to show him its wild beauty but most importantly for him to see the diverse range of people – including schoolchildren, families, farmers, climbers, walkers, and volunteers – who benefit from and contribute to this magnificent national park landscape in so many different ways.”
The prince heard how visitors to Stanage-North Lees are being encouraged to contribute £15 to help look after its internationally important landscape and in return receive a sticker to display in their car for 12 months free parking at Stanage car parks, and a discount at the campsite. (Liz Roberts)

Darlington and Stockton Times suggests '6 great things to do this weekend'. One of which is

Little Ouseburn open gardens, York, on Sunday, 10am-5pm
Little Ouseburn is a small North Yorkshire village lying about 12 miles north-west of York. The village centre is a conservation area and the 12th century church is a Grade I listed building. The Thompson Mausoleum, associated with Anne Brontë and now in the care of York Conservation Trust, situated in the churchyard, will be open for visitors to the open gardens day. About a dozen gardens will be open for the public in this picturesque village. The gardens range from the grand to the jewel-like in size, from traditional to contemporary in design, all lovingly tended. Home-made lunches and teas will be provided by locals at the village hall and an afternoon barbecue on the village green. There will be a tombola, a vintage car display and special children's activities. Wheelchair access is limited. Proceeds go to help the village church and village hall. Admission £5, children free. Tel 01423-331928. (Claire Hunter)

Citizen-Times discusses the 1906 collection Hot Springs: Past and Present by Sally Royce Weir in which she

made up a Cherokee maiden named Mist-on-the-Mountain, her version of Jane Eyre with tawny skin. (Rob Neufeld)

According to Scholars and Rogues,

Charlotte Brontë  never went through psychotherapy. The safest thing we can say is that in Jane Eyre she created a character who certainly has problems with mother figures. (Jim Booth)

Daily KOS discusses regrets in literature.

Heathcliff In Wuthering Heights did not seem to have regrets as he tried to destroy the two families who he felt had betrayed him.  Does his pain over Cathy’s death grant him any compassion by the reader?  (cfk)

Cassie Bossie, Email Marketing Manager at Penguin Random House chooses her favourite books on the Penguin Blog:

Jane Eyre. I fell in love with this book after reading it for the first time in high school, and have read it countless times since. And while I recognize that few of us revere the required reading we come across at that age, I urge you to take a second look. While at its heart Jane Eyre is a romance, there is so much more to it than that. There are elements of the supernatural, discussions of morality and religion, and of course, one of the earliest portrayals of feminist ideals in English literature. But what has surprised me the most on each re-reading is how relatable the characters remain. Jane’s agony over seemingly unrequited affection, her self-doubt, and awkward attempts at flirting are just a few examples. Brontë’s uncanny ability to capture the deepest thoughts and feelings of a young woman striving for independence in a time period when that was virtually unheard of is exactly what makes this book a classic.