The Red House Museum will close on December 21st

The 21st of December is the date that has been set for the definite closure of the Red House Museum as The Telegraph and Argus reports:

A date has been set for the closure of a museum with strong links to the Brontës allowing the venue to host its annual Christmas event before finally shutting its doors. [...]
The Friends of Red House Museum group appealed to the council to allow them to stay open until Christmas.
And it has now been confirmed that the museum will close to the public on December 21, allowing them to host their traditional Red House At Christmas event one last time.
Jacqueline Ryder, chairman of the group, told the Telegraph & Argus: “We have just been informed by the council. It does mean that we can host our Christmas event, which will be on December 11. The house will be dressed in the style of a Victorian Christmas.
“It also means that we are no longer in limbo and can start planning the event and for the closure.”
Ward councillor Lisa Holmes? (Con, Liversedge and Gomersal) posted to a Facebook group which had been campaigning to save the museum from closure. She confirmed the closure date and described it as a “terrible loss” but hoped that as it is a listed building some of the history will be preserved.
“Sadly I write to inform you that Red House Museum will close its doors on 21st December,” she posted.
“What a wonderful piece of history we will be losing.
“The staff, volunteers and the Friends of Red House Museum Committee have worked so hard. They have hosted some fabulous events, as well as keeping the house and gardens looking so beautiful all year round.
“I hope you will join me in thanking them for all their hard work.”
The authority’s museums and galleries budget is being cut by half from April next year, and plans were therefore drawn up to restructure the service. (Jo Winrow)

Dewsbury Reporter tells about it as well.

Keighley News features a classic among Brontë country books: Peggy Hewitt's Brontë Country. Lives and Landscapes.

A landmark book about the Brontë moors is being published for the third time.
Brontë Country: Lives and Landscapes was written by Peggy Hewitt, renowned daughter of the Worth Valley, in the 1980s.
Under its original title These Lonely Mountains it sold thousands of copies, but was then out of print for many years.
The book was republished with its present title in 2004, again selling well, and the latest edition is being released by UK publisher History Press.
Peggy, who now lives in Scotland near her family, was this week delighted to see her breakthrough book return to the shelves.
She said she was particularly pleased to see the drawings from the start of each chapter that were provided by her late husband Tom, an artist who created many well-known advertising illustrations including Mr Sheen.
Peggy wrote These Lonely Mountains while the couple lived at historic Oldfield House, on the edge of the Haworth moors, and she interviewed many local people about their lives and work in the area. [...]
A spokesman for History Press said Peggy captured the elusive spirit of the Yorkshire Moors and a book for both Brontë lovers and anyone who knew the steering landscape.
She said: “Peggy’s roots are deep in the peat soil of the Brontë moors.
“She tells the story of the moors and of the people who have lived and worked there – people who are as much a product of their environment as are the drystone walls and heather.
“This rich history and these personal experiences are interwoven with the stories and legends that influenced the Brontës and emerged in their writings; fact and fiction are hard to separate.”
The latest edition of the book, like the previous ones, feature pictures by Worth Valley photographer and filmmaker Simon Warner. [...]
First published work in Yorkshire Lightens in the two series of articles which formed the basis of These Lonely Mountains.
In his review of the original book, Keighley News journalist Alistair Shand said the bid was transported from the pages into historic Haworth and Stanbury possible from the pen of someone is intimately acquainted with the area as Peggy. (David Knights)

Daily Mail asks TV presenter Chris Tarrant about the book that

first gave you the reading bug?
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. I was only a young boy, but I became completely absorbed in the book, reading it before, after and occasionally during lessons. I think for at least a year, I actually was Heathcliff.

The Newspaper of Lamar University features a local exhibition at the Stark Museum of Art in Orange (South Texas):

Trina Nelson Thomas, director of Stark art and history venues, said that the books are historic editions of works that are easily recognizable to the average person. [...]
Thomas said that the Bible and the Shakespeare folio are not the only books on display.
“There are other books as well,” she said. “There’s Milton, Wordsworth, Charlotte Brontë’s French homework, different reference books that are about religious topics, lots of things about natural history. They are part of the collections of the W.H. Stark House, which is one of our sister venues under the umbrella of the Stark Foundation. They are all books that we know were owned by the Stark or Lutcher families.” (Caitlin McAlister)

Here's one of the arguments used by Heat Street to explain why 'James Bond Can Never Be Played By A Woman'.

Part of the romance and the excitement of great stories (Bible excluded) is the interplay between the two lead characters. That is not to say that same-sex relations are not equally romantic and exciting and loving. But Mrs Rochester and James Eyre just wouldn’t have been the same. And therein lies the issue with Bond. (Constance Watson)

Jornal do Comércio (Brazil) has an article on Jane Eyre. Smiley Blondeee posts about Wuthering Heights. Nerdist features Woofering Heights. Book Riot recommends a couple of Brontë-related accessories. Brussels Brontë Blog begins analysing the statistics of the foreign translations of The Professor and Villette. On Twitter, @Wuthering Hikes shared a few lovely pictures of autumn at the Brontë Parsonage Museum.