The Tower House and the Walk

BBC Radio 3 gives a new chance to listen to I Am, Yours Sincerely, C Bronte, the fifteen-minute, five-part essay celebrating Charlotte Brontë's life and work, first aired last year.

Monday, April 10 23:45h  Claire Harman on Charlotte Brontë, GovernessTuesday, April 11 23.45h  Claire Harman on Charlotte Brontë in BelgiumWednesday, April 12 23.45h Lyndall Gordon on Charlotte Bronte and Robert SoutheyThursday, April 13 23.45h Jane Shilling on I Shall Soon Be ThirtyFriday, April 14 23:45h Rachel Joyce on Bronte as a Literary Star

The Star gives further information on North Lees Hall being on the market:

North Lees Hall, the Grade II listed tower house which dates back to the 16th century, is now available to rent. The historic Hall was the inspiration for Charlotte Brontë’s Thornfield Hall in the classic novel Jane Eyre.
It is located in a secluded valley close to Hathersage, in the foothills of Stanage Edge, and forms part of the wider Stanage-North Lees property owned and managed by the Peak District National Park.
Emma Stone, head of visitor experience development, said: “This is a unique opportunity for someone to live in a beautiful property with huge historical significance and in a spectacular location, right in the heart of Britain’s original National Park.
“It really is a one-of-a-kind with its own quirks and features – living there you could easily imagine you are Mr Rochester and Jane Eyre! We have arranged two open days so prospective tenants can come and view the property.”
An ancient spiral staircase made from elm gives access to a roof terrace with panoramic views of the countryside.
The property has been restored and has three double bedrooms, two bathrooms, and two large reception rooms. It is furnished and is semi-detached as it adjoins an occupied farmhouse. The new tenants will rent the Hall for a minimum of 12 months.
It is expected to achieve a monthly rent in excess of £1,200, and tenders are invited by Friday 28 April.
The open viewings have been arranged for Wednesday 19 April and Friday 23 April for people to visit and view the Hall. (Stephanie Bateman)

The Brontë Society will re-enact the Thornton-Haworth trip by the Brontë family in 1820. As read in The Telegraph & Argus:

A joint Charlotte Brontë birthday and Fair Trade eight-mile spring walk takes place this month.
The event on April 21 will follow the historic route taken by the Brontës from their birthplace in Thornton to their home in Haworth in 1820.
A Brontë Society spokesman said: "Walking across the exposed moorland familiar to the Brontes, will hopefully provide inspiration for some creative writing on the theme of gender equality and social reform.
"The Brontë sisters initially wrote under male pseudonyms to be accepted in the literary world of their day, and today Fair Trade standards help ensure that women producers and workers in developing countries can have equal rights and opportunities."
The walk is being organised in conjunction with Bradford Fairtrade zone and will form part of the International Festival of Fair Trade Walks, which this year has a literary theme.
Rita Verity, of the Haworth Fair Trade campaign group, said: "It will be a free walk to take part in and most of it will be off-road.
"The walk will end at the Old School Room, in Haworth, where walkers will be provided with Fair Trade refreshments."
There will also be a talk there on Patrick Brontë and his campaigns for social justice.
On the same day at the nearby parsonage museum there will be a range of informal talks about Charlotte Brontë to mark 201 years since her birth, and a writing workshop with local author Glynis Charlton.
Start time for the walk is 9.30am for 10am at St James Church, 300 Thornton Road and the expected arrival time in Haworth is 2.30pm.
The Brontë Society spokesman added: "The walk will be accompanied by local Brontë and history experts, and will go via the house in Thornton’s Market Street where Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne Brontë were born.
"The route will cross open moorland and may be very rough and muddy underfoot, so suitable clothing and footwear is essential. People should come prepared for all weathers."
Participants are welcome to turn up in Victorian-style clothing, and will be offered a 50 per cent discount for entry to the parsonage museum. (Miran Rahman)

To Walk Invisible: The Brontë Sisters appears on DVD this week in the US. Deseret News presents the production:

“To Walk Invisible: The Brontë Sisters” (PBS, 2016, featurettes). The three Brontë sisters — Charlotte (Finn Atkins), Emily (Chloe Pirrie) and Anne (Charlie Murphy) — live in Haworth, West Yorkshire, in the 1840s, with their aged, retired father (Jonathan Pryce) and their ne’er-do-well alcoholic brother (Adam Nagaitis). The sisters are very close but they fear for their financial future, should their father and brother die.
As a form of escape, the sisters lose themselves in writing stories, and then make a plan to get their work published using male pen names. Of course, all three will eventually become literary legends for such works as “Wuthering Heights” and “Jane Eyre,” though the lives of all three will be cut short. This British TV movie is a vivid re-creation of the period and beautifully explores the complexities of these driven women, each remarkably inhabited by the respective actresses. (Chris Hicks)

The Yorkshire Evening Post describes a walk around Great Hammerton with strong Brontë links:

A few hundred yards to your left is Thorpe Underwood which has strong links to the Brontës. Between 1840 and 1845, Anne Brontë was governess to the Robinson children at Thorpe Green Hall – now Queen Ethelburga’s College – at Thorpe Underwood.
Her brother, Branwell, was also employed at the hall as a tutor to the Robinsons’ eldest son. He fell in love with his employer’s wife, Lydia Robinson, and was dismissed in 1845, spiralling into a life of drink and drugs which led to his death in 1848.
Branwell made a friend of the local doctor, John Crosby, whose death is marked by an obelisk in the graveyard at nearby Great Ouseburn.

Mic would like to see Shirley adapted for TV. We join the petition:

Charlotte Brontë is often associated with Jane Eyre, but her lesser-known work Shirley offers a feminist heroine without the brooding burden of Mr. Rochester. Shirley is an independent woman, having inherited wealth and land, and is determined to use her good fortune to help others and learn about business and economics. She goes so far as to turn down marriage proposals from men she does not love, even if they are wealthy. All of this, and no searing heartbreak or madwoman locked in the attic. (Carey Purcell)

LeftLion interviews the film director Ben Wheatley:

Considering the recent history of action films, how aware were you of audience expectations from the genre, and how did that help you shape the film? (Ash Carter)
I think about it in terms of the film itself being a series of gags, payoffs and small adventures. And it’s meant to be entertaining, so if it doesn’t get to those moments the audience will drift off or become bored. But that’s the same with a Brontë film or whatever, with people sitting around chatting. They still have to have a series of setups and payoffs. That’s how I approached it, just trying to make it entertaining for the audience.

And LA Weekly interviews yet another film director, James Gray:

Can you talk about adapting David Grann’s book, and the decision to focus just on Fawcett’s journey? (Bilge Ebiri) (...) You find just very simple, small ideas and you can expand them. Otherwise, you could make a 16-hour film about Fawcett. Just the way that he meets his wife in the book is enough for like a Brontë novel or something, it’s crazy.

The Aquila Report on anxiety:

My advice is to get your doctor to test your levels. If your anxiety levels make going to the doctor extremely hard, I feel your pain. Regarding avoiding doctors, my approach is often like Jane Eyre: “I must keep in good health and not die.” (Rachel Miller)

Benzine (in French) reviews the film The Young Lady by William Oldroyd:

Il y a comme une chronologie secrète autour de The young lady, une macération du temps qui déboucherait à aujourd’hui et à ce film. De fait, tout commencerait vers 1600 quand Shakespeare écrivit Macbeth, et de ce drame sombre comme un puits en enfer, on retiendra surtout le personnage de Lady Macbeth, femme fatale et reine manipulatrice. Plus tard en 1847, Les hauts de Hurlevent d’Emily Brontë exaltera, au milieu de la lande écossaise, l’amour fou de Catherine Earnshaw pour Heathcliff. Plus tard encore, en 1857, Madame Bovary de Gustave Flaubert fera de son Emma une femme malheureuse enfermée dans les conventions (et qui en mourra). (Michael Pige) (Translation)

La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy) finds similarities between tennis and literature:

Venus Williams ha in sé i caratteri dell’eleganza. Non solo a proposito della tecnica tennistica ma anche per ciò che concerne la vita fuori dai campi. Degna rappresentante di una dinastia di tenniste fuori dal comune, proprio come le sorelle Brontë in ambito letterario, capaci di realizzare memorabili capolavori. (Federico Casparella) (Translation)

Literary tourism in Economy (in Serbian):

Ništa manje nije slavan ni Havort, mesto u Zapadnom Jorkširu gde je dom sestara Bronte pretvoren u istoimeni muzej koji svake godine pohodi ogroman broj turista, onih „literarnih“. (Translation)

Keighley News discusses the impact of the visit of The Flying Scotsman locomotive to the Haworth area. A quote from Charlotte Brontë in a China Christian Daily article on being single. The Book Blog posts about Wuthering Heights and Nerd Cactus about Jane Eyre. Kenneth Woods - composer posts about his visit to John Joubert's fictional Thornfield in his opera Jane Eyre. Finally, The History Girls talk about Branwell Brontë.