Branwell Brontë's Bicentenary Celebrations

A series of events commemorate Branwell Brontë's 200th anniversary today, June 26 at the Brontë Parsonage Museum:

Branwell's Bicentenary Breakfast
Emily's by De Luca Boutique
10:30 AM
Our celebrations for the 200th anniversary of Branwell’s birth start at the place where he was born: Market Street in Thornton, now Emily’s café and bistro. Enjoy a delicious selection of pastries while Ann Dinsdale, Principal Curator of the Brontë Society, shares her experience of ‘living with Branwell’ over the past 27 years.


A Brush with Branwell
Brontë Parsonage Museum
11am-4pm
Join us at the Museum for a spot of portrait painting! Have a go at painting Branwell (or yourself!) into the iconic Pillar Portrait. A family friendly workshop, all materials provided.

A short talk about Branwell and his life
Brontë Parsonage Museum
11.30am & 2pm
Join us for a walk around the environs of the Parsonage and find out a little about Branwell Brontë and his live in Haworth. If the weathers really bad, there will be a talk in our Learning area instead.

Meet John Brown
Brontë Parsonage Museum
11.30am-2.30pm
Branwell’s friend John Brown is in and out of the Parsonage today looking for him. John’s in chatty mood, so if you come across him today, he’s sure to share a few Branwell anecdotes…

'A Humble station?' - a screening of a documentary film about Branwell
'A Humble Station? Branwell Brontë's Calder Valley Years", is a new documentary film by Deep Lock Productions which tells the story of Branwell's years living and working in the Calder Valley, Yorkshire.
World Première 15 June 2017, Halifax Central Library
Screening at St James Church Thornton 25 June 2017, 7.30pm
Screening at the Brontë Parsonage 26 June 2017 (Branwell's 200th birthday)

Branwell, worked on the burgeoning railways at Sowerby Bridge and later Luddenden Foot. With a reputation for drinking, opium and troubled love affairs, Branwell's story has not been looked on kindly by most biographers. However, Deep Lock Productions present a new assessment of Branwell, and the poetry and paintings he produced during his Calder Valley Years.
Filmed and directed by photographer and composer Alan Wrigley, whose score underpins scenic views of the valley, "A Humble Station?" is written and narrated by Calder Valley poet Simon Zonenblick, who has spent the weeks and months leading up to Branwell's bicentenary listening to artists, writers, historians and local people about the life and legacy of this much misunderstood man. With interviews from Brontë biographer Juliet Barker, Brontë Parsonage Collections Manager and author Ann Dinsdale, playwright Caroline Lamb, Performance Poet Geneviève L Walsh, historian David Cant and many, many more, "A Humble Station? Branwell Brontë's Calder Valley Years" is a whole new look at the legacy of Yorkshire's famous Brontë family, through the prism of the talented but troubled Branwell, and a celebration of the beautiful area where some of his most important art and writing were created.

And in London, the London and the South East Brontë Society members celebrate the bicentenary with a visit to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition:

We celebrate Branwell's birthday at the Royal Academy where he aspired to become a student. His failure to gain a place remains a mystery to this day. The Summer Exhibition has provided a platform for artists both professional and amateur every year since 1769. Recent celebrity contributors include Harry Hill, who's portrait of Damien Hirst was accepted for display in 2016!
Meet 11.00am at main entrance