Luddites at the Red House

The Yorkshire Post gives voice to Imelda Marsden, who doesn't agree with the plan to turn the Red House into luxury holiday accommodation.

But opposition is growing to scheme from historians who believe “comprehensive refurbishment and some sympathetic remodelling” earmarked for the house could mean intrusive modern additions.

They are now marshalling support to fight what they suspect will be unwelcome improvements, and they have threatened to mount a legal challenge.

“The battle is on,” said Mirfield-based Imelda Marsden, a long-time member of the Brontë Society who has raised concerns with fellow social historians and aficionados.

“There’s loads that could be done with Red House – and it’s not just about the Brontës. There are links to the feminist and author Mary Taylor. We have seen plans that appear to show that bathrooms will be put in upstairs bedrooms.

“That’s utterly ridiculous. It will tarnish the purity of the building. People are annoyed, absolutely upset, and devastated. How dare they do this?”

However local supporters such as Coun David Hall say attracting tourists could make it financially sustainable and “trigger a wider tourism boost”.

Mrs Marsden, 74, said Brontë buffs all around the world are now coming together and preparing to give voice to their concerns.

She described them as the “geriatric luddite gang” and said: “This is serious. We will fight like crazy. It might go to a legal challenge. We luddites will not be fighting this time with hatchets and guns but with our voices, letters and emails.”

She rejected the council’s opinion that turning the site over to commercial use was “ground-breaking” and countered that the National Trust has been operating such a system for years. Instead she called on the authority to exercise more thought.

The council announced in April that the Grade II* listed 19th century manor house is to become a five-star high-end luxury holiday home for commercial holiday letting, accommodating 10 people within five bedrooms to be let as a single holiday cottage unit.

The site’s cart shed will be remodelled and refitted to provide four individual self-contained holiday apartments, each accommodating two people, available to book either individually or in addition to the main house.

Mrs Marsden said: “They think they have done something new, but they haven’t. The National Trust have opened up buildings as holiday lets to raise money.

“We are not against the cart shed making money but there’s no way they can do that with Red House – to start putting in bathrooms. It will lose all its period appeal.”

Coun Hall and his Liversedge and Gomersal ward colleague Coun Lisa Holmes said: “The people that I have spoken to locally have all been in favour of the investment in the house to secure its future.

“What we are wanting to do is sympathetically remodel the house so that tourists and holidaymakers will want to come and spend time there. In doing so we can upgrade the house for the use of the public as well. It’s a win-win situation.” (Tony Earnshaw)

Also in The Telegraph and Argus and Yorkshire Live.

BookRiot recommends '20 Must-Read Crime Novels to Keep You Up at Night' including

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

In this reimagining of Jane Eyre, Jane is a dogwalker, a thief, and a woman with a fake identity. She’s also new to Birmingham, Alabama. Desperate to stay afloat, she steals small trinkets from housewives and tries to find opportunities to get a leg up where she can. When she meets a rich and handsome widow who’s still mourning the loss of his wife, she’s sure seducing him will be her ticket out of being broke and desperate. She knows Eddie Rochester is mysterious, but she doesn’t realize just how many secrets he has of his own. (Brooke Bailey Peters)

East Anglian Daily Times features Angela Snape, who has written her first children's book and

who grew up in the same Yorkshire village as the Brontë sisters, has followed her life-long passion for literature to write a book.

Angela Snape was inspired from a young age by the Wuthering Heights author and Enid Blyton's The Famous Five. (Holly Hume)

The California Aggie recommends courses to take this summer such as

ENL 177 01: Study Individual Author

This summer, ENL 177 will be studying J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series in context. The course will assess the series alongside other works like “Jane Eyre” and a detective fiction novel. English Professor Matthew Vernon, who teaches this course, said that ENL 177 will offer a deep dive into the inspirations for Harry Potter, how it is quickly becoming a new “classic” and how readers can appreciate the series while acknowledging its problematic author. 

Vernon said that this class is not just for English majors, but any Harry Potter fan or student looking for a more fun, laid back course to take this summer.

“It could be relaxing and a slight change of pace from all the other classes that people take, so I think it’s better to take it during the summer,” Vernon said. “This is one of those classes where you can get credit but not be super stressed out the entire time. I hope that this is the sort of thing that people will treat as an enjoyable experience and summertime experience rather than, ‘I have to check boxes, I have to get through a bunch of requirements.’” (Katie DeBenedetti)

LouReviews posts about Unquiet Slumbers – The Haunting of Emily Brontë by Different Theatre.