Come, Walk With Me (in Thornton)

We are very sad to hear that vandals have damaged part of the historic Brontë Bell Chapel site as reported by The Telegraph and Argus.

Vandals have caused substantial damage to a building at the Brontë Bell Chapel in Thornton, destroying “irreplaceable history” in the process.

Volunteers discovered damage to the roof of the vestry, a building that was added to the chapel in 1793.

The room was used by Patrick Brontë during his five years as perpetual curate from 1815.

The toll of damage included stone copings and roof slates being thrown to the ground and smashed, as well as the timber supports pulled from their placements.

In addition handrails from a disabled access platform were broken in half.

The Old Bell Chapel action group has been appealing for people to donate towards the cost of repairs, which they initially estimated to be around £500.

Steve Stanworth, site coordinator at the action group said:  “We are a non-charitable voluntary group and exist on donations.

“As you can imagine our loyal volunteers are sickened by the mindless, senseless vandalism.”

He added that they had launched a fundraising page to help them fund the repairs, initially setting a target of £500, which was reached over the weekend.

But there are fears the work could cost more than this.

He added: “We are currently working towards being ready for Thornton in Bloom and also the open gardens event on July 30 and 31.

“The setbacks are not good.

“The Council have responsibility for maintenance but this is outside their remit as we obtained grants to put the decking platform in place.

“We ask the neighbours to be vigilant but the ground drops away and the youths causing the problem are out of sight.”

He said they did have some CCTV footage, which has been passed to police, but have been told it is not conclusive.

He added: “I find the complete lack of respect for this area unbelievable and disgraceful,  short of locking it full time, we are at a loss how to prevent further damage.” (Jo Winrow)

Here's the fundraising page.

We are not leaving Thornton just yet as The Yorkshire Post features The Apothecary which is to reopen as an art gallery.

In 1820, the village of Thornton's apothecary was doing a roaring trade from the grandest building on Market Street.

The chemist's shop was run by one family, the Waddingtons, for over 150 years before falling into disuse and decay - and during its heyday Patrick and Maria Brontë would have been among its customers in the early years of their marriage, when the father of writers Charlotte, Emily and Anne was the reverend of Thornton Chapel and the family lived at 74 Market Street, where the children were born.

Now, a traditional signwriter has helped to restore the facade of the Grade II-listed building to glory and printmaker Patrick Whitehead is to open it as an art gallery named The Apothecary in honour of its origins. (Grace Newton)

The Telegraph has an article about British theatres not doing well in the aftermath of the pandemic. This has also affected the Wise Children's Wuthering Heights tour.

For theatres and producers that work outside the capital, things are even worse. Three big planned musical tours (including the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical Bring It On) were cancelled at the start of the year. Meanwhile Emma Rice’s independent company Wise Children has cancelled two weeks from the nine-week tour of its fêted adaptation of Wuthering Heights after “heartbreaking” advance bookings in some theatres of between 20 and 30 per cent. “Every time we cancel with a theatre, they say please don’t because we’ve got to build trust with our audiences, otherwise audiences won’t book if theatres keep cancelling shows,” says the company’s executive producer Poppy Keeling. “It’s a vicious circle.”

In truth, the touring sector has been in peril for years, as Dominic Cavendish recently wrote in The Telegraph, which should concern anyone who cares about the art form’s long-term future. “In terms of people’s access to theatre outside of London, I’m genuinely worried about what the future looks like,” says Lloyd. “Producers will stop producing, venues won’t have enough shows to programme their seasons, and it could come crashing down quite quickly.”

No doubt the sector will survive, in London at least; after all, the West End has weathered storms before, such as the recession that followed the 2008 financial crash. But at what cost? “Most venues will be fine – they were looked after very well by the Cultural Recovery Fund [which supported theatre companies and venues rather than individuals],” says one producer. “But there are plenty of independent producers who are saying, we create the work, and if there isn’t more support for the work there will be nothing to go into these venues but jukebox musicals. And the West End really doesn’t need yet another jukebox show.” (Claire Allfree)

The New Yorker has a lovely article on the great Barbara Pym.

Pym’s books always practice as much fidelity to literature as to life. Poets are referenced and quoted again and again—Wordsworth, Donne, Rossetti—sometimes just to mock the quoter. Characters take behavioral cues from verses they recall. Belinda sees a dead caterpillar on a luncheon plate, and despairs: “It needed a modern poet to put this into words. Eliot, perhaps.” Fiction, too, provides a frame of reference. Novelists from Charlotte Brontë to Graham Greene, quickly mentioned, become Austin Mini metaphorical vehicles that define or clarify some incident or personality. If anything, it’s life that lets literature down. (Thomas Mallon)

Cineuropa reviews the film The Silent Twins:

There is a quirkiness to this tale, with bouts of cruel imagination as the sisters go about their initial plan – more than anything else, they want to become published writers. So far, so Brontë. (Marta Balaga)

We are quite amused at seeing many, many articles explaining Kate Bush to youngsters after one of her songs was featured in season 4 of Stranger Things. The title of this Vogue article is 'Gen Z Has Finally Discovered Kate Bush, and I’m Thrilled'.

A disclaimer: Anyone who knows me knows that I have a borderline pathological obsession with Bush and her music. An important memory for me was seeing the video for her breakout 1978 track “Wuthering Heights,” the piano-led ballad with its allusions to Emily Brontë, bonkers key changes, and infamously acrobatic vocals, while watching a music video channel (remember those?) as a kid. Seeing Bush, who trained in contemporary dance, twirl and wave her arms through a spectral white mist in a floaty batwing dress, her eyes wide with urgency, I was mesmerized. (Liam Hess)

From Classic Rock:

Kate Bush is one of the most enigmatic musicians The UK has ever produced. More than four decades years after the extraordinary Wuthering Heights launched her, apparently fully-formed, into a world that clearly wasn't quite ready, Kate Bush occupies a unique position in music. (Kris Needs)

Coincidentally, another article from Classic Rock comments on Pat Benatar's take on Wuthering Heights:

And while her take on Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights bordered on karaoke. . . (Paul Elliott)

Finally, BBC Local Radio shares a clip of Samantha Morton (who was Jane in Jane Eyre 1997) reciting Emily Brontë's poem 'Come, Walk With Me'.