Red House: an asset to cherish

ITV News has an article on the selling off of Mary Taylor's Red House.

The authority opted to sell Red House when plans to turn it into a wedding venue and holiday accommodation in 2021 collapsed after it failed to receive any viable Community Asset Transfer applications. [...]

Halina Kasperowicz of the charity Red House Yorkshire Heritage Trust said many local authorities would look at the building as "an asset to cherish" and set out plans to exploits its Brontë connections.

She said previously rejected plans to offer the building to the Landmark Trust should be resurrected. [...]

Cllr Turner said Red House was "a victim of cuts and Covid" as the council no longer had the funds to evolve the site.

He encouraged all those passionate about saving the buildings to consider applying for asset transfers.

He said the council could not afford to run the buildings due to government funding cuts.

He said: "It's not our fault. We don't like to do these [cuts] but we must make these really tough, heartbreaking decisions."

On the plus side of Brontë news, Museums Association features the campaign to save the Brontë Birthplace (you can still donate here):

Donations and grants, including £250,000 from Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, have enabled the purchase of the building. A further £300,000 is needed to help realise the dream to refurbish it and cover running costs.  

Christa Ackroyd, a TV journalist, Brontë fan and one of the people behind the campaign, told Museums Journal: “The Brontë birthplace in Thornton has a chequered past, from bedsits to being a private home and a cafe. It has been the dream of a handful of Brontë enthusiasts to preserve it for future generations and we can’t explain how it feels to know that dream is coming true.”

Brontë Birthplace Limited has been set up as a Community Benefit Company, and a crowdfunding campaign is now seeking investors, with every £1 donated equal to one ownership share in Brontë Birthplace Limited. Investors will receive a share certificate and become members of the Community Benefit Company with voting rights.

“We have raised the money for the house but it is in a poor state of repair from the roof to the windows and wiring, and our education programme needs supporting too,” Ackroyd said.  

If it succeeds to raise enough money, the house will be turned into a community and education centre with a cafe and even the option to stay overnight in one of the bedrooms. It aims to “actively participate in preserving and promoting the historical and literary significance of the building and the Brontë family”.

Ackroyd said: “It is the sisters’ story of determination – their ‘never give up’ attitude and their belief in themselves even when they were told women should never be writers  - that continues to inspire. We will use the house in our education programme to inspire the next generation to believe they can also achieve their dreams.

"They will be able to write them on our Ambition Wall when we open in time for Bradford City of Culture 2025 and invite schoolchildren from Bradford and beyond to walk in the footsteps of greatness.” (Rebecca Atkinson)

Shropshire Star and other features the Queen's speech during a reception for the winners of this year’s Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition at Buckingham Palace.

During her speech, avid reader Camilla described how Queen Victoria was also a “passionate lover of literature”.

“She was particularly fond of the works of many authors, including Jane Austen, Lord Tennyson, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte and Lewis Carroll.

Vogue interviews model Kristen McMenamy.

Who is your Great British icon?

Kristen: Oh, wow. There’s so many. George Eliot, the Brontë sisters, John Lennon, Sarah Burton. I love Tracey Emin, her f**ked-up art is so f**king genius. She’s such a powerhouse.

CBR has selected '10 Classic Movies With Iconic Romances' and one of them is

5 Cathy and Heathcliff Try To Find Love in an Austere World

Wuthering Heights (1939)

Cathy of Wuthering Heights is one of the least likable characters in the literary world, but Merle Oberon does a wonderful job of showing the character's emotional range. Cathy is an emotional character. She's frustrated, confused, selfish, loving, and trapped. Even though Laurence Olivier was notoriously unkind and unprofessional on the Wuthering Heights set, the chemistry between his Heathcliff and Oberon's Cathy is believable.

Wuthering Heights is a moody Gothic, and the black and white film lends itself well to that tone. The actors and sumptuous score help underline the playfulness of the central romance. Wuthering Heights is a tragic love story, but the lines are so beautiful between Heathcliff and Cathy that their poetic love endures beyond their circumstances. When Laurence Olivier was cast as Heathcliff, Vivien Leigh tried to take the Cathy role, but thankfully, Merle Oberon stayed on as Cathy because her performance was wonderful.

Trivia

Laurence Olivier was a total diva on set with his costar Merle Oberon and the director. (Vera)