The Top Withens of bureaucracy

The Yorkshire Post has an article on Top Withens.

Top Withens, near Haworth, is popular with literary tourists, although its links to the 1847 book have been the subject of scholarly dispute over the years.

Built in the 16th century as one of three ‘laithe houses’ for the sons of the landowner, by the time the Brontë sisters passed the farm on their walks it was inhabited by the Sunderland family, who left in 1896. The last farmer to occupy Top Withens kept poultry there in the 1920s, and it has been abandoned ever since.

The house is not protected – a listing granted in the 1950s was revoked in 1991 – and today forms part of a large estate owned by Yorkshire Water. Their custodianship came about because the three Withens farms were bought for a new reservoir project in the 1900s, only for the plans to be delayed because of World War One.

The Near and Middle farms were demolished around this time and the land rented out for grazing. The tenants were not required to maintain Top Withens – by then already dilapidated due to vandalism and souvenir-hunting – and the water board at the time agreed to take on responsibility for its upkeep.

By the 1950s, the roof was disintegrating and it collapsed around a decade later. The farmhouse’s condition was a concern to the local newspapers as far back as 1949.

In the 1970s, repair and stabilisation was carried out, and further work took place in the 1990s under Yorkshire Water’s supervision. At the time it was described as a ‘managed ruin’.

Retired builder Peter Wroe, of Barnsley, contacted The Yorkshire Post having made several attempts to seek reassurance that Top Withens was being maintained.

Mr Wroe had questioned whether the roof could be replaced and windows fitted. However, the land is now designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and there is no suitable vehicle access to the farm that would allow construction work to take place. The building has no water supply and Yorkshire Water have declined to sell or dispose of it because of the ecologically sensitive location. Any development at Top Withens would require intense scrutiny and a planning application would be complex.

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said: “The location of the ruins within moorland considered a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Area of Conservation and also a Special Protection Area, makes any development of the site, or renovation, extremely difficult.” (Grace Newton)

The Telegraph considers the possibilities for England's next national park and one of them is

Pennines

“Not as soft as the Yorkshire Dales to the north, this is the wilder, windswept Pennine moorland of Brontë dramas and mysteries with tough sheep, soaring birds, horizon-stretching views and stone-clad villages clinging to steep-sided valleys. Criss-crossed with packhorse trails and dotted with bold rocky outcrops, it has an invigorating northern defiance.” – Helen Pickles, destination expert. (Chris Moss)

Manchester's Finest reports that Manchester's historic Portico Library has been awarded a grant to transform it.

The £453,964 development grant will enable the centuries-old Portico to bring to life plans to create an accessible and sustainable space for arts, literature, learning and history for Manchester’s residents and visitors.

The team will now work with experts and a range of community stakeholders to transform the Grade II-listed building and preserve the library’s incredible book collection, which includes the first edition of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. (Natalie Rees)

After visiting the exhibition In the Company of Good Books: From Shakespeare to Morrison at Princeton University Library’s Milberg Gallery, a contributor to Town Topics claims that,

The three Brontë sisters had the aura of the Yorkshire moors. (Stuart Mitchner)

LitHub highlights some of 'Alasdair Gray’s Lesser-Known, Equally Deserving Books' including The Preface Book.

In his own preface Gray listed reasons for reading the book: “Seeing great writers in a huff,” “The biographical snippet,” “The pleasure of the essay,” “The pleasure of hearing great writers converse,” and “The pleasure of history.” There’s a gossipy Letters-of-Note draw in reading Charlotte Brontë spend her preface to Shirley drubbing a hostile reviewer. (Mazin Saleem)

Eternity News (Australia) puts together a summer reading guide with the help of the Centre for Public Christianity's Brand Manager Clare Potts.

Q: What book have you already read that you would recommend?

A: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Ok, I admit it. I’ve read this one a few times before. But I’m about to start writing my master’s thesis on hope and grace in Jane Eyre, so I needed to do a re-read to get started.

Humbly, I think Jane Eyre is everything a novel ought to be. It has daring romance, orphans, house fires, gypsies, missionaries, madwomen and even the French. It also examines issues and ideas well before its time: spiritual abuse, neglect and coercive control.

Ultimately, however, it is a Christian novel – move over Francine Rivers – about a woman with keen insight into the people around her and into the God who is full of grace.

Apparently, candle snuffers are a thing and The Standard can help you find the 'Best candle snuffers for elegant extinguishing'.

It’s fair to say that a candle snuffer doesn't top the list of homeware essentials. It’s more of an antiquated accessory that happens to be functional. But you can’t deny the Dickensian feel of the item. Opt for a rustic design and you might as well be in Oliver Twist or Jane Eyre. In the latter half of the novel, Charlotte Brontë’s protagonist blissfully notes: “So I snuffed the candle and resumed the perusal of Marmion". Read on to enter your Victorian era. (Tania Leslau)