Patrick Brontë's social reform

The Yorkshire Post has an article on how what's now the Old Svhool Room was a project by Patrick Brontë.

He had a passion for social reform and believed in the power of education.

His attempts to raise funding for a school in Haworth were at first unsuccessful but his vision was eventually realised when the National School Society contributed £80.

The rest of the necessary money was raised by public subscription, and a suitable site between Haworth Parsonage and the parish church was donated by the Church Lands Trust.

In 1832 the school room finally opened its doors. Patrick composed the text which appeared on the plaque, quoting Proverbs XXII.6: “Train up a child in the way he should; and when he is old, he will not depart from it”.

However, to begin with the building housed a National Church Sunday School, and in 1843 he applied for a grant to employ a schoolmaster and open on weekdays too.

For this, he received £60, spending £10 of it on desks.

A blue plaque above the door records that his daughters Charlotte, Emily and Anne and son Branwell all taught there.

In 1850 one of Patrick’s curates, Arthur Bell Nichols, secured funds to build an extension and it was completed the following year.

In 1854 the school hosted the wedding reception of Charlotte Brontë and Nichols, which was attended by 500 guests.

The building ceased being a school in 1903, and since then it has served many different purposes including use as an army billet in the Second World War, a youth hostel, gymnasium and library. (Roger Ratcliffe)

Also in The Yorkshire Post, Christ Ackroyd writes about why 'The Brontës showed us that there is nothing wrong with ambition'.

When I was ten years old I didn’t understand ambition. I don’t mind admitting I felt a bit rootless and uncertain about my place in the world. Adopted at ten days old it started to play on my mind that not only did I not know who I was but I had no idea how I would fit in. All that I thought about, no matter that my parents were the best a child could have, was that someone had given me away. And so my intuitive father took me on a trip, just him and me to Haworth. There he stood me in front of The Parsonage and told me the story of three girls from Bradford who were told they would never become writers because of who they were. And did. From that moment I was hooked. Three sisters who because of their background and the times they lived in were considered unsuitable for the world of literature and became the best selling authors of their day. And still are. But more important for me was their message that life may not be fair, it may not always be equal, but if we never give up, never give in, our ambitions can be realised. What’s more they were Bradford girls, growing up in difficult times in a one parent family without means, but with a passion they would allow no one to thwart. And that little trip has stayed with me forever. From that day I never looked back.

And also in The Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire questions to Elspeth Biltoft of Rosebud Preserves.

What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity?

Being the largest county it takes a long time to get from one end to the other. And it has everything from the Dales to the Moors; running from the edge of the Lake District over to to Whitby and Scarborough. It has the Brontës, and Pen-y-Ghent and Wensleydale cheese to name just a few. I am not precious about Yorkshire like some people, but I was born here and it is unique. (Catherine Scott)

Guelph Mercury has put together 'The definitive 2023 book gift guide: 25 reads for the young, lovers of sweeping family sagas and history' and it includes the lovely

The Little Books of the Little Brontës, by Sara O’Leary, illustrated by Briony May Smith (Tundra, 40 pages, $24.99, ages five to nine) Readers don’t have to know the classic novels of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë to love this account of the tiny, handmade books and big imaginations of the sisters’ childhood. O’Leary’s and Smith’s spirited pictures and words create a world of domestic Victoriana and wild moors that’s irresistibly charming. Includes instructions on how to make your own tiny book. (Deborah Dundas)

YouGov discusses the book The Darcy Myth by Professor Rachel Feder and people's feelings about fictional 'heartthrobs'.

In a recent poll, YouGov asked Americans for their opinion on love interests from several well-known books and movies.

Among the 24 characters included in the poll, Princess Leia from Star Wars and Jack from Titanic are viewed favorably by the largest shares of Americans (72% and 70%, respectively). The two included characters with the smallest shares of Americans saying they have a favorable opinion of them are the main couple from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights: Heathcliff (27%) and Catherine Earnshaw (25%). (Oana Dumitru)

Her Campus recommends '4 fall books to get back into reading' and one of them is

4- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

This book tells the story of Jane Eyre who grows up in the Aunt’s cold, unwelcoming home. When she becomes employed as a governess for Mr. Rochester, the story takes a turn. Jane finds her feelings growing for Mr.Rochester, and at the same time begins to learn about Thornfield Hall’s hidden secret. What she learns forces her to make a difficult decision: stay and live with Mr. Rochester despite the implications, or leave who she loves? (Emery Furgason)

A contributor to The Guardian discusses how the world has turned 'girly'.

When I began writing this article, I thought I already knew what I thought. I love being a woman. Being a woman has a rich history of culture and history, a tapestry of names from Cleopatra and Boudicca to Tracey Emin and Nina Simone, from Emily Brontë to Billie Jean King, from Gloria Steinem to Marilyn Monroe. So my kneejerk reaction was to feel irritated with a younger generation who reject all this in favour of being girls, just because the word woman makes them think of icky things like wrinkles. But now, I’m not so sure. (Jess Cartner-Morley)

The Guardian also has several reviewers share their impressions of the film Saltburn.

The film regards the entire tradition of English country house gothic as something like an enormous dressing-up box to be dived into with squealing pleasure. “Look, look!” it seems to say. “Here is Daphne Du Maurier! Here is MR James! Here is Emily Brontë!” There’s nothing remotely subtle about this. For subtlety and delicacy in this territory, please see Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter, a very different beast, though, also involving upper-class people’s difficult relations in and with enormous country houses. (Charlotte Higgins)

Bustle sings the praises of It's a Wonderful Life.

The alternate-reality nightmare where George sees where Mary would be without him (shudder, a single librarian who wears glasses) is rightfully lampooned today, but even that melodramatic scene shows George’s fiery, urgent passion for the love of his life — begging her to remember him, his wide eyes and groveling like something out of Brontë. The scariest thing George can imagine is not being in Mary’s life? Honestly, swoon. (Grace Wehniainen)

The West Australian has an article on Haworth and the Brontës.