Brussels Brontë Group goes to Haworth

Members of the Brussels Brontë Group enjoyed a wonderful trip to Haworth last weekend to visit the Parsonage and the surrounding Brontë Country, including stops at the Brontë Birthplace, Roe Head School and Scarborough. 

 

The excursion, organized by the indomitable Helen MacEwan and Joanne Wilcock, also featured a trek over the moors to Top Withens, as well as visits to Oakwell Hall in Birstall and Shibden Hall in Halifax. 

Tervuren talk on Louise Héger by art historian Eline Sciot

Louise Héger, the daughter of Charlotte Brontë’s influential teacher when she was in Brussels, was the subject of an interesting talk by Belgian art historian Eline Sciot in Tervuren on May 20. 

 

Louise, who Charlotte knew as a toddler when she was in Belgium in 1842-43, went on to become an artist specializing in landscape painting and drawing. 

Charlotte Jones on the Brontës among the Moderns

Dr. Charlotte Jones from the University of Oxford sparked the interest of the Brussels Brontë Group with her talk on May 10 on “The Brontës among the Moderns,” promising to show the influence of the literary sisters on eminent early 20th-century writers. 

 

The topic was rather a new perspective for our group, so the audience was quite curious as to what she would have to say. 

Nick Holland on faith and the Brontë sisters

Time again for another interesting morning of talks organised by the Brussels Brontë Group. The first of these on Saturday May 10 was given by Nick Holland, well known for his books on various members of the Brontë family. 

He is the author of In Search of Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë – A Life in 20 Poems and Aunt Branwell and the Brontë Legacy. He is working on a new book about Charlotte Brontë and her best friend Ellen Nussey. 

BBG member's calligraphy presented to Queen Camilla

In a recent blog post, I recounted my visit (ahead of its official opening) to the Brontë Birthplace, the house in Thornton where Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne were born. 

I mentioned that the souvenirs on sale in the house include a card with a poem by Liliana Pasterska — with the calligraphy and a drawing of the house executed by Brussels Brontë Group member Marina Saegerman.

Opening of Brontë Birthplace in Thornton by Queen Camilla