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| Marina Saegerman and Liliana Pasterska |
A special poem dedicated to the Birthplace was written by London-based poet Liliana Pasterska, and I was asked to do this poem in calligraphy. The design was going to be used for prints to be sold in the shop in Thornton in order to raise funds for the project. I also made a design of the house on its own which was going to be used for publicity and merchandise.
As I was visiting Haworth in June, I also planned a visit to the Brontë Birthplace in Thornton. I was very excited to see the house after its extensive renovation. I was going to attend two Brontë weekends: one of the London Brontë Group (6-8 June 2025) and one of the Brussels Brontë Group (14-16 June 2025).
Just before leaving for Haworth, Liliana and I were invited for a special meeting and tour of the house in Thornton. This would take place on Saturday morning 7 June. The idea was to take official pictures of the persons involved in this artwork project and of course to show Liliana and me around in this beautifully renovated house.
The people involved directly in this special artwork design/fundraising project were Liliana Pasterska (the poet), Joanne Wilcock (volunteer and guide at the BBP), Nigel West (BBP fundraising officer) and myself (calligraphy and painting).
Liliana and I had been in contact many times on the phone or by email, but we had not actually met each other. On Thursday evening, we met for the very first time in the Old White Lion inn in Haworth and this really was a very exciting moment, as we both had felt like soulmates during the creation of the special artwork design. We also had to make arrangements for an important task that we were given by Nigel West: signing by hand 100 A3 prints (+ 31 extras) of the design, to be specially framed and sold for fundraising purposes. We would have to do this prior to our visit to Thornton.
So we decided to meet up on Friday afternoon, with pencils, eraser, liner and sharpener ready for use! It proved to be a bigger job than first anticipated as our signatures and numbering had to be placed very precisely on the design (as indicated by the framing shop). A daunting task which took a lot of time to finish, but we managed …
Saturday 7 June 2025 was the big day for Liliana and me. We arrived at the Birthplace in Thornton together with Joanne and were warmly welcomed by Nigel West and other Brontë Birthplace volunteers and staff. Liliana and I really felt like royalty, we received such a special treatment.
We were shown around the house – all nooks and crannies – by Joanne who volunteered as our guide and gave us lots of information on how it all came about. We could see that the original design had been beautifully framed and that it took pride of place in the hallway. We then had a real photoshoot with the official BBP photographer, which was also very exciting.
Time really flies when you are having fun, and we were really enjoying the attention that we received. It was moving to see that our work was so appreciated and was given such a special place in the house. We can only hope that the sales of the prints will help to keep on raising funds for the future maintenance of the Birthplace. Liliana and I were also very impressed with the enthusiasm and dedication that the Brontë Birthplace volunteers and staff all showed. We could see that keeping this special house open to the public was very important to all of them.
Our special visit to this wonderful Brontë house was concluded by Liliana reading the entire poem standing in front of the famous fireplace. Goosebumps for me and I’m sure for all of us …
Liliana and I were very glad that we had been able to contribute to this good cause in our own humble way. We look forward to seeing the project grow further and further in strength.
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| Marina and friends at the Brontë Birthplace |
Marina Saegerman
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