THE BRONTË Parsonage Museum may be closed but for staff it’s the busiest time of year.

The historic rooms that originally provided a home for the famous writing sisters are a hive of activity.

Staff are carrying out hundreds of annual tasks at the Haworth museum in readiness for the public returning when the doors reopen next month.

They are not only carrying out general repairs, decorative and maintenance tasks that have built up during the previous 11 months.

They are also checking every one of the items on permanent display and preparing major exhibitions that will run for the whole of 2015.

The Brontë Parsonage Museum is never open during January because there are always so many jobs that cannot be done while the public are present.

Collections manager Ann Dinsdale said: “There’s a huge amount of work that goes on. I think people imagine the winter is a quiet time for us, but it’s probably the busiest time.

“It’s the only time of year when we can do any maintenance work. Everything is cleaned. We check the entire collection for any deterioration, including the furniture.”

The staff are also preparing for the installation of a new exhibition of poetry and photographs in the foyer gallery area.

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Heathcliff Adrift features a collection of poems by Benjamin Myers which follows the missing three years of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights hero. The poems are accompanied by stunning landscape photography by Nick Small.

The museum reopens on February 1, and visitors will be given a few more weeks to view last year’s main exhibition in the Bonnell Room, The Brontës and Animals.

After this the museum staff will prepare to replace it with a a new exhibition to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.

The Brontës, War and Waterloo – exploring the writers’ connections with the conflict – will open at the Parsonage on March 16.

The Brontë Parsonage Museum is run by the 125-year-old Brontë Society, one of the oldest literary societies in the world.

The society collects Brontë manuscripts and artefacts, using the museum to showcase many of the hundreds of items in its collection.

The museum is also the base for much of the society’s Contemporary Arts Programme, which highlights modern-day artists’ and writers’ responses to the Brontës’ work.

The museum regularly hosts writers workshops, children’s holiday activities and lectures.

The Brontë Parsonage Museum will reopen on February 1, and will then be open every day from 10am until 5.30pm.

Visit bronte.org.uk for further information.