WE HAD our very first Open Garden organised by our gardeners, Jenny Whitehead and Geoff Taylor, on July 13. .

The event was a great success. The garden was in full bloom and looked beautiful in the July sunshine. Everyone who came enjoyed seeing the garden.

People brought us beautiful specimens including a buddleia and a blackcurrant sage all the way from Liverpool. You can see a picture of it on our twitter page.

We would like to thank everyone who came to the open garden and brought and donated plants. The total amount raised was £55 which we will put towards buying a new garden bench.

We have had a very exciting recent purchase at the Parsonage. The full production script of Albert Victor Bramble’s Wuthering Heights (1920) has been discovered.

The copy of the original film has been lost and so now for the first time we can see just exactly what the film was like and how it came to be made.

There are 22 pages of production notes including details of costumes and locations used in each scene.

Bramble endeavoured to be as faithful as possible when making the film and made good use of local landmarks. He used Haworth Old Hall for Wuthering Heights and Kildwick Hall in Keighley for Thrushcross Grange.

There are even original stills of the film crew carrying their equipment and the child actors up to Top Withins. This purchase is especially exciting in the build-up to Emily Brontë’s bicentenary in 2018.

We hope that the good weather lasts as the summer holidays are nearly upon us and we have plenty in store for you at the Parsonage.

The Tour de France coverage broadcast scenic landscape of Yorkshire into people’s sitting rooms and so in celebration of our local countryside we are choosing landscape as a theme for our summer family activities.

We have a range of activities for the whole family to enjoy such as making your own miniature moorland landscape garden, or using different techniques such as felting or wax resist to create your own unique picture.

Come with us for a free guided walk up onto Penistone Hill or listen to one of our regular free summer talks and discover more about the role this iconic landscape played in the Brontës’ writing. Please look on our website for further details.

Now is the last chance to buy tickets for Emily Brontë’s 196th birthday celebration.

This year we have two events. During the day there is a trip on the steam train and visit to the museum. In the evening there is a programme of events in the Parsonage.

If you want to learn more about the Brontës and help decide how the Parsonage Museum is run, why not join The Brontë Society?

We are one of the oldest literary societies in the English-speaking world, but new members are our lifeblood, and anyone is welcome to join.

Call Sue Newby 01535 640185, visit our website or email susan.newby@bronte.org.uk for further information or to book tickets for upcoming events.