ON Sunday July 27 we had a wonderful day celebrating the anniversary of Emily Brontë's Birthday. This year we held two events.

During the day we enjoyed a ride on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway steam train from Keighley to Haworth.

The view of the countryside from the train window looked beautiful in the July sun. As we chugged towards Haworth, David Pearson, who is a railway historian, told us interesting facts about the Brontës' many links to the railways and also pointed out the famous filming locations for the classic Railway Children film.

Once we reached Haworth a heritage bus was waiting to take us further into the village.

In the afternoon we visited the Parsonage Museum library where the collections manager, Ann Dinsdale, showed us some of Emily Brontë's personal possessions up close.

We also walked up Penistone Hill for a view of the moors which inspired Wuthering Heights although that day the weather was anything but wuthering!

The day was rounded off with tea and homemade cake in the beautiful Parsonage Museum garden.

Soon the evening celebrations got under way. Everyone who came along was able to enjoy music played on the Brontë piano by Maya Irgalina.

There was also an 'Emily Treasures' session with Ann Dinsdale and readings from Emily's poetry, diary papers and extracts from Wuthering Heights by Alexandra Lesley, who is one of the Bronte Society's trustees.

Overall it was a delightful evening, which marked the life of Emily Brontë and there was a delicious birthday cake which was decorated with heather from her beloved moors.

In other news, there has been some more exciting information released by the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

We are now delighted to announce the launch of our digital app, The Brontës. Visitors can download the app straight to their smartphone for £1.49.

This is a really exciting development for visitors to the parsonage, and we are thrilled that people can enjoy an individual and intimate tour at their fingertips.

Throughout August we have enjoyed a busy summer programme. There have been craft workshops where children have created miniature moorland gardens and felt landscapes.

We have also been holding talks about aspects of the Brontës’ lives and took walks onto Penistone Hill. The visitors were thrilled to see the landscape which inspired the famous Brontë novels, and to have an opportunity to walk in the sisters’ footsteps.

Over the August bank holiday weekend we’ll travel to Warwick for the annual Brontë Society Conference. We will explore the concerns of early 19th century England, which would have impacted on the young Brontës, and we hope to create an overall picture of the world in which they lived.

We are delighted to have some of the leading authors discussing this topic with us including Juliet Barker, the author of The Brontës, Rebecca Fraser biographer of Charlotte Brontë, and our president, Bonnie Greer.

For more information or to book a ticket please contact Charlotte Derry either by e-mailing charlotte.derry@bronte.org.uk or calling 01535 640195.