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| Hill House, now Charlotte's Way B and B |
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| Mr. Nicholls in Banagher 1904 |
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| same spot today |
We are still pinching ourselves from this grand experience
I did a guess post about our trip for my friend Geri at Bronte Sisters blog . Here is a link
Our Trip to Banagher
As I say in the post , we were obviously American and some people wondered why we were there...a farming community in the Irish Midlands. We said we were Bronte fans and were visiting Charlotte Bronte's husband's home and his grave...and you know , a few people still wondered why we were there LOL. But the area has a great deal to offer!
Then people asked " well where else are you going in Ireland ?" We said we are staying here during our trip. We were there to be in Banagher. However our hostess did hook us up one afternoon with the local historian , Mr. James Scully. He kindly took us to Clonmacnoise , a monastery established fifteen hundred years ago, by St. Ciarán
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| Clonmacnoise |
My husband Ed did a blog post about our visit on his Art blog
Art Eyewitness. Here's a link to his post
A Journey to Clonmacnoise
It was almost overwhelming. You really feel you have been to Ireland after being at Clonmacnoise. Plus it was a privilege to have Mr. Scully accompany us. His passion for the area's history and well being was evident.
We loved every minute of being in Banagher. Loved the town , the people , the house, the inn keeper, the church, the turf fires, the list goes on and on . Just like with Haworth last year, we feel a bit of ourselves was left behind in Banagher .
Ed and I loved sitting in front of the turf fire and just be in the house where Arthur, Mary Anna and Aunt Bell lived for so long and a treasure trove of Bronte items resided. The house has been beautifully restored by owner Nicola Daly and her amazing family. Even without its rich history, the house is a marvelous place for the traveler to stay.
http://www.charlottesway.com/
It's great to be able to scratch off the " someday " list , going to Haworth and Banagher .
We will never forget our trips to these special places and hope to return !
Alan H. Adamson 1919-2015
I was surprized and saddened to recently learn of Prof. Alan Adamson's passing. Mr. Adamson was a relative of Arthur Bell Nicholls and the author of the 2008 book, " Mr. Charlotte Bronte"
There is a photo in the book of him and he looks to be a man in his 50's . I thought that was a fairly recent photo. There is no date given. But the fact he and his small son were in a door way of Cuba Court, should have told me that photo was taken many years ago. The Adamsons live long! He was in his mid 90's and by all accounts a very wonderful man.
Aunt Bell was born an Adamson and she lived to be 101. Alan H. Adamson is a descendant of Aunt Bell via her 2nd daughter, Harriet Lucina ( 1834 -1911.) Harriet married an Adamson cousin and that is how Aunt Bell's maiden name was carried down the family.
It's interesting to learn how Aunt Bell's children went around the globe, just as Canada, South Africa and India. So her adopted son, Arthur, thinking of going to Australia wasn't an unusual notion in the family.
Bronte Novel
I have been struggling with organizing the mountain of book material I have written and then I had an idea ; get all the notes books in one place. I got a laundry basket and dug out the nests and piles of filled note books from all over the house. There are still some out there to dig up |
| I should have done this a long time ago |
If the flow of words stopped today, I would have more than enough material to publish...but the writing keeps coming !
It seems to help to have most of them in one place. Much has been typed into the computer already , but vasts amounts remain to do. I will pick up a note book and type its contents into the computer , then place the typed in note books into another basket. This way I will know everything has been incorporated .
I certainly have not written the story in chronological order! I can jump from 1845 to 1895 and back to 1855 in a flash and every where else in between. That is why I title all my entries when I write . So I know what is it about later
Some entry titles found in a typical note book
CB and G.Smith in Scotland,Sowden's advice ,Honeymoon,On the moor,Joe Taylor'54 ,CB about her writing, Whit-sum '53 , Waterfall Nov54, The Brown's house,livings offered '53, The sin of pride, Martha ill in Leeds '55, Reading Mrs.G's book ,How PB came to Haworth ,Miss Anne goes to Scarborough
....and lots , lots more!
Okay! back to work!
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| Tatiana Romanova 1916 |
