Banagher

Hill House, now Charlotte's Way B and B

My husband and I are back from  our journey to Banagher, Ireland .We made a quick, highly focused trip,spending  the entire 5 days of our Irish stay  at Arthur Bell Nicholls former home, Hill House, now a beautiful B and B called Charlotte's Way 

Mr. Nicholls in Banagher 1904

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  

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!

Tatiana Romanova 1916