Keighley Corporation Waterworks

Ages ago one of my weather collectors, Mike, gave me (on loan) some old annual reports from Keighley Corporation Waterworks that he'd been given. They date from 1917. There are a few into the 1920's, a couple from 1930's and one from 1956. They are simple, beautiful pamphlets giving information on the reservoirs around Haworth.
There are tables of rainfall and also the mention of wettest months or length of time without rain.
The 1917 report describes conditions in 1916:

"The longest period of continuous rainfall occurred between 12-0 noon on March 15th to 4-0 am on March 17th, a period of 40 hours, during which the total rainfall amounted to 1.27 inches.

On November 18th, 1916, there was a short sharp shower of rain at 8.25 pm amounting to .07 of an inch, but this fell almost at once as no appreciable interval of time can be seen on the Hyetograph diagram. The rate might therefore be considered to be anything between 4 1/2 inches per hour and 18 or 20 inches per hour. Such sudden rainfall requires to be specially observed to get an accurate measurement of the exact interval of fall, but unfortunately in these special cases, even if the sudden deluge occurs during the daytime, the shower is over before its intensity is realized."

Between 4 1/2 inches and 20 inches per hour?! No wonder the reservoirs have been built in the area.
I know the dates don't match up to my Bronte time dates - but it's fascinating reading and i've enjoyed perusing the information.

Shirley by Charlotte Bronte

"Mr Moore haunted his mill, his mill-yard, his dyehouse, and his warehouse till the sickly dawn strengthened into day. The sun even rose - at least a white disc, clear, tintless and almost chill-looking as ice, peeped over the dark crest of a hill, changed to silver the livid edge of a cloud above it, and looked solemnly down the whole length of the den, or narrow dale, to whose straight bounds we are present limited."

Shirley was written in 1848 / 49 by Charlotte Bronte

I am only 100 pages into Shirley (out of 600 odd pages) - i'm finding that i'm a bit Bronted out at the moment and not able to read too much of it in one go. However, there are some really nice passages in it - so i'm going to persevere.

Dressing Up

Since the Bronte Weather Project started in October 2011 I have read masses of Bronte texts and related material: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte; The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte; Jane Eyre, The Professor and half of Shirley (i'm still reading it) by Charlotte Bronte; plus about 200 letters and nearly 100 poems. I've tried to learn weather patterns, cloud names and how to decipher my collected weather data; i've looked at historical records about health and illness; about environmental issues and how the weather is key to the moorland habitat around Haworth; i've contacted quite a few experts for their advice and opinions and visited other museums to look at weather related equipment and records.
I then spent quite a bit of time drawing, painting, printing, making, constructing, framing and installing the finished works...

So, i was delighted when a journalist called the other day and asked "in one sentence, how did the weather inspire the Bronte sisters?" He said that with all the bad weather we were having lately it was something that the national papers would be interested in - especially with all the interest in the Bronte sisters. I was even more thrilled when the photographer asked if he could take my picture out on the moors, and asked if i knew of anyone i could borrow traditional costume from to dress up in. Tragically, i don't know anyone who i could borrow any frocks from, so we couldn't do it.

I wondered if i could dress up as Kate Bush - might that do?

Literary Weather

I've been away for a few days - here and there. On Thursday last week it was the Literary Weather event at the Bronte Parsonage Museum where I was in conversation with Alexandra Harris. It all went really well (no booing from the audience) and i really enjoyed meeting Alexandra and talking about the Brontes and the weather, Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf and stuff. The Parsonage gave everyone tea and cake which went down very well.

I was then in Wales for the weekend and then on Monday i was in Thornton near Bradford to take down the South Square Gallery exhibition. That went good too - i was worried about how i'd get the 9m long drawing off the wall without ripping it to pieces - but in the end it came down ok - a smooth operation of holding and rolling the drawing up with one hand, while un-clipping it from the wall with the other, while holding my breath.

The images above show cake, obviously, and a page from The Beginner's Guide to Weather Forecasting by Stanley Wells. I bought it from a charity shop the other day - it has wonderful diagrams in it and symbols of the weather too.

Last Few Days at SSG

Part of the Hope's Whisper exhibition is coming to a close this weekend so if you haven't been you'd better get along to South Square Gallery by Sunday 29th July. You'll get the chance to see some Bronte Parsonage rain i collected in April and May this year. Not finding a container large enough i have displayed some of the rain in a glass measuring thingy.
It's come in handy in the exhibition space with all the drips coming in through the ceiling and down the beams. When i go and take the exhibition apart next week i'll check to see if the level has gone up.

I still have a jam jar of rain collected from the Parsonage on my desk that has developed a lovely green bloom suspended through the middle of it and has bits of insects wings and bodies floating in it. Strange Yorkshire rain that is.

If you don't manage to get to South Square Gallery the main part of Hope's Whisper continues at the Bronte Parsonage Museum until September 5th. Plenty of time.

In Conversation with Alexandra Harris

There's an event this thursday night (26th July) at the Bronte Parsonage Museum - i'm going to be in conversation with writer and critic Alexandra Harris and we'll be talking about the weather and the Brontes and the cultural significance of weather.
Alexandra wrote Romantic Moderns: English Writers, Artists and the Imagination from Virginia Woolf to John Piper and she is currently writing a book about the cultural history of weather.
I'm excited to meet her and for us to discuss the Brontes' use of weather and putting their work into context.

I'm pretty sure the event is sold out - but you can visit the what's on bit of the Bronte Parsonage Museum website to check:

www.bronte.org.uk

The image above is from a walk up Parlick on saturday when the sun finally managed to come out...

Getting There Eventually

I managed to get to the Bronte Parsonage Museum on wednesday last week (see blog post below) and i was able to put my little table together so the Weather Archive could be put on show and i tinkered with the sculpture outside so all the bells lined up properly. The solar rotor needed a flick to get it going and the funnel needed a few leaves removed, but other than that it seems to have weathered the conditions this summer has thrown at it.

It was going back through Hebden Bridge that was a shocking and sad part to the journey. I knew that there had been floods in the town a couple of weeks ago (the same day i was travelling back from Bradford from the school workshop and passengers weren't allowed off the train at Hebden Bridge because of the floods caused by torrential rain). Lots of the little shops were closed because of the damage and there were sandbags at most shop doors. One estate agent had all the office contents on the street - filing cabinets, furniture, framed pictures from the walls etc and in the town there a number of skips full of the contents of the houses. It was a bit weird walking around as it was a calm, sunny afternoon and some shops were open with people shopping or sat out on the street having tea - so there was a strange mix of normality interwoven with destruction.

Seeing how the weather has affected residents in Hebden Bridge made me see the real devastation a few changes in conditions can have on people. This summer has been terrible and i've moaned at how it's stopped me going to the allotment; we have a leak in the ceiling that the landlord is reluctant to get fixed; and i have a new skirt i haven't had chance to wear... but going through Hebden Bridge made me feel so badly for the people who have experienced real destruction from the weather.

Failed Trip to BPM

I was supposed to be at the Bronte Parsonage Museum today and i set off this morning at 8.30
I had quite a bit of stuff with me - i had my laptop, packed lunch, and the components of a small display table with accompanying tools (to put it back together when i got there) so i was fairly laden down.
However, the bus from Hebden Bridge Station to Keighley was cancelled as there was a road block and the diversion wasn't big enough for a bus (apparently). It was suggested that i catch a bus up to the top of the village, then walk for approximately 30 - 40 mins to a remote turning circle up on the moors where, by all accounts, the bus would come once an hour to pick passengers up. As convenient as this option sounded, i decided to catch the train home - it was beginning to rain and i know there isn't a shelter at the turning circle and the thought of trailing up the hill with all my stuff only to have to wait in the rain for 55 mins (because lets face it i would miss the hourly bus by 5 mins...) wasn't too tempting.

So, i was home by midday - having gone on a pointless journey. At least i had my squashed sandwiches to look forward to for lunch.

Thornton Primary School Workshop

I was over in Thornton on monday to do a day of workshops with students of year 5 at Thornton Primary School (same village as South Square Gallery).

The day started with 15 students coming to the gallery for a talk and quick tour around the exhibition, then we did a practical workshop making paper windmills. We went out into the little sculpture garden at the back of the gallery, but as luck would have it the wind had completely dropped, so none of the windmills turned round unless we blew on them until we felt slightly dizzy.

The afternoon was spent with 30 students making a total mess of the classroom, having fun doing cutting and sticking. So much glue was used on some of the works that it was physically impossible to lift the final images off the desks.

Some spectacular works were created and i really enjoyed meeting the kids. With it taking nearly 6 hours of travel there and back it was a shame the teacher couldn't make it to either morning or afternoon session though.

South Square Gallery Opening Night

It was the opening of Hope's Whisper at South Square Gallery on Friday night - and typically it poured down all day leading up to it - and during the evening too. There was two other shows opening on the same night - so lots of people battled the elements and came along to the gallery.

I had arrived at lunch time during the day as i still had to install the 9m long drawing on one of the walls. I had visions of it being really tricky, but as it goes it went really well. Being an old building the gallery walls are all uneven and everything is on a lean - but getting it level and straight turned out to go ok - and after i'd marked everything out it took three of us to get it up on the wall.

The drawing shows contemporary weather records - temperature, air pressure and rainfall records collected at the Bronte Parsonage Museum from Oct 2011 - April 2012. Over the top of the graph is a temperature line gathered by Abraham Shackleton from Oct 1848 - April 1849.
Underneath the graph are some of the weather cards from all my weather collectors - showing their thoughts and comments on various days during the period the graph covers.

Exhibition at South Square Gallery

The new artworks i've made for Hope's Whisper are split between two venues. The opening at the Bronte Parsonage Museum was two weeks ago and the second part is held at South Square Gallery in Thornton, which happens to be the birth place of the Bronte sisters.
I was there all day yesterday setting up the exhibition as it's due to open tomorrow night.
We got most of the work up, but are yet to tackle the 9m long drawing showing 6 months of weather records collected at the Parsonage Museum from October 2011 - April 2012.
There is also a temperature data line on the graph from Abraham Shackleton's records from October 1848 - April 1849.

There's a tiny gap in the data in the Shackleton line - 2012 was a leap year so i was able to get records for 29th February, but it wasn't a leap year in 1849 - so the records stop for a day right in the middle of the drawing.

Also on show are a couple of letters by Charlotte and Anne Bronte and a poem by Emily Bronte. Plus my three death prints and two smaller graphs (A1 size).

The image above shows the piece of work where i have taken a letter by Charlotte Bronte and used marker pen to highlight the quote about the weather.

Anne Bronte's Grave

"You say May is a trying month, and so say others. The earlier part is often cold enough i acknowledge, but, according to my experience, we are almost certain of some fine warm days in the latter half when the laburnams and lilacs are in bloom; whereas June is often cold and July generally wet. But i have a more serious reason than this for my impatience of delay: the doctors say that a change of air or removal to a better climate would hardly ever fail of success in consumptive cases if 'the remedy were' taken in time, but the reason why there are so many disappointments is, that it is generally deferred till it is too late."

Written by Anne Bronte in a letter to Ellen Nussey on April 5th 1849.

Anne had consumption and was hoping to go to stay at the seaside for her health. However, Charlotte was reluctant for her to go on such a trip - this letter from Anne to Ellen shows how determined Anne was to go. You have to remember that Emily had died in December 1848 and Branwell in September 1848 - Charlotte must not have known what to do to help her sister.

Charlotte, Anne and Ellen went to Scarborough on May 24th where they spent a few days. Anne passed away on May 28th 1849. She is buried at the church of St Mary in Scarborough on the hill overlooking the bay.

I went to visit her grave on Friday last week - a wind swept sight looking over the roof tops to the sea (most of the grave yard has been made into a car park - handy for tourists - how lovely). It must have been so painful for Charlotte to leave her sister there, away from the resting place of the other members of the family buried in Haworth. It is a beautiful plot though - and someone had left a posy of pretty flowers on the grave.

(Anne wasn't wrong about the weather was she - May is trying; June is cold and July generally wet... sounds familiar?)

Hope's Whisper publication

There's a little publication to accompany the exhibition Hope's Whisper at the Bronte Parsonage Museum.

It's A5 size and 16 colour pages - and each is hand stamped on the cover.
Jenna Holmes, the Arts Officer for the Bronte Parsonage Museum, has written a forward and it has images throughout showing most of the artwork in the exhibition.

They are for sale in the Museum shop for £3 - a bargain!

Opening Preview

Last night was the preview of Hope's Whisper at the Bronte Parsonage Museum.
It was apt that it rained.

However, lots of people braved the weather and came along to see the exhibition - it was really good to see so many people in the Museum.
The exhibition consists of the work in the garden; work in one of the cabinets in the Museum (the Shackleton weather records, the Babbage Report, plus 2 Bronte letters and a Bronte poem); and then 8 framed works in the foyer, along with the weather archive showing all the collected weather cards.

The images above show the three works in the cabinet along with the Shackleton Records.

Thanks to everyone that turned up to celebrate the opening.
The show continues until 5th September.

Visit the Bronte Parsonage Museum for times and admission charges to the Museum:

www.bronte.info

Installing the exhibition

Yesterday we started to install the work for the exhibition ready for the preview tonight.

I started with installing the outside piece of work called '3 Bells'.
It's been fun making this piece of work, but has also given me a full case of brain ache too. The principle is this: there are 3 bells - one rings when it rains, one rings if it's windy and the third rings by solar power. It's a reference to the pseudonyms that the Bronte sisters published their works under: Currer, Acton and Ellis Bell.
When reading their novels i worked out which sister mentioned different weather elements the most - so it turns out that Emily mentions wind the most in Wuthering Heights; Charlotte mentioned precipitation (rain, snow, etc) the most in Jane Eyre and Anne mentions sunshine the most in Tenant of Wildfell Hall. The colour wheels in the exhibition are also based on this too.

The sculpture is situated in the Bronte Museum garden at the front of the house. The solar rotors work even in dull weather (which turns out to be quite handy in this spectacularly awful summer we're having so far), but it has to be a pretty stiff breeze to get the wind one to ring, plus it'll have to rain for a few hours to get the rain bell to sound. Looks like it might ring a few times tonight during the opening...

Wrapped Up

It's the opening of the exhibition on Thursday night - how did that come around so fast?

Anyhow, i'm in that phase of work known in the trade as panic. I have made lists and sub lists off the main lists, but they never seem to get shorter...

Last night i mirror plated my framed works (2 A1 graphs, 3 colour wheels and 3 prints) - although it's a job that needs doing, i never really predict and allow for the amount of time it will take to find the mirror plates - with screws that fit and wont split the wood; a drill bit that's the right size; a screw driver with the right head; tape measure and sharp pencil etc etc... I spent quite a lot of time wandering about the house going back up and down the stairs to look for various tools etc. Anyhow, it's done. And everything is wrapped too, ready to go.

I now just have to finish the three sculptures for the garden, collect and stamp the little catalogue, cut and stamp another 60 archive cards and pack everything ready to get picked up tomorrow morning. Easy.

Haworth Weather Archive x 2

I spent the weekend cutting out index cards for the weather archive - i haven't seen any i like for sale, so in a rash moment i though it would be ok to make my own. So far i've cut out over 200 and then stamped each with a date. My fingers hurt a bit. However they look exactly how i want them.

The booklet went to the printer on Monday and can't wait to see it when it comes back within the week - Thomas Saible, who designed it, has done a beautiful job as always.

I also went to Haworth yesterday to see the weather collectors and collect their cards from the last couple of months. It was good to catch up and i showed them some of the work that will be in the exhibition.

Amongst other things today i'm framing the three colour wheels showing the weather types mentioned in Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Lots to do.

Haworth Weather Archive

All of yesterday i sorted through all the weather cards that my team of volunteer weather collectors have gathered since October 2011.
When i asked the collectors to do a record every day i wondered how many would stick with it - and i presumed we might miss a few days here and there where we were all busy or on holiday etc...

However, i spent the day feeling rather overwhelmed with their dedication and commitment to the project. We have multiple records for everyday - and i suspect there is a couple of collectors who haven't missed one day of recording.
I feel privileged that i've been allowed a little glimpse into the collectors lives - through family events (good and bad), mixed health and everyday issues - they have spent time noting the weather and jotting it down for the archive.

The finished archive will be on display in the Bronte Parsonage Museum during the exhibition - you'll be able to pick a date and see what the weather was doing in Haworth (and surrounding villages) and how it affected everyone on that particular date.

Charlotte's Print

Overcome with national pride, I've spent today* framing some of the finished prints ready for the exhibition at the Parsonage in a couple of weeks time. 
I've worked on 3 prints (one for each Bronte sister - Anne, Emily and Charlotte) and each is made up of layers of hand written weather data taken from the weather diaries of Abraham Shackleton during the time of the Bronte's lives. The numbers represent the weather observations on the days and weeks leading up to each of their deaths.

I've made the works dense and unreadable. They look a little like woven material.

*Today is the Queen's jubilee - and although she might be able to afford to take 4 days off 'work' and fund day after day of party celebrations (she is paying for all of it, right?): I can't.

Sneak Preview

I've been working every day on the work ready for the final exhibition later this month, and i've not had time to blog much.
I did a couple of session in the print rooms at UCLAN  and i was able to finish my screen prints which i'm pretty pleased with.
I've also been trying to take images of the work ready for the booklet and also the invite that will go out to the mailing lists in a few days time.

As a sneak preview the above image is of a piece of work that will be shown in the Bronte Parsonage Museum: a letter by Charlotte Bronte where i've highlighted the weather references with bright yellow marker pen.
The photograph was taken by Gavin Renshaw.

Catching Up

I'm really sorry there's been a gap in my blogging - a couple of weeks ago i moved house. It took a couple of days to pack everything up (i work from home), but the move wasn't too bad - we moved two streets down, but unpacking and getting everything straight has taken a while. I was also trying to work at the same time on three different projects and pretend i wasn't phased by the upheaval. Anyway, with various inevitable internet connection problems i am only just able to do a blog entry.

Bronte weather project wise i've just started to work again on the 9m long 6 month graph. I've looked through the old Shackleton weather records from the time of the Bronte's and converted his Fahrenheit readings to centigrade and am drawing the data onto the graph. If i crack on with it i should finish it later today.

I started to read Shirley by Charlotte Bronte - although i admit i am only a few pages in.

Did i mention i went to Haworth for two days just before moving house? I spent a lot of time roaming the moors to try and get inspired for the final push before the exhibition in June. I stayed in a terrible b&b on the street leading up to the museum - although if you're a heavy smoker and keen on dog hairs on everything you might think it heaven.

The images above show the Bronte inspired garden at the Chelsea Flower Show - i was there for the day with a friend on tuesday - a welcome break on a sunny day, away from trying to find essential objects lost in boxes in the house somewhere...

Patrick Branwell Bronte

During my research into the weather and connections to the Bronte writings i've concentrated on Charlotte, Emily and Anne - for obvious reasons. But i have also looked at the work of their brother Branwell too.
Born in 1817, Branwell was the only boy of the six children and was very close to his sisters, collaborating with them in their childhood writings. He decided to set himself up as a portrait painter for a while and had a studio in Bradford. 
It's turns out that he was a pretty rubbish painter - and failed at earning a living, so turned his hand to becoming a tutor. You can find out more on Branwell on the Parsonage website:
http://www.bronte.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=103&Itemid=113

In the Bronte Parsonage Museum are some of Branwells spectacularly bad paintings - one with some angel type figures in a heavenly scene. I was given permission to take image for the blog to show you some of his clouds - which aren't too bad i suppose. So, Branwell can be included in this after all.

By the way - i've been meaning to say thanks to all the comments that are posted on this blog - i really appreciate that you're reading it and having the time to comment - thanks!

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

"One evening, however, in the last week of the vacation, he arrived - unexpectedly; for a heavy and protracted thundershower during the afternoon had almost destroyed my hopes of seeing him that day; but now the storm was over, and the sun was shining brightly.
'A beautiful evening, Mrs Grey!' said he, as he entered. 'Agnes, I want you to take a walk with me to -' (he named a certain part of the coast - a bold hill on the land side, and towards the sea a steep precipice, from the summit of which a glorious view is to be had). 'The rain has laid the dust, and cooled and cleared the air, and the prospect will be magnificent. Will you come?' "

Agnes Grey written by Anne Bronte, published in 1847 under her pseudonym of Acton Bell.
I finished reading it last week - i really like Anne Bronte's writing in how it reveals the positioning of a governess socially, class structures and the different education for girls and boys. It's got a few nice weather quotes in it too, which i'll write up properly when i get time.

Six Months of Bronte Weather

It's been a few days since i did a blog post - but i have been working lots on the work ready for the exhibition in June at the Bronte Parsonage Museum.

I've started a 9m long drawing showing six months of data that the weather station has collected at the Museum. As i haven't got a desk that long in my spacious workroom, i've had to keep rolling the paper back and forth. I've finished 6 months of temperature and air pressure and i'm a couple of month's through the rainfall.

Also last week i finished the prints showing weather records from the months leading up to Charlotte Bronte's death and prepared a screen for Emily and Anne too and will try and finish those this week.

And, I also received through the post the lovely old wooden file boxes i ordered from Germany that will house the weather collectors record cards. They came wrapped in newspaper and there was a lovely weather report on one.

A good week generally.

TB and the Weather

This is a long entry - so stick with me...

Ages ago while i was beginning to research the Bronte's lives and the connections to the weather i noticed (from the Shacklton weather records kept from 1801 until 1857) that the year that Branwell Bronte and Emily Bronte died of TB, 1848, had very high rainfall: 40.38 inches when the average rainfall was 32 inches. And of course Anne died of TB in May 1849. So i started to wonder if there is a connection between wet weather having a bad affect on TB. I've tried to get hold of historical writings on TB and also to look at contemporary reports too. However it's not been that easy to find any research that links the two.

I got an email this week in reply to one of my enquiries from Professor Flurin Condrau from the Medizinhistorisches Insitut und Museum at the Universitat Zurich in Switzerland. My main question was: are there any reports that directly link wet weather to TB? Here is his reply (shortened version)

Dear Rebecca,

Your project sounds really interesting. It's funny that you ask these questions because it has to be one of the most relevant yet strangely underresearched themes.

The relation between TB and weather, or better still, climate is subject to an enormous literature often connected to the Alps. In other words, it's not so much about whether it rains or doesn't but whether high altitude might offer protection from TB. Of course, weather is itself something that needs to be culturally read - recently moving from Britain to Switzerland has taught me a lot about cultural readings of weather - so I doubt whether your question can find an answer: did bad weather contribute to the Bronte's TB.

OK? I hope this helps. I would be interested to hear more about this project as and when. 

Good luck with the work!

All good wishes,

Flurin

I'm thrilled he took the time to reply and in his email were a couple of names and links to things i should read. So, my quest continues.

The image above is a photocopy of Patrick Bronte's medical handbook that he kept in the Parsonage. Of Tubercular Consumption it says (amongst other things):

" The following draught is much worthy of attention as a palliative for the cough:

Take of extract of hemlock, extract of henbane, of each, five grains; mucilage of gum arabic, two drachms. Rub these well together until they are thoroughly incorporated, then add, acetated liquor of ammonia, pure water, of each, half an once; syrup, one drachm. This makes a draught, to be taken every four hours."

Not sure about that myself - hemlock and henbane?

The handwriting at the bottom of the text is Patrick Bronte's and he comments:

"Mr S..... surgeon, Leeds, said that change of place or climate, could prove beneficial, only in the early stage of consumption - that afterwards, the excitment caused by change of scene, and beds, and strange company, did harm."

Bronte Prints and a Cloud Shaped Like Me Dad

I've been going to the print rooms at UCLAN to use the facilities there to develop and produce a series of weather related prints about each of the Bronte sisters - plus i might extend the series to include Maria Bronte, Elizabeth Bronte and Branwell Bronte too. I've been using the weather records documented during the lives of the Brontes - i've isolated the individual numbers from the records and i'm over layering them to create dense, unreadable masses of black.

On another note - i was out walking the other evening with a friend and we spotted this cloud formation that has an uncanny resemblance to my dad - admittedly the mouth is a little slim, but the rest is pretty bob on.

Half Way Through

My trip to the Bronte Parsonage Museum yesterday marked the half way mark of the Weather Project. I've now got exactly 6 months of data from the weather station sited in the garden there.

There was also a meeting of some of my weather collectors who have now been gathering daily weather observations since October - it was good to see everyone and catch up -  we had a brief chat about what's been happening with the project since we all met. I'm going to spend the morning going through their completed cards.

The weather yesterday was all over the place - i travelled to the Parsonage through heavy rain and then sunshine, then there was hail showers on and off during the day and huge billowing clouds looming over the hills. I arrived home in the evening soaked through. Spring is here then.

I think you'll agree that my hail stones on cobbles shot could just be one of my best photographs so far.

Colours of the Bronte Sisters

I've just about finished the 3 colour wheels I've been working on (i just have to label them now).

One wheel shows the type of weather mentioned by Charlotte Bronte in Jane Eyre; one wheel shows the types of weather described by Emily Bronte in Wuthering Heights; and the third wheel shows the types of weather Anne Bronte uses in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Each stripe is the percentage of the total weather references per novel.

I'm happy to have finished them - i got proper brain ache working out the percentages for each weather type - maths not being my favourite subject. But i enjoyed mixing paints and choosing colours and looking at colour theory again.

Road Block

I tried, unsuccessfully, to get to the Bronte Parsonage Museum today.

I set off from Preston on the train to Hebden Bridge through the slightly snow peppered landscape, but the closer to the Pennines we got the more snow was on the tops.

Anyway, because the road was blocked with snow between Hebden Bridge and Haworth the buses were cancelled. So i had to come home. Pooh (not my word of choice in this circumstance, but i'm aware that children and / or sensitive types might read this blog entry - fill in your best worst word you know - and that'll come close).

On my pointless journey i did manage to finish The Professor by Charlotte Bronte and take a couple of nice cloud shots from the train window.

Right - a cup of tea i think will mend everything.