Free activity workshops and daily talks about the life of Patrick Bronte are among the attractions this month at Haworth's Bronte Parsonage Museum.

An arts workshop for children is being held next Thursday and Friday, August 13 and 14, and on Monday, August 17, from 10am-1pm. Youngsters aged six-14 will have the chance to make silhouettes of themselves and their friends.

A puppet workshop aimed at the same age group will be held on Thursday, August 27, from 1-3pm. There will be the opportunity to make a shadow puppet and work it on a special screen.

Numbers at the workshops are limited and parents are advised to book in advance by contacting the museum on 642323.

Adults are being catered for with 40-minute talks on 'Haworth and the Brontes', which will be held daily at noon from August 18-26. They are free with admission to the museum.

Sharon Courtenay, education officer at the Parsonage, says: "The informative talks will take the listener through the journey of Patrick Bronte, from his native home in Ireland to his final resting days in Haworth.

"It is an opportunity to hear all about Patrick, his extraordinary family and the gruesome realities of Victorian Haworth."

The Bronte Society is marking the deaths of three members of the literary family.

Patrick Branwell Bronte and his sister Emily both died 150 years ago, and Anne died soon afterwards in 1849.

The Bronte Society is marking the anniversary with services at Haworth Parish Church on September 24 and December 19, and there will be a service at Westminster Abbey on May 21 next year.

The abbey ceremony, which will include the laying of a wreath in Poets' Corner, is intended as a gesture of respect for all the Brontes.

Full details of the events are available from the museum, where the family lived.

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