It is now managed by the charity Brontë Spirit, which hosts community events, drinks festivals, craft fairs and wedding parties, and, in 2013, hosted a concert by rock singer Patti Smith.

Council members voted to grant the licence on the condition a noise limiter be installed to prevent overly loud music from being played inside.

Kathryn Thornton told members she had been organising events in the building for 14 years and there had only been one issue during that time.

She said: "We never get complaints from neighbours. It is a great community asset for the village."

She told the panel they had decided to apply for a full licence as it would reduce the reliance on Temporary Event Notices, which venues are only allowed a limited number of each year.

However, the council's environmental health department said it was likely to get complaints that would "not easily be resolved".

A spokesperson said: "I have received a complaint in July 2025 about the school rooms from a nearby resident, alleging loud music, raised voices and litter being thrown over the wall into gardens.

"The complainant said they could not sit out in their garden or open their windows when temporary events were being held, especially weddings or events involving music."

Thornton questioned the complaint, pointing out there are three pubs a short distance from the schoolroom.

Charlotte Kaygill, environmental health officer for Bradford Council, said the premises was not suitable for the licence, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

She said the protected nature of the building raised problems – the large, single glazed windows cannot be replaced with double glazing.

Thornton acknowledged some bands had been "loud" in the past, but said having a dedicated licence holder on site would prevent this from happening in the future.

She said the hall was more likely to host craft fairs than noisy parties, adding: "The School Room is a hive of activity, and we want to keep it vibrant. The last thing we want to do is upset anyone." (Chris Young)

If we look at “Wuthering Heights” solely within the context of what it sets out to achieve, Emerald Fennell’s latest project is a great success. As described by Fennell, the adaptation of Emily Brontë’s beloved novel is supposed to be a mix of what the 40-year-old director remembers from when she first read it at age 14 and what she wished had happened in Brontë’s version of the story. The resulting film may be far from a faithful recreation, but at least she’s the first person to admit that she “can’t say (she’s) making ‘Wuthering Heights.’” Hence the title’s stylized quotes.

To give credit where credit is due, what results is, admittedly, a story best left in quotations — and not always to bad effect. The costume and set design, while historically inaccurate, establish a bold and evocative aesthetic that immediately sets the film apart from its moodier source material. The love story, while certainly racier than Brontë’s version, maintains the bones of Catherine (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff’s (Jacob Elordi) original tale of dark obsession and petty revenge. And, if we can forget for a moment that they are meant to be portraying teenagers, Robbie and Elordi’s performances are points of praise. It is, by all accounts, a perfectly decent film, so long as it is viewed only as exactly what Fennell promised: a pretty dream, colored not by realism but fantasy. [...]

“Wuthering Heights” may have accomplished all it set out to do, but we cannot forget that art is not meant to be consumed in a vacuum, and the politics behind decisions like these are felt by audiences even if they aren’t addressed by creators. Film adaptations have a certain responsibility to engage with the source material as they translate it to a new medium and, in doing so, introduce it to a new audience. In the wake of a film like this, it becomes impossible to ignore how much is truly at stake in that act of translation, particularly when the role of translator is not taken as seriously as it should be. Fennell was perhaps right when she said “Wuthering Heights” is a difficult novel to adapt, though I don’t know that I agree with her assertion that to do so would be impossible. Instead, I am left with the impression that to do so might simply have been impossible for her.

So, if you’re expecting an accurate adaptation of Brontë’s novel going into this film, expect to be disappointed. Instead of a harrowing family study that explores the nuances of generational trauma, obsession and revenge, “Wuthering Heights,” in Fennell’s hands, becomes a campy, sex-driven love story in the vein of Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet” (a far superior film). Yet, while Fennell might be a master of cheap aesthetics — something that may be enough to make some people forgive the movie’s many shortcomings — I personally struggle to think highly of a film that is essentially just $80 million fanfiction. I’d rather just reread the book. (Camille Nagy)

   

A new production of Jen Silverman's The Moors opens tomorrow, March 24, in Ennis, Ireland:

Ennis Players presents

The Moors

A play by Jen Silverman

Directed by Sandra Cox

March 24th – 28th 2026

Glór, Causeway Link, Ennis,

Co. Clare, V95 VHP0, Ireland

A deliciously dark comedy set in the Yorkshire Moors in the mid-19th Century.

The Moors by Jen Silverman is partly inspired by The Brontè sisters Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.

Set on the bleak Yorkshire moors in the 1840s, this atmospheric dark comedy centres on two lonely sisters, their maid, and a talking dog—all seeking love, power, and fame. Their dreary lives are upended by the arrival of a hapless governess and a moor hen, leading to choices both desperate and destructive.

   

A new edition of Wuthering Heights, including some never-before-published illustrations of Edna Clarke Hall (so they claim):

Wuthering Heights

by Emily Brontë
Illustrated by Edna Clarke Hall (30 illustrations)

Introduction by Dr Eliza Goodpasture

Eiderdown Books

ISBN: 978-1-916515-05-5 

March 2026

Emily Brontë’s dark gothic tale of passion, desperation and a fierce obsession which haunts two generations across the desolate Yorkshire Moors, is reimagined through the never-before-published illustrations of Edna Clarke Hall.

In her day, Edna Clarke Hall (1879-1979) was described as "the most imaginative artist in England". A series and talented draughtswoman in the circle of Augustus and Gwen John, her creative ambitions were dampened by an unhappy marriage. Wuthering Heights allowed her to imagine a world beyond her own trappings and she obsessively drew scenes from this enduring tale for more than thirty years. 

For the first time, a selection of these drawings and etchings, drawn from private collections and the archives of national museums (Tate, the Ashmolean, Nottingham Museums, Manchester Art Gallery, National Museum Wales) are published alongside the novel for the first time. 

Art critic and writer Dr Eliza Goodpasture (the Guardian, Art in America, Artnews) introduces this all-but-forgotten woman artist and the power of one of the most enduring texts in English literature.