THE SUMMER holidays have finally arrived – and the rain! – but we were all cheered by the surprise visit of the actor Gemma Arterton to the museum last week.

Gemma very kindly signed our VIP visitors’ book, and was happy to pose for a quick photo at the front door.

We never know who’s going to drop by, and surprise us!

Another reason to visit the museum this summer, aside from celebrity spotting, is our annual Summer Explorer joint ticket offer with Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

Buy a Small Family Rover ticket on the railway and receive a 10 per cent discount off your entry to the Bronte Parsonage Museum.

Alternatively if you start at the museum you can purchase a Family Ticket and then receive a 10 per cent discount off your Small Family Rover ticket, which includes free travel on the Vintage Bus Tour of the Worth Valley area.

It’s a brilliant way to keep the whole family happy in the summer holidays!

We have lots of summer activities planned, including free talks and hands-on-history sessions, and our regular Wild Wednesday ‘drop in’ workshops.

Over the course of the next three Wednesdays, there’s the opportunity to create tiny puppets, popup scenes, and felt jewellery.

All workshops are free with admission and you can ‘drop in’ between 11am and 4pm.

On Thursday August 17 why not escape the crowds and Visit the Museum in the evening.

We’re open until 8pm, and as always on our late-night Thursdays, entry after 5.30pm is free to visitors living in the BD22, BD21, BD20 postcode areas and also those living in Thornton.

As I mentioned last month, our meadow behind the Parsonage is now open to the public, so if it ever stops raining, it’s an ideal spot for a picnic.

Our next Parsonage Unwrapped evening is Friday August 25, and this one is a little bit different in that it focuses on A Day in the Life of a Museum Assistant.

If you want to learn more about just what is involved in the care of the collection, and preparing the museum for visitors each morning, then come along to meet the team and gain an intimate glimpse behind the scenes.

Finally, tickets are selling quickly for our Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing, which takes place between September 22 and 24.

We’re delighted to welcome to Haworth best-selling authors Rachel Joyce (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry), Sarah Perry (The Essex Serpent) and award-winning playwright Deborah McAndrew.

We’re hosting workshops on writing for the stage and radio, and are very happy to announce a workshop devised especially for girls aged 12 to 16, led by Young Adult author Liz Flanagan.

So if you have a teenager at home who enjoys devouring Young Adult fiction, and is interested in learning more about the processes involved in the writing of fiction, then they might enjoy this.

Visit bronte.org.uk/whats-on to book any event or call 01535 640192.

* Have you missed any of our previous Chapter & Verse columns about life at the Bronte Parsonage Museum? Then visit keighleynews.co.uk, click on What’s On then Out & About, and you’ll find them all available to read.