AS I write this, I am most definitely snowed in, and we’ve had to close the museum due to the heavy snow, which is very rare.

Hopefully, by the time you read this, the snowdrops in the Parsonage garden will be visible again, and we’ll all be enjoying snow-free days!

We had another reason to close the museum for a few hours in February – for the visit of HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.

We had just a few weeks to prepare for this visit, which we had to keep secret until very close to the day itself, which was a bit tricky, but we did manage not to spill the beans!

On the day itself, our royal guest had a tour of the museum with our Principal Curator Ann Dinsdale, and whilst this was going on, we hosted a reception in Haworth’s Old School Room.

Specially invited guests were treated to a fantastic lunch provided by Jill from Cobbles and Clay on Main Street, and then enjoyed a prize-giving ceremony for the winners of Writing Worlds, our creative writing competition for local primary school children.

Some of the children were brave enough to read their work, whilst others chose to have extracts of their work read by Young Adult writer, and judge, Liz Flanagan.

The visit went without a hitch – kind of!

We had everything planned down to the last minute, so when the Duchess arrived at the School Room ten minutes early, we were caught by surprise and had a farcical two minutes where those who knew they were going to meet Camilla (such as the school children) were running around to get themselves in position. Don’t think HRH noticed!

It’s been a busy February then – we’ve had the opening of our new Emily Bronte exhibition, an event with the fantastic Chris Riddle, and a royal visit to boot. March will hopefully be calmer!

That said, we’re getting ready for Easter, planning activities for visiting families. This year we have a couple of Wild Wednesday workshops – Extraordinary Eggs on April 4, and Marvellous Maps on April 11.

Along with Hands on History sessions, and an Easter trail, there will be a short walk up to Penistone Hill every day, so join us if you want to learn more about the landscape that inspired the Brontes.

Before that, Bradford-based author Michael Stewart visits Haworth to discuss the research for his new novel, Ill Will, which focuses on Wuthering Heights’ Heathcliff – in particular the years when he runs off in the storm and disappears to who knows where.

The north of England in the late 1700s was going through radical change, and this is the context of Ill Will.

Join us at West Lane Baptist Centre on the afternoon of Saturday March 17 to hear more about the research Michael conducted for his new novel. It should be fascinating!

Tickets cost just £7 or £5 and are available at bronte.org.uk/whats-on or call 01535 640192.