Attractions footfall hit by weather

These included the Bronte Parsonage Museum, which saw a 12 percent drop in numbers.

Keighley & Worth Valley Railway also reported lower footfall, though managed an increase in revenue.

Rebecca Yorke, of the Bronte Parsonage, said: “Visitor numbers for 2018 have not yet been audited, but our admissions and ticketing records show just over 77,000 people visited us or attended a museum event last year.

“Despite our programme of celebrations for the bicentenary of Emily Bronte and a significant amount of worldwide media coverage, this figure is approximately 12 per cent lower than in 2017.

“Evaluation is underway, but we’re attributing the decrease to a number of factors including economic uncertainty, heavy snowfall in late February and early March, when we unusually had to close three times, followed by an uncharacteristically hot summer, when an indoor attraction may not have had the same appeal as outdoor activities.

“We hope that shining a spotlight on the life and legacy of the Rev Patrick Bronte in 2019 will inspire people from nearby, as well as further afield to visit Haworth and the museum this year.”

A Keighley & Worth Valley Railway spokesman said: “All our event sales are increasing, and sell out events are selling out faster than in the years previous.

“For example, Santa Steam specials sold out 10 per cent faster than in 2017 and Beer & Music Festival passenger figures increased by 7.2 per cent.

“Online sales are increasingly popular and all our events are now sold online, as are Day Rover tickets which can be bought in advance.

“The increase in online sales is strongly linked to a huge increase in traffic from social media.

“General footfall last summer was lower than the year previous. However, revenue increased due to a change in pricing.

“We suspect the fall in passenger figures during the summer may have been due to abnormally warm weather. Many would prefer to be outside in parks or having barbecues rather than being on a heritage train during hot weather.”

Ingrow’s Rail Story’s two museums – the Carriage Works and the Engine Shed – both saw roughly 15,000 visitors during 2018.

Bob Sprot, a trustee of the Vintage Carriages Trust, said this figure was about the same as the previous year, despite 2017 featuring a visit from The Flying Scotsman.

He said: “Most people who visit come off the Keighley & Worth Valley trains, and they usually go to both museums.

“The number of visitors has grown substantially over the last five years. We work with the K&WVR and have done a lot to stress it’s more than a train ride, there are also these museums for people to visit.”

A spokesman for Bradford Council, which owns and runs Keighley's Cliffe Castle Museum, said: “2018 was a fantastic year for Cliffe Castle, with almost 84,000 people visiting.

“We had some great events including our really popular Christmas at the Castle event, summer Garden Party and World War One Day.

“There have also been some great children’s events including a Teddy Bear’s Picnic and lots and lots of crafts, story-time and music events.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming even more people to Cliffe Castle in 2019.

“We have some exciting events already planned for this year including a talk on the Cottingley Fairies, our A Yorkshireman’s Travels Exhibition and our grand unveiling of the newly restored stunningly beautiful Butterfield stained glass window.”

Carla Weatherall, a spokesman for the National Trust owned East Riddlesden Hall, said: “At the end of December 2018 we’d welcomed 37,204 visitors to the hall – an increase of just over one per cent on the previous year, which was 36,723 visits as of December 2017.

“We did have a difficult month in March 2018 due to terrible weather, but the summer and autumn figures for both years were very similar.

“A great Christmas event in 2018 helped boost numbers back up, and put us ahead of the 2017 result.”