Brontë Parsonage Museum partially re-opening from next week

• Video report by Jon Hill

The Brontë Parsonage Museum in West Yorkshire has been getting ready to partially re-open next week as lockdown restrictions continue to ease.

The home of the sisters who wrote some of the greatest English novels has been closed for most of the last year, with the shop finally being allowed to re-open next week.

The museum is hoping to re-open fully in May after being kept afloat by donations from the public.

Ann Dinsdale, who has worked at the museum for 32 years, said: "There's been nothing to compare with this in my experience.

"It's been quite devastating really. The parsonage was kept open all through the Second World War so to have to shut was really like a huge momentous thing and there was always that worry that we might never reopen."

Staff have used social media to keep interest in the parsonage alive with animated Brontë portraits and videos of ceramic artists creating displays.

A rare book that was written by a teenage Charlotte Brontë will be on display when the site re-opens after it was bought by the museum for £500,000 in 2019.

Rebecca Yorke, from the museum, said: "We managed to open last September and October and we organised a timed ticketing system where people booked their tickets in advance and we limit it to six people every 15 minutes, that means we can control numbers and people can have a really safe welcoming experience.

"Visitors really benefit from that because they have what would normally be a very busy house practically to themselves as they go through, so that's a win-win situation."

Infomation on the planned re-opening of the parsonage can be found here.