SEVERAL events have been organised in Haworth and Thornton to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Bronte’s birth on Thursday.

Highlights in Haworth, the village where the Bronte sisters lived for much of their lives, include a birthday party for local residents, performances of scenes from the writer's book Jane Eyre, and an appearance by The Great British Bake Off contestant Sandy Docherty.

In Thornton, the village Charlotte where was born in 1816, there will be a wreath laying service in the Bronte Bell Chapel, where Charlotte's father, Patrick, preached.

The service starts at 11am and a floral tribute will be laid at the chapel. A second floral tribute then be taken to Haworth on a bicycle, accompanied by members of Otley Ladies Cycling Club.

At 2pm Christa Ackroyd, a former presenter of Look North, will host a talk entitled Tea with Charlotte.

An exhibition about the sisters and their links with Thornton has been running since September at St James' Church, near the Bell Chapel.

Items on show include christening certificates for Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne Bronte, the font in which they were all baptised, and a washstand and desk used by their minister father.

The Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth will open at 10am on Thursday and throughout the day there will be a series of talks about Charlotte.

Visitors will also be able to to see some of Charlotte’s possessions in the Parsonage Library with a member of the collections team.

Best-selling novelist Tracy Chevalier, the museum’s creative partner during the bicentenary year, will talk to visitors about her exhibition at the museum.

Charlotte Great And Small, an exhibition which runs all year, features a large variety of items either used by Charlotte or inspired by her.

The museum will remain open until 8pm, and people visiting after 6pm will be invited to join staff for a celebratory drink. Normal admission prices apply.

Meanwhile, there will be a birthday party for Charlotte in the Old School Room, just yards from the museum and the location of her wedding reception, from 11am to 4pm.

The event is free and open to all the community, and there will be tea and cake and entertainment throughout the day.

Pupils from Haworth Primary School will perform early scenes from her masterpiece Jane Eyre.

Parsonage Museum spokesman Rebecca Yorke said: “We are inviting members of the local community to bake a cake for Charlotte and bring it along to the School Room on the morning of April 21.

“We will take photographs of some of the most imaginatively decorated.

“During the afternoon Sandy Docherty, a Great British Bake Off contestant and Bronte enthusiast, will present the cake she has baked especially for Charlotte.“

Also at the School Room, artist Julia Ogden will run a drop-in craft activity to commemorate Charlotte’s birthday, and there will be the chance to write in Charlotte’s Birthday Book.

A floral tribute will be laid in the Parsonage Garden accompanied by words from Haworth vicar, the Rev Peter Mayo-Smith, later in the afternoon a rose donated by David Austin Roses will be planted in the grounds in Charlotte’s memory.