ONE of the most remarkable characters on the local literary scene has died, aged 93.

Mabel Ferrett, of Heckmondwike, was renowned as a poet, Bronte scholar and local historian.

She was born Mabel Frankland on April 30, 1917, in Leeds.

In 1947 she married the solicitor Harold Ferrett and later lived in Ossett and Gomersal before making Heckmondwike her home.

Mrs Ferrett was widowed early but the couple had son John, who carried on with his father’s profession.

During her career she worked as a schoolteacher and museum attendant, but it was her love of writing that had the most influence on her life.

Her father Michael Frankland had been a writer of short stories and her creative urge bloomed early.

At the age of four she penned her first words in the form of a four-line poem.

The childish rhyme showed her instinctive feeling for the sound of words, which was to stay with herthroughout her life.

Time working at the Red House Museum in Gomersal saw Mrs Ferrett explore her passion for the works and lives of the Bronte sisters.

The red-brick house was home to cloth merchants the Taylor family, whose daughter Mary was one of Charlotte Bronte’s closest friends.

Mrs Ferrett’s fascination with the family led to her writing two books, entitled The Brontes in the Spen Valley and The Taylors of the Red House.

Her interest in the area she lived in and its past led to her publishing a great deal as a local historian.

Much of this was featured in The Spen Valley Historical Society Journal, the Spenborough Guardian and the Yorkshire Ridings Magazine.

Mrs Ferrett also wrote A History of Hartshead and based her novel, The Angry Men, on the activities of the local Chartists, which was serialised on Radio Four.

When the Spen Valley Historical Society started in 1972, she was a founder member and eventually became life president.

But it was for her work as a poet that Mrs Ferrett was primarily known.

She published seven collections of her poetry, including The Tall Tower, Humber Bridge and Imaginary Gates.

She also contributed greatly to the social side of poetry and inspired many would-be writers.

For over 30 years the Pennine Poets met in the living room of her Heckmondwike home.

Writer Ian Emberson, who now lives in Todmorden, said: “That atmospheric setting was the scene of many a stimulating evening, with Mabel always there, the grand presiding matriarchial figures.

“Myself and many others can never repay the debt we owe to her inspirational guidance.”

A funeral for Mrs Ferrett was held yesterday at Hartshead Church.