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Published: June 22nd 2006
The Apothecary
The Guest HouseWelcome to our first travel blog which we hope will clue you into "England's green and pleasant land". Our first entry will be about Haworth, home of the Brontes as it has become famously known. Our interest in Haworth has evolved from my (Susan) interest in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte together with her poetry and the solitaryness of her figure and meditations on life. The landscape she provides us with in Wuthering Heights paints a graphic and accurate picture of the Yorkshire Moors, the ruggedness of the landscape, the purple heather clad hills, the fresh winds which sweep across the moors, the erratic weather conditions, the light and shade that falls on the hills, the freedom, expanse and barreness.
Haworth is a small village not far from Bradford in West Yorkshire and is situated above the Worth Valley amid the bleak Pennine moors. The Bronte sisters wrote most of their famous works while living at the Haworth Parsonage whilst their father was the minister in the adjacent church. The parsonage is now a museum which provides tours throughout the house and has nearby shop providing many books, posters and miscellaneous items about the Brontes.
The other attractions are
The Landscape
Wild and beautiful Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, an authentic preserved steam railway which has been used as a setting for numerous period films and TV series, including The Railway Children (starring Jenny Agutter), Yanks (starring Richard Gere and Vanessa Redgrave), and Alan Parker's film version of Pink Floyd's The Wall (starring Bob Geldof).
There are many brilliant walks and rambles but our goal on this particular weekend, was to reach Top Withins. It was a really beautiful spring-like day in February but within about 15 minutes it became grey with a bitter wind culminating in a blizzard. Sheep were huddled in by the hedges in the fields at either side of us. We didn't know just how far we had to travel in spite of asking various local people about the journey and were surprised at the rough terrain which had to be followed. We passed Bronte Falls, the Bronte Bridge, and the Bronte Stone Chair in which (it is said) the sisters took turns to sit and write their first stories. This path forms part of the 64 km (40 mile) long Bronte Way. After asking a single shepherd whom we saw at the top of the one of the
hills, (unlike us he was dressed sensibly for the erratic weather), a desolate ruin, Top Withins, which was (reputedly) the setting for Heathcliff's farmstead in Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights". appeared. It was an exhilerating experience to go via the Bronte walk to reach Top Withins. A lot of effort but worth it not just in relation to the interest in the novel but for the breathtaking views.
In the village of Haworth itself there are many good cafes, souvenir and antiquarian bookshops, restaurants, pubs and hotels (including the "Black Bull" - where Branwell Bronte's demise into alcoholism and opium addiction allegedly began).
Haworth makes a very interesting and intriguing base for exploration of the surrounding towns. It is an olde-worldly place; a time capsule and very worthwhile seeing.
On the right you will see a picture of The Apothecary Guest House where we stay for bed & breakfast on our short breaks.
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Ray
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Tomorrow's Journey to Haworth
Loved the journal can't wait until next episode