Haworth & the Brontes

Haworth is a small village with a population of about 5,000 in West Yorkshire, not far from Bradford. It is located in a set of hills known as the Pennines, just outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The area around the village is often known as Brontë Country, because three famous novelists called the Brontë sisters spent much of their lives there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brontë

http://www.haworth-village.org.uk/visitors/visiting-bronte-country/visit-haworth.asp

one can certainly imagine the dreary conditions upon which the Brontë family would have faced while living here between 1820 and 1861. Rev. Patrick Brontë outlived his wife, who died at a young age, and all of his four children, Branwell, Charlotte, Emily and Anne.

Their austere surroundings, including their Georgian style home, would certainly have encouraged finding and using their imaginations, as there was so little outside enjoyment and nothing much for them to do outside of the basics in their isolated location. Reading, needlework, housework, school studies, and teaching when they were older were their simple pastimes. It’s probably no accident then that they turned to writing and art; becoming proficient in these skills to varying degrees. All, including their father were published authors, though Charlotte and Emily are more well-known.





The Church that Rev. Patrick Brontë presided over, along with the parsonage, is just as they would have been when they lived here. The only things different might be the large trees in the cemetery, which were not there during their lives. The cobble-stoned streets are still here, along with all their favourite haunts. Originally, Haworth was a wool-manufacturing village and is surrounded by the moorland and the Pennine Hills.

Going to Haworth

Getting to Haworth from the Cotswolds, required several trains and buses, and of course my stop in Leicester. The country map gives you an idea of the distances I was travelling. From Cheltenham, I changed trains at Birmingham and then got to Leicester.

The farther I travelled north by bus, the more sparse the trees, the longer and deeper the hills, and the darker the buildings became. I suspected the buildings with their blackened bricks were the result of coal and other industries in the area, along with bleak rainy weather over time, though I’ve not officially heard this. The contrast from the Cotswolds is striking and although there is a certain appeal to the time-honoured past in these quaint villages, they lack the same welcoming charm of their neighbours to the southwest. It seems chillier here too, though this may simply be a surge of weather experienced in other places as well.



There are many other things to see and do in the village of Haworth, which today has an incredibly active community. Besides the historic sites, there are walks over the moors, steam engine rides and rail museums, plus other special museums and famous houses to inspect, along with local activities that draw everyone in. Although my time was short, it was good to see, and if I were a Brontë scholar, the perfect place to come and study them.

One short day was enough for me, and I am off again tomorrow to head farther north in search of that elusive great place to stay for a couple of days, where I can have an Internet connection and a place to catch up on my blogging.

Their austere surroundings, including their Georgian style home, would certainly have encouraged finding and using their imaginations, as there was so little outside enjoyment and nothing much for them to do outside of the basics in their isolated location. Reading, needlework, housework, school studies, and teaching when they were older were their simple pastimes. It’s probably no accident then that they turned to writing and art; becoming proficient in these skills to varying degrees. All, including their father were published authors, though Charlotte and Emily are more well-known

http://www.haworth-village.org.uk/

http://www.haworth.yorks.com/

http://www.haworth-village.org.uk/visitors/visiting-bronte-country/visit-haworth.asp

Bradgate Park - Part II - Images

The second half of Bradgate was for more picturesque, and not much different that it had been five hundred years earlier when Lady Jane Grey walked along its paths.