Haworth - Bronte Family
Leaving Kirkby Malzeard we are heading for Haworth, the home of the Bronte family and drive through Villages called… Winksley, Risplith, Bishop Thornton, Burnt Yates, Ripley (My Dad’s first name BTW) and Hampsthwaite but… I vote the next Village we drive though First Prize for ‘The Village with the Strangest Name!!’ The United Kingdom is full of delightfully quirky Village and Town names but this one wins hands down!
Blubberhouses!!! Now I ask you who would and why would anyone name a Village Blubberhouses?? It’s only a uninviting pub and a couple of houses but we do check out the Blubberhouses mine which is derelict, so not many people ever wanted to call Blubberhouses home eh?? We did ask someone where the name came from but although they had lived nearby all their life they didn’t know… I wish I could find out more.
Seeing a Steam Train sign, I do a quick right hand turn and we are in Embsay… what a find, this is a delightful little Railway Station with a terrific book and gift shop and they are gearing up for their Santa Trains that run for several weekends leading up to Christmas… they run their Thomas the Tank Engine train and each child gets a great gift from Santa, last year they gave away 1,000’s of gifts this year they are expecting even more children… I wish Jackson Harry were here.
Skipton for Morning Tea… the place is humming like no other Village we have seen… it’s Market Day! Actually the Markets run from Wednesday to Saturday every week, I buy a superior waterproof jacket for £20 and David buys a couple of very nice warm shirts at £12 for two… we are still proud of our buys but what we are proudest of all for finding is ‘Widows’ on DVD. I’ve been searching the Internet for years trying to find this old TV series but always come up - with ‘Not released on DVD or Video’ - and here we find it in the Markets in Skipton in the southern most corner of Yorkshire for only £7… now all we need is to get a free couple of evenings around at Tom’s to watch it, or maybe we’ll keep it till we get home.
Haworth… What a place, it’s just like being in an old movie… the whole Village has been kept as it was with all the streets cobbled and climbing up impossible hillsides, shops clinging to each other and just about every pub in the Village boasting that Branwell Bronte drank here… he was a bit of a lad we are led to believe by the Bronte Society who have turned the Parsonage into a most interesting Museum I am fascinated by it all and learn so much more about this very remarkable family, I also feel such compassion for Mr Bronte who managed to bring up 6 remarkable children and outlive them all… how sad!
Haworth was a destination for tourists while Charlotte Bronte was still living at the Parsonage and when Mr Bronte died in 1861 having been cared for by Charlotte’s husband, since she died in 1855 the Bronte’s furniture and goods were sold and bought by locals most of whom have donated or sold back their buys when the Bronte Society was founded in 1893… which makes walking through the Parsonage so very special knowing it is almost as it was when Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Agnes Grey were being written.
We now wend our way around large towns like Bradford and Leeds heading back to the M1 and eventually back to our dear little home in Wood Green. I manage to drive to the M1 but hand over the keys to David as I am now exhausted from our four day jaunt and I don’t usually get sick on straight Motor Ways… David does a brilliant job of driving through heavy rain as well as heavy traffic, promised detours that don’t eventuate… and I almost didn’t get sick!
Blubberhouses!!! Now I ask you who would and why would anyone name a Village Blubberhouses?? It’s only a uninviting pub and a couple of houses but we do check out the Blubberhouses mine which is derelict, so not many people ever wanted to call Blubberhouses home eh?? We did ask someone where the name came from but although they had lived nearby all their life they didn’t know… I wish I could find out more.
Seeing a Steam Train sign, I do a quick right hand turn and we are in Embsay… what a find, this is a delightful little Railway Station with a terrific book and gift shop and they are gearing up for their Santa Trains that run for several weekends leading up to Christmas… they run their Thomas the Tank Engine train and each child gets a great gift from Santa, last year they gave away 1,000’s of gifts this year they are expecting even more children… I wish Jackson Harry were here.
Skipton for Morning Tea… the place is humming like no other Village we have seen… it’s Market Day! Actually the Markets run from Wednesday to Saturday every week, I buy a superior waterproof jacket for £20 and David buys a couple of very nice warm shirts at £12 for two… we are still proud of our buys but what we are proudest of all for finding is ‘Widows’ on DVD. I’ve been searching the Internet for years trying to find this old TV series but always come up - with ‘Not released on DVD or Video’ - and here we find it in the Markets in Skipton in the southern most corner of Yorkshire for only £7… now all we need is to get a free couple of evenings around at Tom’s to watch it, or maybe we’ll keep it till we get home.
Haworth… What a place, it’s just like being in an old movie… the whole Village has been kept as it was with all the streets cobbled and climbing up impossible hillsides, shops clinging to each other and just about every pub in the Village boasting that Branwell Bronte drank here… he was a bit of a lad we are led to believe by the Bronte Society who have turned the Parsonage into a most interesting Museum I am fascinated by it all and learn so much more about this very remarkable family, I also feel such compassion for Mr Bronte who managed to bring up 6 remarkable children and outlive them all… how sad!
Haworth was a destination for tourists while Charlotte Bronte was still living at the Parsonage and when Mr Bronte died in 1861 having been cared for by Charlotte’s husband, since she died in 1855 the Bronte’s furniture and goods were sold and bought by locals most of whom have donated or sold back their buys when the Bronte Society was founded in 1893… which makes walking through the Parsonage so very special knowing it is almost as it was when Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Agnes Grey were being written.
We now wend our way around large towns like Bradford and Leeds heading back to the M1 and eventually back to our dear little home in Wood Green. I manage to drive to the M1 but hand over the keys to David as I am now exhausted from our four day jaunt and I don’t usually get sick on straight Motor Ways… David does a brilliant job of driving through heavy rain as well as heavy traffic, promised detours that don’t eventuate… and I almost didn’t get sick!
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