the U.K. and Japan– make the pilgrimage to visit Haworth and its Bronte Parsonage, where the Bronte family lived and wrote.

 

The feature film Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte, has made this lovely corner of Yorkshire, England front and center. It is the only novel by the Brontes that actually takes place in Haworth.

 

 

STEAM TRAIN TO THE PARSONAGE MUSEUM
We had hopped aboard a steam train from the late 1800’s to make our way to the little town of Haworth. On one of its few streets, a winding cobble-stoned one, we were close to the unprepossessing parsonage where Reverend Bronte raised his family. Today it’s a museum and research center, welcoming around 75,000 visitors a year. All Bronte books were written right here in this humble house, that, in its day, was better than most in the village. In the Bronte’s time, Haworth was a working-class manufacturing township of 6,848 people who worked from home, spinning and weaving. The average life span was 25 years, explained our guide.

 

We stared at a portrait of the three sisters, looking sour and staunch as teenagers. We hadn’t even heard of Anne, but she wrote, too. “They were inspired by the landscape and their tragic lives in this house,” we were told. All kinds of artifacts are on display: Emily Bronte ‘s funeral card, a lock of Charlotte’s blonde hair. We peered at Charlotte’s diminutive dress, stockings, gloves, fan and parasol as well as her tiny shoes, at best a size five.

 

The Brontes have been famous for well over a hundred and fifty years. With so many theatrical films about them, we gazed at props and photos from various Hollywood and British productions. This family of writers initially wrote under assumed names (men’s, of course) while they depicted wild characters and violent scenes. That wildness contributes to the cult of Bronte lovers and to the feature films’ popularity.

 

 

A SCAREY CEMETERY
It was a moody day to begin with, made more so by walking through the cemetery by the parsonage. I vividly remember the graveyard that gray afternoon, swarming with flies. “Pestilence” my husband said. In this brooding place, more than 42,000 graves are piled on top of one another. It was, in a word, “creepy.” Joe Cooke, born and bred in Haworth told me that the graveyard has always been eerie. “You can feel gothic death in the air, with the damp moss-eaten stones and full tree overhang.”

 

 

A WALK ON THE MARVELOUS MOORS
The Brontes loved the moors, walking sometimes 21 miles in a day. To get shake off the gloom we went for a walk on the moor through the thick moor grass up the hill, over the heath; the grass was thick, lush, unstoppable.

 

A 2000 English law allows tourists and locals the “right to roam” on specified “Free Access Paths” through peoples’ farms. We set off and did just that. (Top Withens, the ruined farmhouse considered the location of Wuthering Heights is on the moors 3-4 miles from Haworth’s center.) As Katherine Elizabeth, a local told me, “You see what inspired the Brontes. Each visitor sees it through their perspective.” The walk takes about 1.5 to 2 hours each way. Follow the Pennine Way footpath.

 

On our walk we saw butterflies on thistles, postcard pastures, signs offering treasure hunt clues…no less. We were exhilarated by the quiet beauty of sheep-dotted pastures, dappled horses, the ever-so-big sky. Trees created full round borders as did slab stone fences. And, so, by the proverbial babbling brook, we broke out our lunch.

 

Huge ancient trees –perhaps as old as 500 years, comforted us amidst endless green grass. There was a smattering of white sheep on the sloping horizon…all seemed right with the world. Those directions for a treasure hunt had yielded, yes, a treasure.

 

Guess what? Since this latest Wuthering Heights was released, searches among GenZ are up 67%. And a new film of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre is in the works. That should keep the travel dreams of moviegoers and literature lovers fixed this touching authentic place.

 

 

IF YOU GO:
Haworth goes all out for the holidays, whether it be Halloween, Valentine’s Day or Christmas. Every single place is decorated. Summer, of course, is glorious on the moors, amidst the heather.
There are no chain hotels or restaurants in the area. Places are family-owned and pet-friendly. I ate and slept ever-so-well here.

 

Weaver’s Guest House is close to the Parsonage. Our room under the eves was cozy, romantic, and convenient with a generous breakfast.

 

Betty’s Tea Room, in Ilkley, is a favorite of mine. Excellent food and drink, served on bone china. There is a wide range of choices for full meals or salads, at relatively reasonable prices. Originally developed by a Swiss chef, its bakery is first-rate, too.

 

Holdsworth House, Halifax West Yorkshire, offers The Bronte Country Escape Package’. Guests stay in a Wuthering Heights-themed house that is set in the vicinity of where the movie was filmed. Guests can explore Haworth, visit the moors featured in the Wuthering Heights film, and receive free tickets to the Bronte Parsonage Museum, all arranged for you. On-site parking free.
Gascoigne’s of Haworth offers hot meals and “scuff” (toasted open- faced sandwiches, a bit like an English muffin, only better.)

 

The “Pennine Walks” booklet, from the Tourist Office, offers wonderful walks.
The gift shop is a find for Bronte fans. There is an extensive collection of books and videos, right down to the most esoteric. A new exclusive collection of Bronte souvenirs can be found there.
You can drive to Haworth. There is plenty of free parking or you can take the mini-bus. But the steam train goes right into Haworth, an experience in itself. There are direct trains from Leeds and London. The railway, built in 1867, is intended to resemble its original. That’s charm!