Haworth, Bronte Waterfalls, Stanbury and Oakworth

The old part of Haworth has a steep, cobbled Main Street, leading down from the church, with alleys and courts branching off it, but the village expanded in Victorian times, stretching down the hillside towards the river and railway.

At the time of the Bronte family, this was already a thriving and squalid early industrial town. It was towns like Haworth that provided the backbone of Victorian industrial wealth. Many of the older cottages still retain their weaving lofts, with their multi-paned windows to provide the weavers with maximum light. These lofts pre-dated the new water and steam powered mills.

Haworth had grown rapidly at the beginning of the 19th century and was overcrowded and without any sanitation or proper drainage. Also, refuse was left to simply rot in the streets. Not surprisingly, disease, particularly typhoid, was rife. Even in the 1850's half the children died before they were six and the average life expectancy was 25 years old - figures that equalled the worse London slums.

This high mortality rate led to overcrowding in the graveyard, until finally the old parish church, with its cottage windows, had to be pulled down in 1879 because of the excessive number of bodies in the vaults and in the nearby graveyard. It was threatening the very survival of the town. And it is quite sobering to think the Parsonage of the Brontes drew water from a well sunk into the graveyard. The present church, built in 1880, has a chapel in memory of the Bronte family.

Behind the church is the Black Bull Inn, where Branwell Bronte spent much of his time. He drank himself to an early grave with a mixture of Yorkshire ale and opium.

Just outside Haworth is a 17th century farmhouse that became the setting for 18th century revivalist meetings led by the English Evangelical preacher William Grimshaw. He was a close friend of John Wesley and his fiery zeal attracted congregations from miles around. Grimshaw would often leave the audience during these meetings to bring idlers off the streets and from nearby public houses into his meetings.

Penistone Hill appears in 'Wuthering Heights' as Penistone Crags, a local beauty spot near Thrushcross Grange. The quarry here provided the stone for the paving blocks in the High Street, and for the dark buildings of Haworth. Looking at the now disused gritstone quarries on the edge of the moor, it is hard to imagine that as late as the 1920's a hundred men hewed stone here. Penistone Hill is now a country park and from the summit there is a spectacular view over the bleak, open Pennines.

Bronte Waterfalls, which tumble into Salden Beck, was a favourite haunt of the sisters and is described in their poems and letters. A few yards down from the stream is the Bronte Seat which is hewn out of a single piece of rock. And high up on the moor is Top Withens, the ruin of a lonely farmhouse which is said to have been the inspiration for Emily Bronte's most famous novel, Wuthering Heights. (See my walk to Top Withens here)

Stanbury is a typical Pennine moorland village. It was the home of Timothy Feather, known as 'Owd Timmy', the last handloom weaver in Yorkshire. The steam-powered West Riding mills of the 19th century saw the demise of this old cottage industry, but 'Owd Timmy' pursued his craft until his death in 1910 aged 85. His loom is on display in Cliffe Castle Museum in the nearby town of Keighley.

Continuing on to the village of Oakworth, one of the highlights is a bequest to the people. Holden Park was once the home of inventor, manufacturer and parliamentarian Sir Isaac Holden, but is now a delightful and unusual garden laid out in his memory by his grandson, Francis Illingworth. Surrounding the bowling green are elaborate stone grottos and walkways that are a delight to explore.

Oakworth Railway Station which is on the Keighley and Worth Valley line has been beautifully restored as a Victorian country halt, albeit with a 1950's flavour. Old advertisements, genteel waiting rooms. ticket machines and gaslights all add to the atmosphere. On the platform stand milk churns and old fashioned leather luggage still waiting to be collected, and the staff are dressed in immaculate period costume. This was the station used for the film, 'The Railway Children'.

The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway is one of the finest restored steam railways in the country and it runs regular daily steam services in the summer, and a weekends during the winter months. The railway was originally opened in 1867, not only to carry passengers, but also to bring raw materials to the valley's mills, like Vale Mill which lies close to Oakworth Station.

Vale Mill dates from the 1780's and, as in many other Yorkshire mills, cotton was originally spun here. During the 19th century the mill eventually turned to worsted manufacturing and developed into a more elaborate complex. The mill was once owned by a strict Methodist family, the Sugdens, who forbade their workers from drinking and gambling. Also, strict family morals had to be adhered to and anyone who 'got into trouble' was ostricised from the mill community. From the mill it is a short walk back to Haworth which can be shortened more by catching the train from Oakworth Station to Haworth Station.