Emily loved taking daily walks from her home at the parsonage along the moors, and never wanted to travel far for very long. After my visit to the Parsonage Museum and the town of Haworth, I savored a walk along the same pathways that Emily, Anne, Charlotte, and Branwell had wandered nearly 200 years ago. I was blessed with a beautiful sunny late afternoon, and my sister Melody as my travel companion. We walked for several miles and only turned back after it started to start to get a bit dark and very windy.
Crossing the Line
Walking from Haworth
Sheep Nap
Emily's View
The Lovely Valley
Fellow Moor Walker
Windswept Trees
Moors and Blue Sky
Tree Lit by Early Evening Sun
A Road Less Travelled
Sheep in the Setting Sun
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Each picture tells a story- my favorite is the one titled ‘Windswept Trees’. It brings to mind the scene from Chapter 17 in which Heathcliff upon learning that Hindley has died, grabs Hareton and proclaims ‘Now, my bonny lad, you are mine! And we’ll see if one tree won’t grow as crooked as another, with the same wind to twist it!’
Equally enjoyable are the pictures of placid sheep enjoying the rare sunshine. I notice how clean the walkway appears in the pictures, one of the things I remember most from my walk is the abundance of sheep dung all over the place,yuck!
So, on my list of ‘Things Denise lucked out on her trip’ there is a brand new entry: Pristine moor walkways second only to private tour and sunlit days.
Some people have all the luck
Hi Hina,
Thanks for the great quote to go with the Windswept Trees photo – I will always think about it with that in my mind now. You know your Wuthering Heights passages, that for sure!
I have to admit the truth about the sheep poopies… they were EVERYWHERE! So really, I wasn’t any more fortunate, I just cropped them out of the photos. Believe me, I have many many sheep on the moor photos that are just too poop-filled to share with you.
I’ll tell you something else funny… when I was getting ready to leave the Parsonage Museum, Ann Dinsdale said she was sorry I had such a bright sunny day. Huh??? Turns out, when most people come to Haworth to walk along the moors, they prefer to have it rainy and windy. Apparently they want to have the most authentic, brutal, barren experience they can, and feel the misery of the nasty weather! So count yourself lucky that you experienced Haworth under yucky conditions. (I however will secretly be thrilled that I got to see it on such a nice day.)
Perhaps next time you visit the sky will be blue. I am already thinking about when I can return, to see the moors when the heather is in full bloom. Ann Dinsdale said that is generally in August. Do you have plans to visit again brewing in that brain of yours?
I will like to visit again- I have a fantasy in my mind that next time when I visit I’ll have my elder daughter accompanying me. She just celebrated her ninth birthday and likes to read as much as I do. I can’t with for her to read the Brontës when she reaches ladolescence and perhaps I will take her on a gap year visit after high school- destination number one being Haworth, Yorkshire.
Wishing Denise and all the ScribleManiacs out there a very spooky Halloween.
I can’t help but think that wouldn’t it be cool to be at Haworth on Halloween. I would like to see people dressed up in their versions of Cathy and Heatcliff; Hindley and Edger and how about Nelly- the tell all- the know all chidhood friend..
Thank you, Hina! This year, we took a family trip to San Francisco for a week over Halloween. My boys (ages 8 and 5) dressed up as the Mario Brothers of the Super Mario video game. Don’t ask, I don’t get it either. My daughter (5) was a kitty. We ended up surprising my husbands’ parents in San Jose and trick-or-treated in the neighborhood he grew up in… it was actually very nice. Where we live, near Seattle, it’s generally cold and rainy on Halloween and can be a rather unpleasant experience.
But now, Hina, you give me yet another reason to want to visit Haworth! I almost can’t get the image of all those Wuthering Heights characters rambling around.
Like you, I love thinking about the time when the kids will be really ready for travel to other countries. I think instilling the love of learning, as well as love for travel, is such a wonderful and important thing parents can do for their children, don’t you? While they are already turning into fantastic travelers, they still really want to just play at a playground wherever we go… so I can’t wait until they are actually interested in the places, history, and museums!