Haworth - April 2005
West Yorkshire

  We'd intended to go to Haworth for a weekend break in late 2004, but somehow we just never found the time to make the trip. When we decided to have a short holiday for Karen's 40th birthday, it seemed like an ideal opportunity to give Haworth a try.

  Karen had already picked out a likely pub to visit, The Fleece Inn situated on the historic cobbled Main Street. It turned out to be a great place to stay, good food, very friendly staff and beautiful rooms with great views across Haworth and the valley, plus it was 'Happy Hour' when we got there on Friday afternoon. The Fleece Inn sells Timothy Taylors beers, winners of many awards and worth every one in our opinion. Give the place a try if you're in Haworth, I'm sure Sharon, John and the rest of the staff will make you feel welcome, click here to find out more about the Fleece Inn

  Early in the morning, the cobbled main street was pretty quiet, later in the day it was hectic, full of tourists heading up to the Parsonage, home of the famous Bronte sisters, or just browsing around the mainy souvenir shops, cafes and pubs which line this quaint, and very steep, street.

  Looking up Main Street, with the hazy sun rising behind you, there's a real feel for the quaint beauty of Haworth. Go for a walk around the church and parsonage at the top of the hill, especially early in the morning, and there's a feeling of age and history which is lost a little when the town fills up with tourists later on in the day.

  Views over Haworth in the hazy sunshine which we had for most of the weekend, nice and warm but not brilliant for photography. Old terraced houses lining the hillside give a feel for the age of the area, although the wind turbine on the hill top is rather newer. Mill industry dominated this area in the 1800's, whilst some have found alternate modern uses, there are many neglected and collapsing old buildings like the one shown here.

  We didn't go for a ride on the steam trains at Haworth station, but we did go for a look around on the platform. You don't get too much wildlife on a station these days, but then Haworth isn't just any old station. This cockerel was feeling pretty territorial, anyone who went near him got chased off, especially noisy children.

  Haworth station is on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, a restored branch line which runs 5 miles from Oxenhope to join the main rail network at Keighley. The Railway Children film was made in this area, adding another aspect to the fame of the Haworth area. We even bought a copy of the film from the shop at the station, it's still a brilliant film. The station has lots of engines, some useable and many in various stages of restoration. If you fancy a ride on an old train, the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway is a great place to do it.

  Saturday morning was bright and sunny with a lot of haze, a nice day for walking but not good for landscape pictures. We drove over to Stanbury and walked up on to the moors and over to Bronte Bridge, a picturesque and very restful spot. The bridge itself has been re-built but still looks good with the stream tumbling past over the tiny waterfalls.

Here we are, enjoying the tranquil atmosphere of Bronte Bridge and the surrounding valley.

  The walk across the moors to Top Withins was glorious even with the haze, we only saw a few other people and the area retained the air of wilderness so typical of this part of the Pennines. There's not much left of the house at Top Withins, although if you look around some of the Haworth pubs you can find photos from when it still had a roof on it. Although it bears little resemblance, it's supposed to be the inspiration for Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights'.

  On the way back to Haworth, we stopped off at The Friendly, one of two pubs in Stanbury. The view over the moors from the beer garden at the back of the pub was great, and made us think we needed to get back to Haworth and find a pub with a nice sunny garden. We went to The Haworth Old Hall which has a nice beer garden to sit and have a couple of beers, especially as it carries most of the Jennings Brewery range. It's also not a bad place to eat. We didn't get to all of the pubs in Haworth, there's only so much even we can do in a couple of days, however we did have a good meal at The Black Bull at the top of Main Street, very enjoyable and worth visiting if you're in Haworth.

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Pictures and text are copyright © Dave & Karen Petty- All Rights Reserved, please don't copy anything without our permission. Thanks, D & K.