Bounding through Bronteland

Haworth(Ha-wuth), Yorkshire was Bronteland in the way that Catherine was Heathcliff. Everything about the town was played up for the Bronte factor- Eyres and Cares, Heathcliff Hotel, Passion hair salon, Villette Coffee, Ye Olde Bronte Tea Rooms, Branwell's favorite pub the Black Bull had a Bronte chair, Bronte Hotel, Bronte Museum, Bronte Schoolhouse, new condos that were somehow Bronte related (or at least you were paying £400,000 to think so), and so many other names that my brain has ceased to retain them. However, there was plenty of legitimate remnants from the family's time to capture the historic significance of the place.


The museum tour was very interesting. I had some slight trouble with the sitting in the dark to watch the slide show after waking at 7 am to get there, but Sue (our guide) was very informative and it was well worth the struggle to remain awake. She showed us the family tree of the Brontes and told us their story- of Rev. Patrick Bronte's love of literature that he passed on to his children, his wife's early death and her sister moving in to help raise the children, the early death of his daughters Maria and Elizabeth, the artistic talent of all of the children, Branwell's (brother) issues with drugs and unrequited love with a married woman, the sisters' attempted pseudonym publishing and then successful claimed works, and the lasting impression the Bronte family has made through time. I was surprised by the focus on the other Brontes... I had expected the museum to be Charlotte-heavy, which it was, with some focus on Emily. From my novice perspective, I knew a decent bit about Charlotte and Emily, but only knew Anne as "that other Bronte writer" who's name I often forgot and knew nothing of Branwell, Maria, or Elizabeth. In the museum they deconstructed the house by room into either its purpose in the Bronte's life and set it up to look like it did when they lived there or had display cases and artifacts like a typical museum. The majority of the artifacts were of Charlotte's things. My understanding was the reason for the disproportionate representation is two fold: first, Charlotte is arguably one of the more famous writers of her time (arguments could be made for Emily as well) and second, Charlotte was the only Bronte who's fame occurred while she was still living. The others became famous after their deaths when, presumably, it would be more difficult to collect artifacts for the museum. There was also a large Sex, Drugs, and Literature exhibit on Branwell Bronte that just opened at the beginning of the month with room full of plaques and artifacts on Branwell's life. The gift shop was filled with trinkets (Bronte book look-alike erasers, random carved wood pencils and pens, postcards, magnets, note cards, etc) and books by and about the Bronte family. They had some "graphic novels" a.k.a. comic books on both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre- I liked the Jane Eyre one, but the Wuthering Heights was a little too anime for me. I was amazed at how many different book covers there were for the two novels- at least 3 that we had not already seen on our class' books! Kind of funny that the gift shop that would already have a captive audience of Bronte lovers (presumably) would still need so much marketing to get the purchase. Overall, the museum aligned with my perception of it.


The grounds had a very well-kept garden up by the entrance to the Parsonage. There was also a schoolhouse, church, graveyard, and land area where local people rented space for chickens, horses, sheep, and plants. The graveyard held over 42,000 bodies. The death rate before age 10 was 1 out of 4, so bodies were piled on top of one another. Originally they had flat gravestones that were blocking the oxygen from decomposing the bodies. This, along with the large death rate, meant that the bodies were not polluting the water every time it rained and were making the living conditions at Haworth very unhealthy. Eventually the death rate was so high that a health inspector visited and forced them to stop burying people (although recently someone was just buried there because they had a special document that allowed them to do so- personally not where I'd like to think of my body's final resting place to be...but to each their own). From there, we embarked on "Bronte Way."


The walk took us 2.5 miles to the Bronte Falls. There was a small bridge that led over the water and a rock in the shape of a chair that stories say the Bronte girls would like to sit in. There was a LARGE NUMBER of sheep roaming around (which consequently meant an EXTREMELY LARGE NUMBER of presents on the path). From there, we went another mile up on hillier, rockier territory to get to Top Withens (thought to be the inspiration for the house in Wuthering Heights... maybe). I was most shocked when thinking about the context in which the Bronte ladies would have to do the hike- their little cloth shoes (not my nice gymmers), their cotton petticoats and dresses (not pants), and their LACK OF RAINCOATS (would have really missed that one). The weather was so unpredictable- one minute it would be sort-of sunny with a few happy cumulus clouds, and then next those stratus clouds (low, dark, gloomy clouds- right second graders?) would suddenly appear in view. It is no wonder that the women back then were so small waisted. They couldn't have gained weight if they tried!


Once we got up to Top Withens, the view was incredible. Even if that is not the real house from Emily's mind (although she might not even have been able to decipher what was going on up there!), it was quite the experience to be up in the Moors so far and to get to feel the isolation and the smallness of being there. I did expect the Moors to have more craggy rocks than it did. It was so green! Although we are in summer right now, so I can see where winter would be particularly desolate and being a sun-dependent person myself, depressing.

We had a beautiful day in Haworth and ended it right in a pub with some shepard's pie- or at least I did (they were OUT of fish and chips- imagine that).