Helen's Bronte walks get off to a promising start
The above photographs appear by courtesy of
Dave Cropper Photography
A Bradford based business, Helen’s Heritage Walks, run by local historian and Bronte expert Helen Broadhead, is looking forward hopefully to a bright New Year. Since launching her website, www.helensheritagewalks.co.uk just before Christmas, Helen has already received enquiries from Bronte enthusiasts in the USA and Australia about her guided Bronte Walks around Haworth and other venues, such as Oakwell Hall, Red House Museum (now, sadly, threatened with closure by Kirklees Council) and Shibden Hall in Calderdale. All these venues have Bronte connections: Oakwell Hall and Red House Museum were used by Charlotte Bronte as models for her houses in Shibden Hall, and it is widely accepted by Bronte scholars that, in her writing of Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte was influenced by the stories and houses she came across during her time at Law Hill School in Southowram, near Shibden Hall.
It seems that international tourists are not put off by the winter weather for this week Helen took two Korean ladies, a mother and daughter from New York, on her "Taste of the Moors" walk. The weather had taken a turn for the worse but they felt that the wind and rain only added to the atmosphere! The older lady said that her heart started to beat with excitement as she came onto the moors on Penistone Hill. Her favourite of the Brontes’ novels was Wuthering Heights, a favourite with many Korean females. Her daughter said she preferred Jane Eyre - she felt it had a better story.
Helen feels that Haworth and the other Bronte venues do have great international appeal and welcomes English Heritage’s pledge to work with Bradford Council to make Haworth into a more attractive – and, hopefully, more accessible - destination for international tourists. Helen has just had to advise a family in New York, who wish to bring their daughter to breathe in the atmosphere of the Brontes, how to get to Haworth by public transport. “I had to warn them that it would be a challenge!” Helen said. A regular bus link between Keighley railway station and the bus station would help, she added.
For more information, please contact Helen's Heritage Walks and Talks.
[N.B. Please mention the Eagle Intermedia Bronte Country website when making your enquiries.]
[News item and photos supplied by Helen's Heritage Walks and Talks - January 2012.]
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