This is the bicentenary of Emily’s birth and, to be honest, there is no finer time to visit Yorkshire and especially Brontë Country.
For myself, and I may be in a minority here, the way to begin your journey with any of the Brontës is to explore the story of the family and to realise that love and a sense of belonging, of home, are the anchors that give them strength.
The world famous Haworth Parsonage, the family home, has to be at the centre of a visit to Brontë Country and for Emily’s bicentenary there will be a year long special exhibition at the Parsonage and for those with special interests there is a conference in York from the 7th to the 9th of September 2018, ‘Emily Brontë: A Peculiar Music’. For details of all events please visit www.bronte.org.uk
While many people are familiar with Emily’s novel, ‘Wuthering Heights’, few have discovered her poetry and the rich vein of the ‘Gondal’ writings. I would suggest that this is the time for you to pick up the poems and put on your boots.
To walk the Haworth Moors up to Top Withens and beyond is not just to share the landscape that inspired Emily, her sisters, brother and father, it is an exploration of a special collection of plants, wildlife, sounds and stories.
The best way to enjoy this is to hire an experienced guide, one that you can have a glorious conversation with in this spectacular landscape.
‘High waving heather, ‘neath stormy blasts bending
Midnight and moonlight and bright shining stars
Darkness and glory rejoicingly blending
Earth rising to heaven and heaven descending
Man’s spirit away from its drear dungeon sending
Bursting the fetters and breaking the bars’
Emily Jane Brontë 1836
Contributed by Johnnie Briggs, MITG, Blue Badge Guide for Yorkshire www.brontewalks.co.uk
