When I was studying abroad in 2018, I had to privilege to visit Haworth, a Northern English village that is the home of the Brontë sisters. I wrote a little detailed account of my trip and entered it in The Wingless Dreamer's Travelogue Competition. While I didn't win any prizes, it was selected for publication in their The Wanderlust Within anthology, which is now available on Amazon to purchase as a paperback or Kindle. Check it out below!
******
My friend and I step off the bus at Haworth, a village in West Yorkshire famously known as the home of the Brontë sisters. Before this journey, I’ve only read Jane Eyre, but my companion has read every book and poem written by the sisters. Our journey is a pilgrimage to an earthly atmosphere that encompasses their novels.
We have travelled by train from Oxford to London to Leeds, where we took a local train to Keighley then the “Brontë” bus to Haworth. We pass seemingly empty countryside – abandoned and crumbling brick structures next to faded signs for a mill or factory peeked through trees, desolate remnants of a time long gone.
At the edge of Haworth stands the Old Hall Inn, its stone covered in sooty gray and discolored sand. We venture up the increasingly steep cobblestone street. As we ascend into the heart of the village, we pass connected sandy and dark brown brick buildings. These are either residential homes, bed and breakfasts, or shops and restaurants. It is April, and signs of colorful life are sprouting. Flowers of various colors and green plants that bring bursts of life to the otherwise quiet village. Our eyes stretch beyond the village to vast spaces of greenery that my friend tells me are part of the Northern moors that the Brontës saw for most of their lives.
We finally make it to our bed and breakfast, nestled near the back of the village and next to Branwell Brontë’s former druggist store. After checking in and dropping our things off, we walk down the narrow, creaking stairs back onto the street. We decide to walk across to the church, a large structure with dusty windows that have lost their splendor. We move to its graveyard and dirt path that will take us to the moors.
Dead, crinkled leaves dance in the wind. The ridges of the ground are muddy and squishy underneath our boots, for it had rained before our arrival. Now the golden sun shone, partly blocked by misty, dove-gray clouds. When overlooking the moors, we see green intruded with black lines and white specks of sheep and periodic buildings and trees. We climb over hills, sinking in the crevices of the natural landscape. Our stunned breaths mingle with the cool air that reddens our cheeks. Here on the moors, with no sign of human life, we can feel the melancholy and loneliness. We are pilgrims confronted with the sense that these lands naturally formed long before our time, even before the time of the Brontës. I wonder if they also felt insignificant in the universe. The moors will continue to develop whether or not we exist in this world.
We journey back to the village with a lighter step, more accustomed to the natural landscape we roamed with a deeper sense of historical weight.
Anthology description: Check out these amazing personal travel experiences to strengthen the wanderlust within you. This book is all about figuring out your inner self by exploring the outer world whether it's a day trip with your family turning into a full-on escape, enjoying Giant's Causeway with an Irish pint, a breakout from the schoolwork, and exploring the wilderness, or a trip to attend a conference meeting which led to one's favorite childhood story Anne & Gilbert come true among others. Get lost into this beautiful collection of travel tales written by incredible writers who are handpicked by Wingless Dreamer Publisher from all around the world. Enjoy reading!
The Wingless Dreamer community hosts many great prose and poetry contests that give writers an opportunity to get work published and recognized on a global scale! Check them out here.