Haworth has become famous the world over for three sisters who lived, all too briefly, in its parsonage at the summit of its steep hill: the Brontë sisters. At the time the Brontës lived there it was one of England’s unhealthiest places with a life expectancy in the twenties, but now it is a beautiful village centred upon an ever popular Brontë industry. Day visitors to Haworth can explore the Brontë Parsonage Museum or walk across the moors, just as Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë did, but Haworth by moonlight can be even more intoxicating.
On a still summer evening it’s easy to walk the cobbled streets and imagine the echoes of footsteps which trod the cobbles nearly two centuries earlier. I love churchyards, and Haworth’s busy churchyard is even more evocative when bathed in moonlight, the sound of rooks cawing or the evening church bell toiling mournfully, as in this short video on my House Of Brontë YouTube channel:
We know that night time was particularly important to Emily Brontë. A night owl by nature, she talks, in her verse, of the spirit of creativity visiting her in the night and filling her with desire – the desire to create, to write. Emily also captured her love of summer moonlight in this short poem, “Moonlight, Summer Moonlight”:
‘Tis moonlight, summer moonlight,
All soft and still and fair;
The solemn hour of midnight
Breathes sweet thoughts everywhere,
But most where trees are sending
Their breezy boughs on high,
Or stooping low are lending
A shelter from the sky.
And there in those wild bowers
A lovely form is laid;
Green grass and dew-steeped flowers
Wave gently round her head.”
With a heatwave set to return to Yorkshire there’s never been a better time to visit the parsonage and to visit Haworth and Brontë country, whether by daytime or night. The Brontë birthplace in Thornton, just a short drive or bus ride from Haworth, is now open to the public as a BnB, meaning you can now stay in the very room the Brontë children grew up in! You can find more about that at this link: https://Brontëbirthplace.com/Brontë-birthplace-overnight-stays/
If you can’t make it to Haworth or Thornton yet, head back here next Sunday when I will bring you another new Brontë blog post.