Haworth

Coordinates: 53°50′N 1°58′W / 53.83°N 1.96°W / 53.83; -1.96

Haworth
Haworth, West Yorkshire, street scene
Haworth shown within West Yorkshire
OS grid reference	SE030372
Metropolitan borough	City of Bradford
Metropolitan county	West Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	KEIGHLEY
Postcode district	BD22
Dialling code	01535
Police	West Yorkshire
Fire	West Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
European Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Keighley
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Haworth is a village and tourist attraction in the English Ceremonial county of West Yorkshire best known for its association with the Brontë sisters.

Contents 1 Brontë Country 1.1 Steam railway 1.2 Famous walks 1.3 Traditions 1.4 Haworth Arts Festival 1.5 Fairtrade 1.6 Haworth Band 2 Library 3 Location 4 Twin towns 5 References 6 External links

Brontë Country

With its situation above the Worth Valley amid the bleak Pennine moors, Haworth is internationally famous for its connection with the Brontë sisters, who were born in Thornton, but wrote most of their famous novels while living at the Haworth Parsonage (which is now a museum owned and maintained by the Brontë Society), when their father was the parson at the adjacent Haworth church. The Brontë Way waymarked long-distance footpath passes through the town.

Haworth is a very popular destination for Japanese tourists. (Wuthering Heights has a cult following in Japan.)

Steam railway

Other attractions include Haworth railway station, part of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, an authentic preserved steam railway which has been used as a setting for numerous period films and TV series, including The Railway Children (starring Jenny Agutter), Yanks (starring Richard Gere and Vanessa Redgrave), and Alan Parker's film version of Pink Floyd's The Wall (starring Bob Geldof). Every year the village also hosts a very special 1940s weekend where locals and visitors don wartime attire for a host of nostalgic events.

Famous walks

Many public footpaths lead out of the village, and there is much scope for rambling, though perhaps the most famous walk leads past Stanbury Reservoir to the picturesque (but unspectacular) Brontë waterfalls, the Brontë Bridge, and the Brontë Stone Chair in which (it is said) the sisters took turns to sit and write their first stories. This path, which forms part of the 69 km (43 mile) long Brontë Way, then leads out of the valley and up on the moors to Ponden Hall (reputedly Thrushcross Grange in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights) and Top Withens, a desolate ruin which was reputedly the setting for the farmstead Wuthering Heights. Top Withens can also be reached by a shorter walking route departing from the nearby village of Stanbury.

Traditions

Haworth's only traditional events were an annual service at Haworth Spa and the Rush Bearing. Spa Sunday died out in the early twentieth century and the Rush Bearing ceremony has not been held for about twenty years. There are a number of modern events organised by the Haworth Traders' Association which are sometimes referred to as traditions. The most prominent of these is "Scroggling the Holly" - an annual holly gathering event which has no traditional basis. The name, sometimes claimed to have its origin in the local dialect, is also a modern invention. It takes place each November in Haworth. At the start of the Festive season Bands and Morris Men lead a procession of children in Victorian costume, who follow the Holly Queen up the cobbles to her crowning ceremony on the church steps. The newly crowned Holly Queen unlocks the church gates to invite the spirit of Christmas into Haworth. Father Christmas then arrives bringing with him Glad Tidings and Christmas Cheer to all.^[1]

In Haworth itself there are many tea rooms such as 'Cobbles and Clay the Art Cafe', souvenir and antiquarian bookshops, restaurants, pubs and hotels (including the Black Bull, where Branwell Brontë's decline into alcoholism and opium addiction allegedly began). Haworth is a good base for exploring the principal attractions of Brontë Country, while still being close to the major cities of Bradford and Leeds. Further afield lies the historic city of York, and the spa towns of Harrogate and Ilkley - popular spa towns on the edge of the beautiful Yorkshire Dales National Park to the north.

Haworth Arts Festival

The first festival took place in 2000 and was repeated in 2001, but then ceased to operate because of the changing circumstances of the organisers. However a new group of Haworth residents took up the baton again in 2005 and began to build a festival which would combine performing arts, visual arts, street performance and a strong community involvement. The use of many of the local professional and semi-professional musicians, artists and performers has been coupled with a larger name for each festival, providing a local stage for the likes of John Cooper-Clark and John Shuttleworth. The festival continues to expand its horizons, slowly encompassing areas of the Worth valley outside of Haworth itself and is always held on the first weekend in September, starting on the preceding Thursday and running until the Sunday night.

Fairtrade

On November 22, 2002 Haworth was granted Fairtrade Village status.^[2] On October 21, 2005 Haworth Fairtrade officially signed an agreement to twin with Machu Picchu in Peru.^[3]

Haworth Band

The Haworth Band (http://www.thehaworthband.co.uk/) is one of the oldest secular musical organisations in the Keighley area and its band room is located in the heart of the Haworth Village. History records tell us that there was a brass band at Ponden, close by, as far back as 1854 with a body of excellent performers. It was founded by John Heaton who lived at Ponden. The band had the job of playing at a celebration in Haworth at the conclusion of the Crimean war. Over the years the world of brass band music went from strength to strength, during which time the Haworth Band went with it. The band is now under the directorship of Charles Hindmarsh, who is also known for playing the musical saw under the name of “The Yorkshire Musical Saw Player”. As it stands today The Haworth Band is a busy and thriving organisation that is closley linked to the local community.

Library

On 13 January 2009, it was announced that a permanent library will be established in the town, replacing the mobile service which visits the village once a week. Haworth last had its own library in 1978.^[4]

Location

Haworth is located in the high Pennine moors, some 3 miles (4.8 km) south-west of the larger town of Keighley and 10 miles (16 km) west of Bradford. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages include Cross Roads, Stanbury and Lumbfoot.

Twin towns

• Haworth, USA
• Machu Picchu, Peru^[3]

References

External links

• Haworth Traders' Association
• Haworth Village
• Brontë Country
• Haworth Arts Festival
• [1] - Details of dates for the 1940s weekend and other events held in Haworth
• Visit Bronte Country - tourist group
• Haworth Online Haworth Online Community Website.
• Website of the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire