Haiku-a-day:
Mar 12th
The graces of a
hilly town are almost too
beautiful for words.
I went to Saltaire, Keighley, and Haworth today! They were all beautiful. Saltaire was neat, but definitely more of a place to just sit and relax. As far as I could tell, it had no big attraction to draw in many visitors. The pamphlet we received from our guide said this (I've edited it a bit because it was full of spelling errors and sentence fragments/run-ons):
"Saltaire is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has been preserved as a Victorian industrial village. The Mill owner, Sir Titus Salt, built the village in 1853 for the workers in his woollen mill. This model Victorian village is easy to explore. It was built in sharp contrast to the dirty and polluted cities of Leeds and Bradford, with each of the 824 houses enjoying a yard at the back with its own sanitary arrangements. The village is built in Neo-Italianate style and laid out in a grid pattern on a 25 acre site. The streets take their names from the Salt family, from Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and the architects Lockwood and Mawson. You can enjoy a walk through the streets of houses decorated with stained glass windows. Take a coffee and absorb the Bohemian atmosphere in one of the many small cafes."
The only things we really did in Saltaire were to "take tea" at a cute cafe, walk around the Roberts park, eat lunch at a cute sandwich shop, and take a peak at the art gallery. I collect magnets from wherever I go. Saltaire has no magnets. How sad.
From Saltaire, we all (me, Leah, Roxanne, and Lauren) headed back to the coaches where we were to be taken to the Keighley train station. From Keighley we took a steam train (YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!) to Haworth. The train was quite fun. It was a short 20 minute ride. I love being able to say now that I have traveled by steam engine!
Haworth is gorgeous. Seriously. I LOVE hilly places and Haworth is FULL of hills! It is a very funny town. Many things there have very strange names, to say the least. Butt Lane and Purvs Corner are just two out of the many examples. Oh Charlotte Brontë! what would you say about this?!
In Haworth, we, as well as my friend Morgan who joined us, toured the church where the Brontë family went. It was the same church they were buried in (all but Anne who had been buried somewhere else to save the trouble, heartbreak, and money for Mr. Brontë, as Anne had died away from home in an attempt to get better). After visiting the church, we looked at the vast graveyard that sat in between the church and the Brontë house. After that, we went into the Brontë Parsonage. It was wonderful. Most of the furniture was the original furniture that the Brontë's used. The original beds were destroyed, but replicas of the real things took their places. In Charlotte's room, they had on display some of her actual clothes, hats, gloves, shoes, etc. that she wore. It was very cool. I learned a lot about the Brontë family history. After touring the house, we toured the Museum part of the house (basement area) that emphasized details of their lives with plenty to read about their secrets, writings, illnesses, and deaths.
When we were through, we took a walk around a nearby field. The view was absolutely amazing. I can't believe how lucky the people who live in Haworth are. Everything is rolling hills and green grass, winding streets, and cute shops. I would LOVE to live there. Haworth possesses moors, but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to visit any. In the short time we had left, we visited an apothecary shop. It smelled sooo good. I bought some nice-smelling soap (handy since I just ran out of bath soap today!) and others in the group bought candy. When we had finished with the Apothecary, it was time to head back to where the coaches were supposed to meet us. We decided to take the long way and walk through a park, which was, as anyone could guess, very lovely.
The drive back wasn't long. Saltaire and Haworth are not very far from Leeds, maybe a half hour away at most. I hope I will have the chance to see the moors sometime. For right now, though, I am quite happy with the exploits of today.
In case you want to eat up more fun facts about my trip today, here is another copied section from the pamphlet we received (again, edited because whoever wrote it was definitely not an English major!):
"The Brontës are the world's most famous literary family. They lived in Haworth Parsonage from 1820 to 1861. This has now become the Brontë Parsonage Museum. The three sisters, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, wrote some of the most beloved books in the English language. Charlotte's most famous novel was Jane Eyre written in 1847; Emily's was Wuthering Heights, written in 1847; Anne's was The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, written in 1848. Despite all three being written over a hundred and fifty years ago, they are still popular today. Their works today are accepted as literary masterpieces but the sisters originally had to publish their works under a fictitious male name, following the custom of the times."
Me in Saltaire.
Me in front of Victoria Hall |
| Houses in Saltaire |
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| Roxanne, Leah, and Lauren |
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| Haworth |
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| View looking downhill in Haworth |
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| Neat winding streets |
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| Black cat in cemetery! |
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| Me in front of the Bronte house |
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| View of the graveyard/church from the Bronte's front yard |
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| Fields |
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| More fields and beautiful countryside |
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| Roxanne in front of small |
Wow, I would LOVE to go see the Bronte house, that sounds so neat! It's kind of ironic that, "The Brontës are the world's most famous literary family." and the pamphlet written about them is so poorly written!
ReplyDeleteHaha, yeah, isn't it terrible?!
ReplyDelete