P 1 BRONTE C W Y - Channel 4

1 PROGRAMME 1 BRONTE COUNTRY WEST YORKSHIRE Introduction We re walking through West Yorkshire moorland - the backdrop to both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Venturing out on a four day hike, we ll discover how these moors inspired England s greatest literary family and two of the finest novels ever written. The Brontes books have been translated into almost every language on earth and turned into over a hundred films, plays and dramas. Yet the lives of the three tragic but brilliant sisters and their wayward brother, Branwell, read like one of their books. This landscape gives us a sense of what inspired the BRONTE sisters. It offers insight into their lives and those of the lesser known, but no less remarkable, Branwell, and father Patrick, BRONTE ..Walking Through History 2 Day 1. From their birthplace, Thornton, on the outskirts of Bradford, we head for the countryside where so many of their stories were set.

2 We end our first day at the family home in Haworth. Thornton to Haworth via Black Moor Distance: 7 miles Day 2. We re back onto the moors to discover how their storytelling evolved from innocent childhood fantasies. Over Penistone Hill and onto Haworth Moor, where the BRONTE children let their imaginations run wild, we then follow the BRONTE Way to Wycoller Hall. This ruin in Lancashire is supposedly the inspiration for Jane Eyre s final chapter. Haworth to Wycoller, via the BRONTE Waterfall, Ponden Hall and Wycoller Hall ruin. Distance: miles Day 3. We re crossing moors and taking the Pennine Way to Top Withens - setting for the most passionate and controversial BRONTE novel of all. Soaking up the eerie atmosphere at the nearby Alcomden Stones, we then drop down into Hardcastle Crags. Here we ll find out what the talented Branwell BRONTE was up to, before ending the day in gentrified Hebden Bridge.

3 Wycoller to Hebden Bridge via: Top Withens, Alcomden Stones and Gibson Mill. Distance: 15 miles Day 4. The final leg of our journey takes us to the pretty village of Luddenden to finish the tale of Branwell BRONTE before we head north across our final stretch of moorland. A short train ride from Oxenhope brings us full circle back to the Brontes home in Haworth. Hebden Bridge to Haworth via: Luddenden, Thornton Moor Reservoir and Oxenhope Distance: miles Please use OS Explorer Maps 288 and OL21 (1:25k) or OS Landranger Maps 103 and 104 (1:50k). All distances approx..Walking Through History 3 Now the real walk starts as we head west out of Thornton along the BRONTE Way. After a few miles the path passes the Thornton Moor Reservoir on our left. Then we cross Black Moor: the thick carpet of heather and rough grass means only hardy souls like North Country Cheviots are found up here.

4 A glorious view soon reveals our next location ahead. The BRONTE Way leads us to St Michael and All Angels' Church in the village of Haworth. Our walk across BRONTE Country begins in Thornton, just outside Bradford. From the centre of Thornton we head up the steep cobbled streets to 77 Market Street. Day 1 Places of Thornton to Haworth via Black Moor Distance: 7 miles The Birth of Genius In 1815, Reverend Patrick BRONTE arrived in the country village of Thornton to set up home with his wife Maria. Today 77 Market Street is a cozy literary caf but the plaque on the front reads, In this house were born the following members of the BRONTE 1816, Patrick Branwell 1817, Emily Jane 1818 and Anne 1820. Patrick BRONTE complained that it was ill constructed and inconvenient but it was a happy home for his growing family.

5 The original fireplace - in front of which the BRONTE children were born still survives. Haworth: A Killer Village It s just seven miles from Thornton but for the Brontes, and their two flat wagons, the journey to Haworth would have been hard work. What they found was a far cry from the quaint village we see today. New machines, powered by water and steam, were transforming the cloth making industry. When the Brontes arrived in 1820, Haworth was an expanding township of eighteen textile mills spread out across the valley, employing 4500 men, women and children. Haworth was one of the unhealthiest places to live in Victorian England. Tuberculosis flourished and decaying matter from the graveyard seeped down into the stream that was used for drinking water. Forty percent of children didn t reach their fifth birthday.

6 The average life expectancy was just 25 years old..Walking Through History 4 Great Imaginations Run by the BRONTE Society, the library of the Parsonage Museum contains the world's most comprehensive collection of Bront manuscripts, letters and early editions of their novels and poetry. Shortly after moving into the Parsonage, the death of Patrick s wife, Maria, was followed by those of their two eldest daughters, Maria and Elizabeth. They had caught tuberculosis at a nearby boarding school and a devastated Patrick decided to bring up Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne at home. It created a lifelong bond between the four children. To escape the grim realities of life, Charlotte and Branwell created make-believe heroes such as the Duke of Zamorna who ruled imaginary kingdoms called Glass Town, Angria and Gondal. Their tiny handwritten magazines, held at the Parsonage Museum, chronicle these fantasy worlds.

7 Mini adverts attest to their Monty Python and Goon Show styled humour: To be sold 100 horses by Gerald Dreadful; To be lent the unprecedented sum of six pence by Private Candlestick who dwells between the gates of the wall of Jericho and the wall of China; Grand proposal by Sergeant Shuffle which if put into effect will allow men to go to prison for nothing! . At the top of the road we find the BRONTE Parsonage Museum, once Patrick s rather grand parsonage..Walking Through History 5 Walking westwards, Balcony Lane takes us to Penistone Hill. After a short invigorating climb we re blessed with spectacular panoramic views, including Haworth down behind us. Great chunks of stone from old sandstone quarries lie on the hillside. Much of it was supposedly used to pave the streets of London. The path from Penistone leads us onto Haworth Moor and into a hidden valley.

8 Continue across the moor on the BRONTE Way past BRONTE Bridge . Just off the main path a short push up the valley brings us to the BRONTE Waterfall . Back to BRONTE Bridge and we re on the main footpath again. First it s a lung busting climb up the steep sided valley. Then it s down towards Ponden Reservoir. Alongside the reservoir is Ponden Hall where the BRONTE children once found shelter after an almost fatal walk across the moors. Day 2 Places of Haworth to Wycoller via: Ponden Hall and the BRONTE Waterfall. Distance: miles BRONTE Waterfall Local legend says these falls were popular with the BRONTE girls who used to come here to compose stories. We know Charlotte came here at least once, describing in a letter a perfect torrent racing over the rocks, white and beautiful . Just short of the falls is a seat shaped rock, known locally as the BRONTE Chair.

9 Walking Through History 6 Ponden Hall: Dicing with Death In 1824, Branwell, Emily and Anne discovered just how wild these moors could be. They were out walking near a peat bog, which had dried up after a long hot summer. A sudden thunderstorm turned the peat into a rapidly expanding quagmire, creating what s known as a bog burst . Patrick BRONTE described it as an earthquake but it was more like a landslide with torrents of mud; everything in its way was carried down the valley. The children were rescued and it is believed they were brought to Ponden Hall for shelter. Now a B&B, the children knew Ponden Hall farm well. Indeed, it s thought some of Angria s characters were modelled on the Heaton family who lived here. Mr Rochester Whilst a teacher in Brussels, Charlotte fell in love with headmaster, Constantin Heger. He was married and made it clear he could never share her feelings.

10 Charlotte came home and poured her frustrations out onto paper. Using the male sounding name, Currer Bell, she created Jane Eyre. It is one of the most passionate love stories of English literature with its brooding hero, Mr Rochester. His figure was enveloped in a riding cloak, fur collared and steel clasped; its details were not apparent, but I traced the general points of middle height and considerable breadth of chest. He had a dark face, with stern features and a heavy brow; his eyes and gathered eyebrows looked ireful and thwarted just Wycoller Hall Ruin This late sixteenth century manor house, now a listed ruin, was the inspiration for Ferndean Manor. This is where the lovers, Jane and Mr Rochester, finally come together at the end of the novel. Wycoller Hall was even used to illustrate the cover of the 1898 edition.