Haworth by night, West Yorkshire

As the month of May has been a busy month for alternative but better reasons, I just thought I would squeeze in a second post for the month to supplement the previous one.

I took a much needed week long break from life by visiting the west coast of Scotland with some unplanned and interesting surprises that needed to be photographically recorded ! The variety and interest of the trip resulted in the time consuming process of reducing 1400 images to a manageable size for the purpose of showing friends and no doubt yourselves in about 3 or 4 posts time.

Back to Haworth ... When staying overnight on the road, I'm always tempted to go out for a late night walk with the tripod. Depending on the light, some shots work and some don't. When I first started this branch of photography as a youth I always went for the floodlit buildings, but with the passing of time I realised that subtle can sometimes work better than bold.

Some of these images despite being slightly underexposed can have that tungsten feel about them with street lights being the enemy. I am by no means an expert but have gained a lot more experimental experience in digital than two or three pre-planned settings on 35mm film.

There was a lot less scope in Haworth than I thought but pubs always seem to have some interesting external light features. The above establishment was recommended to me by the Bed and Breakfast host with a redeemable discount voucher system for evening meal.

The other place I ate at night time was just around the corner (seen by daylight in the previous post)

It's never a comforting sight to see the above sign displayed in a prominent position in the main street with the knowledge that the premier photo location to capture The Bronte Parsonage is in an eerie graveyard. Trust me, the Haworth graveyard is not the best place to be in the day far less at night.

Tripod, the heavy rustling of trees and myself standing on a table top gravestone for the above image.

Taken from Parsonage, Bronte school on left, main square / top of street beyond church

The quiet night broken by the rustling of wind in the trees, the chimes of the church bell at 10pm, the echo of my footsteps on the cobbled stone and the cry of the child in a house in the lane. A mixture of me losing my nerve, spending too long in the graveyard and acquiring all the shots I was ever going to get. I decided that it was time to hurry back to the Bed and Breakfast down the lane. It was only at this point did I realise that the child thought that my footsteps were other abnormal graveyard activity !!

Haworth, West Yorkshire

It's sometimes quite difficult choosing a title image that is attractive, grabs the attention of the viewer and is the essence of the post. With that thought in mind and what's currently in my head, I'm not sure that I'm going to achieve any of that particularly as I have been absent for so long on other travels !!

Following on from the previous post and the James Bond Ball I attended, I was given an invitation at the dinner table by a fellow guest (someone who I shall refer to as "Stockped") to a similar event in Manchester. Despite having passed it on the motorway on numerous occasions, it was an opportunity to meet new people and see how the city had progressed since I last visited it during my first year of rail travel.

Couldn't get into this Bed and Breakfast !! .. haha

I was fortunate to have the preceding week off work and I was interested in attending another event on the way. Haworth was the ideal location for a three night stay to attend the first event and explore undiscovered parts of the area.

Avid readers will realise immediately that Haworth is famous for and was home to the Brontë family. The father, Patrick Brontë, was employed in several trades in Northern Ireland before deciding to become a teacher and subsequently a Church of England minister.

To the Parsonage

After studying theology in Cambridge, he took on a series of pastoral roles in Essex, Shropshire and nearby Guiseley and eventually settled in The Parsonage in Haworth.

Life in the West Yorkshire area wasn't pleasant for the majority with poor working and social conditions giving rise to ill health and disease, a topic that is enforced upon the visitor during the tour of  The Parsonage ... it makes grim reading !

Parsonage and Sunday school 

Patrick was not only known for his sermons from the pulpit but also as a local health and education reformer with the creation of a clean water supply and the building of the sunday school.

The health of his family may have been the inspiration for the action on health but it was unfortunate that he outlived all of his six children.

The sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne shared their creative experiences with each other in a downstairs writing room often running around the central table in the room. The content of their books (Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ) was very much influenced by their life experiences which can be sampled by both visiting Haworth and The Parsonage.

From a personal point of view, the house seems to be a place of pilgrimage for many Brontë fans from all around the world ....

How exciting to be here  ... LOL !!

... who probably know the tragic personal stories. In my opinion, they are in for a reality check when they arrive as they discover that it was probably the so called ....

... "chocolate box" looking village that it took it's toll. The call to a needy parish was the ultimate price of his family.

Branwell, the only son had an interest in writing but wanted to pursue a career in Art with his most famous painting being the one of his three sisters and the erased image of himself from the canvas. The evidence suggests that Branwell occasionally underachieved and avoided further training in London in favour of The Black Bull behind his fathers church (the building that preceded the church in the photo) ...

... and some drugs from the shop across the street, now a famous tourist destination for other sales ...       http://www.rose-apothecary.co.uk

Tourist Information, Railway Children film location

On a lighter note, Haworth is trying to bring a bit of colour into the Pennine stone these days from the business's that survive on tourism.

Yorkshire food ...

... takeaways  ;-) ....

... Ice cream  (always read the label ! ) ...

... and Yorkshire tea !!!

As some of the creatures seemed quite dangerous .....

One thing I did notice were the village cats, they were everywhere ... outside the shops ...

... outside the pub ...

... and even in the church !!!

...  one could assume that even though the telephone box was a little to late for Branwell to get some some help ...  it's always useful for something  !!!  ...