The Brontë Way is a waymarked

long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exce ...

in the northern counties of

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England.

Route

The Brontë Way starts at

Oakwell Hall Oakwell Hall is an Elizabethan manor house in Birstall, West Yorkshire, Birstall, West Yorkshire, England. The Grade I Listed building, listed hall is set in period gardens surrounded by of country park. The house was built for John Batt. A r ...

Birstall, West Yorkshire Birstall is a large village in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. It is part of Birstall and Birkenshaw ward which had a population of 16,298 at the 2011 census. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and par ...

, and finishes at

Gawthorpe Hall Gawthorpe Hall is an Elizabethan country house on the banks of the River Calder, in Ightenhill, a civil parish in the Borough of Burnley, Lancashire, England. Its estate extends into Padiham, with the Stockbridge Drive entrance situated there. ...

Padiham Padiham ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Calder, about west of Burnley, Lancashire, England. It forms part of the Borough of Burnley. Originally by the River Calder, it is edged by the foothills of Pendle Hill to the north-west ...

, Lancashire. It runs for . At a steady pace, it may typically take four days to walk. The route has been designed to link places that have strong associations with the writings of the

Brontë family The Brontës () were a nineteenth-century literary family, born in the village of Thornton and later associated with the village of Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The sisters, Charlotte (1816–1855), Emily (1818–1848) ...

, incorporating places that feature in their work, such as Oakwell Hall,

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. She enlisted i ...

's inspiration for Fieldhead in her 1849 novel, ''

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

'', and

Top Withens Top Withens () (also known as Top Withins) is a ruined farmhouse near Haworth, West Yorkshire, England, which is said to have been the inspiration for the location of the Earnshaw family house Wuthering Heights in the 1847 novel of the same nam ...

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...

's possible inspiration for the home in her 1847 novel ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moorland, moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their tur ...

''. The route passes through Thornton, where the Brontë children were born, and

Haworth Haworth () is a village in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines, south-west of Keighley, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages includ ...

and

Haworth Parsonage Haworth () is a village in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines, south-west of Keighley, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages include ...

, where the family lived. It passes through

Penistone Hill Country Park Penistone Hill Country Park is an open space of moorland that is located to west of Haworth and north-west of Oxenhope in West Yorkshire, England. The park's highest point is detailed with a trig point which is above sea level. Since 1994, ...

, open

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...

, and areas of industrial heritage interest; public transport links to the route and its four main sections. Two guidebooks are available.

References

External links

Brontë Country website info on the Brontë Way
Long-distance footpaths in England Footpaths in West Yorkshire Footpaths in Lancashire Brontë family {{UK-trail-stub

Route

Further reading

References

External links