Brideshead Revisited

This is impressive Castle Howard, also in Yorkshire. I´ve been meaning to see the tv-series "Brideshead Revisited" (after the novel by Evelyn Waugh) again, in it´s entirety, and read the book, but "stuff" (like other books and tv-programs...) keeps getting in the way.


When I got home, I was happy to see an episode of "Time Team", my favourite arkeology programme, where they were digging (in just three days!) to try and find the old village that was simply moved by the earl of Carlisle, who built it in the early 18th Century. As I recall, they didn´t find much...

Anne Brontë´s grave

Beautiful Scarborough, on the Yorkshire coast, is a hugely varied and interesting town, that has far too much to offer for a single day. My travel companions are returned there as I am writing this, and I am not just a little envious!


Our first stop was, of course, the grave of Anne Brontë, the single reason for our visit here (but not the reason for returning). You can see we are not the only pilgrims, the grass on either side of the gravestone is has been worn off by all the fans posing next to it!

An assortment of flavours

The landscape of Yorkshire is the landscape of such creations as "Emmerdale Farm" (I don´t follow it now, but everybody watched it in the 70´s on swedish television), "Dalziel & Pascoe" sleuth novels by Reginald Hill, "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë, Bram Stoker´s "Dracula", James Herriot´s "All Creatures Great And Small", and more.

Atmosphere

Some places just makes you want to linger all day, soaking up the atmosphere. I am toying with the idea of returning to Haworth, staying with sweet Mr Hutchinson at the coolest B&B ever, Ye Sleeping House, taking long walks (the "real" Wuthering Heights is not far away) and generally drink lots of real ale, read, sit and just soak it up. For you: the Brontë Parsonage.

Branwell´s pub

Visiting a place like Haworth, with three famous authors having grown up there, and lived there most of their lives, it´s bound to be packed with memorabilia and significant places.


First thing we did when we got there? Had a pint, of course!

The pub is just next door to the church, and we arrived on a rather wet evening in April, which kind of lets you feel the mood of the Brontë´s novels.

It was the perfect prelude to our excursions in Haworth the next day!

Sylvia Plath´s grave

I should be blogging about this year´s journey to England, shouldn´t I? Well, I still haven´t digested all my impressions and the pile of pictures is just to high to tackle at the moment. Instead, my thoughts turn to last year´s journey and how one´s interest can lead to unexpected experiences. I was travelling from Manchester to Haworth, and pure luck in the form of a Guardian article made me aware that Sylvia Plath´s grave was on my way. So, I decided to stop and search for it. It made me discover one of the most charming towns in Yorkshire, Hebden Bridge.


And it gave me a good hike as well!

Another blog worth checking out

Robby Virus has started blogging the canon again after a regrettable hiatus. I am impressed with his ambitions! It´ll be fun to see what he makes of my favourite, Jane Austen.