The moorland walk was led by author and Haworth resident Michael Stewart, whose book Walking the Invisible – Following in the Brontës’ Footsteps is a plunge into the lives and landscapes of the literary sisters. The ramble also took in the Brontë Waterfall, though the dry conditions meant not much water was falling.
In the Brontë Parsonage Museum, a main point of attraction was the mahogany table in the dining room. According to Mrs. Gaskell, the Brontë sisters would walk around this table in the evenings discussing their literary endeavors. The table has ink blots on its surface and a small capital E carved into it.
There were two special exhibitions at the Parsonage, one of which was of particular interest to the group from Brussels. The "Imaginary Worlds" exhibit displayed works by Franklin, a Portuguese-born artist who has lived in Belgium for much of his life. He creates artwork inspired by the poems, letters, books and lives of the Brontës.
The “From Haworth to Eternity” exhibition focused on the popular conception of Haworth, which has been nurtured by the many film and TV adaptations of the Brontës’ lives and works. It traced the irresistible draw of Haworth for visitors from all over the world, from the first literary pilgrims to today’s mass tourism, featuring letters, manuscripts, souvenir albums and movie posters.
The museum also has a trunk that Charlotte used on one of her sojourns to Brussels, as well as Patrick Brontë’s notes of French words to use while he was taking his daughters to Belgium.
Michael Stewart, who started his Top Withens walk from the cemetery in front of the Parsonage, journeyed to Brussels himself in October 2023. He gave an informal talk to the Brussels Brontë Group, while his wife, Claire O’Callaghan, author of Emily Brontë Reappraised, gave a presentation on rehabilitating Emily.
Emily had a love of animals and had several dogs as pets and even a merlin named Nero, Michael explained. After the group got out on Penistone Hill, Michael recited a bit of an Emily poem featuring a raptor:
The starry night shall tidings bring,
Go out upon the breezy moor;
Watch for a bird with sable wing,
And beak and talons dropping gore.
Look not around, look not beneath,
But mutely trace its airy way,
Mark where it lights upon the heath;
Then, wanderer, kneel thee down, and pray.
What fortune may await thee there,
I will not, and I dare not tell;
But Heaven is moved by fervent prayer,
And God is mercy — fare thee well!
The Brontë Waterfall was a good place to pause for a snack. This was a favourite spot of the Brontë sisters. They called it "the Meeting of the Waters," as Ellen Nussey recalled in her Reminiscences of Charlotte Brontë published in 1871:
One long ramble ... was to a spot familiar to Emily and Anne, which they called ‘the Meeting of the Waters’. It was a small oasis of emerald green turf, broken here and there by small clear springs; a few large stones served as resting places; seated here we were hidden from the world, nothing appearing in view but miles and miles of heather, a glorious blue sky, and brightening sun.
As the group lounged near the stream, Michael recited Emily’s poem How Still, How Happy!, which begins:
How still, how happy! Those are words
That once would scarce agree together;
I loved the plashing of the surge,
The changing heaven the breezy weather,
More than smooth seas and cloudless skies
And solemn, soothing, softened airs
That in the forest woke no sighs
And from the green spray shook no tears.
As the group approached Top Withens, dark clouds were gathering above the hills and a spattering of rain seemed appropriately wuthering. It was Ellen Nussey who first suggested that the Top Withens farmhouse was the model for Wuthering Heights, though the building itself didn’t resemble the house in Emily’s novel. According to some sources, ‘Withens’ is a dialect word with the same meaning as ‘wuthering’.
Here, the poem Michael recited was Emily’s High waving heather:
High waving heather 'neath stormy blasts bending,
Midnight and moonlight and bright shining stars,
Darkness and glory rejoicingly blending,
Earth rising to heaven and heaven descending,
Man's spirit away from its drear dungeon sending,
Bursting the fetters and breaking the bars.
All down the mountain sides wild forests lending
One mighty voice to the life-giving wind,
Rivers their banks in their jubilee rending,
Fast through the valleys a reckless course wending,
Wider and deeper their waters extending,
Leaving a desolate desert behind.
Shining and lowering and swelling and dying,
Changing forever from midnight to noon;
Roaring like thunder, like soft music sighing,
Shadows on shadows advancing and flying,
Lighning-bright flashes the deep gloom defying,
Coming as swiftly and fading as soon.
On the way back, it was only appropriate to stop off for a pint at the Wuthering Heights pub in Stanbury.
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