"Gimmerton chapel bells were still ringing; and the full, mellow flow of the beck in the valley came soothingly on the ear. It was a sweet substitute for the yet absent murmur of the summer foliage, which drowned that music about the Grange when the trees were in leaf. At Wuthering Heights it always sounded on quiet days following a great thaw or a season of steady rain. We could hear at all times the distant, soft echo which but for the hilly terrain, and the folds of the valley, would have reached us in a stormy rush. One may guess the power of the north wind blowing over Edge, by the excessive slant of a few stunted firs at the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the sun."
This passage beautifully captures the wild, windswept nature of the moors, where the land is shaped by the relentless forces of weather and time. Walking the Wuthering Heights Walk in West Yorkshire, one can see the same gnarled trees, bent by the wind, and hear the distant rush of streams in the valleys.
At Top Withins, the ruined farmhouse often linked to Brontë’s novel, the full force of the north wind can still be felt, much like in the passage. Further along, Bronte Bridge and waterfall offer a gentler contrast, their soothing sounds reminiscent of the beck’s "mellow flow" in the valley. To walk this landscape is to step into Brontë’s world, where the moors are not just a backdrop but a living, breathing presence, shaping the characters and their fates.
Below I include details of a lollipop circular walk I had planned to visit Top Withens and Bronte Bridge & Waterfalls, from the quietude of Gorples Reservoir Car Park and along the Pennine Way, but alas it was not to be and like Heathcliff, I remain a broken, tormented soul forever unfulfilled and longing for my emancipation in this bleak landscape.
Photo Credits
Top Withens: https://www.visitbradford.com/things-to-do/top-withens-p1622601
Bronte Waterfall: https://live.staticflickr.com/3952/33665427922_248aa81e9c_b.jpg
Bronte Bridge: https://thirdeyetraveller.com/bronte-waterfall-walk/
No comments:
Post a Comment