An eventful day in Brontë country

We wanted to give Mum a change of scene and so, inspired by the photographs of a friend who'd been to Haworth, we decided to take her for a day in Brontë country. This meant getting up at the crack of dawn (6.30am to be precise) so that Peter could drive us as far as his office in Huddersfield and we could then take the car on to Haworth, thus cutting the driving time and fuel costs. I did reconsider the wisdom of this at 6.30am, when all I wanted to do was roll over and have a lie in, but not for long. We arrived at the office at around 8.30 and the sat nav promised us a half hour journey to the Brontë parsonage museum. The sat nav had not reckoned with rush hour traffic through Halifax! It was one and a half hours later that we arrived in Haworth.

It was like stepping back in time! We stopped for coffee in the woollen mill, where you had to ring the bell for someone to come to the counter. Then we found the above sweet shop, to which we later returned to buy sweets for Peter.

We arrived at the museum 10 minutes before opening time. It had begun to drizzle and we were greeted by the one other waiting visitor, a lovely, friendly Japanese lady, complete with beautiful kimono, standing patiently under her umbrella. She informed us that the museum shop was open. We killed 10 minutes mooching there. We loved the Brontë house. In the garden was a statue of the three sisters. Inside were oodles of treasures, such as a whole outfit once worn by Charlotte (she was so tiny!) and a collection of costumes which are to be worn in this year's remake of Wuthering Heights. (I can't wait to see it).

From here we took a stroll around the town and looked in the quaint little shops, before settling on a tea room for lunch. The food was certainly piping hot...
I had done some research before our visit and wanted to go to Wycoller to see the ruins of the house believed to have been the inspiration for Ferndean Manor in Jane Eyre. The nice gentleman in the parsonage museum bookshop had found me a nearby postcode for my new best friend Sat Nav (yes Maggie, I do still trust him) whilst we were in the museum. So off we set. (First having got over the intriguing sight of a young lad going all around the car park looking in every car and blatantly trying doors to see if any were unlocked!)
The journey was a bit stressful and not just because of the narrow, winding roads, but because a car came screeching round a bend and bumped into me slightly! When I stopped, he had the cheek to accuse me of being on the wrong side of the road!!!??? I was driving incredibly slowly, because my trusty friend Sat Nav had just suggested that I turn left into a farmer's field. Thankfully Peter's one week old car was only slightly scratched. The driver of the aforementioned car (an elderly man ~ I won't say gentleman, because he wasn't one) said his car was probably a write-off. (Not unless it was only worth about £70!) I was a tad nervous about reporting this to my beloved but he was fine about it and told me what to do.
Calmed and back on the road, with nobody hurt, we found our way to Wycoller. Mum needed a tea stop to recover from the walk from the car park to the village and then we got to the ruins. Here's Anni (I daren't say "in da house" because I'm not allowed to say things like that)....

And here am I, looking for Mr Rochester....

Apart from the unfortunate incident on the road, I had a most lovely day with my girlies. (Tom had considered coming with us but the mere mention of 6,30am put paid to any such considerations.)

And I think my mother will sleep well tonight after all her walking in the fresh air. If not, she has three Brontë novels to keep her occupied.

Furthermore, after seven years I got to see Peter's office and meet all of his colleagues. Nice, even if every man did greet me with, "Hi Lol, I've heard a lot about you....(meaningful pause)... and your driving!!!" Does a girl have no secrets?