Haworth Parsonage and Cemetery

Black And White Photography, James, Photography

I live a stones throw from the little village of Haworth – once the home to the famous Bronte Sisters. I spend a lot of time on the moors, but occasionally I will explore the small village – early is best before the tourists arrive. This is the Parsonage with the cemetery in front.

Cowpers Cross

Photography

Cowpers Cross

Standing next to a prehistoric trackway high on Rombalds Moor in Yorkshire, this is the 12th century Cowpers Cross. For hundreds of years it has been a signpost and place of comfort for weary travellers crossing the bleak moors.

Jenny Twigg and her Daughter Dibb

Black And White Photography, James, Photography

High on the lonely Fountains Earth Moor in Nidderdale sits these two stones. Across the valley is a small, but prominent hill that goes by the name of Dead Mans Hill. It gets its name because two hundred years ago 3 drovers were discovered buried there in the dark peat – minus their heads.

An old coaching inn was at the side of a road at the bottom of the hill and one night the three, plus a dog stopped for refreshment and a bed for the night. They were never seen alive again, but the dog sat on the hill whimpering and wouldn’t come down. Upon investigation the bodies were found and the landlady of the coaching inn, and her daughter were convicted of the crime and hanged.

Another legend says they were witches and were turned to stone, where they remain forever on the dark moors.

The Red Cliffe Mine

Black And White Photography, James, Photography
Red Cliffe Mines

This ruined building is all that is left of the Red Cliffe Lead Mines at Grimwith in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It was a small concern, with 6 or 7 miners working together for a few years on the remote moors. Records show that the mines closed in the 1870s and provided little yield. It was an incredibly hard life and for most the pickings were slim.

Haworth Moor

Black And White Photography, James, Photography

I live 20 minutes away from Haworth and the beautiful and wild moors made famous by the Bronte sisters’ novels. This path goes from the village to Top Withens, a ruined farmhouse and the inspiration for Emilys’ ‘Wuthering Heights’. Close your eyes and you can almost imaging the three sisters walking along this old farm track nearly 180 years ago.