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Heights of passion

Those who fell helplessly in lust with brooding Englishman-of-the-moment Tom Hardy in the recent BBC television version of Wuthering Heights might consider a trip to the source.


Author Emily Bronte set Heathcliff and Cathy’s doomed love story on those same mysterious west Yorkshire moors that she and her sisters Charlotte and Ann called home. The Bronte girls were born in Thornton, now part of the city of Bradford, and moved to the more characterful hamlet of Haworth as girls. That village is now an ode to their literary skills, with flocks of tourists turning up to ogle the Worth valley in the Brontes’ honour each year.

But be warned; the Yorkshire moors aren’t quaint or pretty; they’re brooding, like Heathcliff. Go in the winter for their fullest effect. Pray for rain. Stop off in Ilkley on the way, and hike through the drizzle, heather and mist to the famous Cow and Calf rocks. Shiver and get spooked, then duck into the pub of the same name for fabulous lunch and a log fire to warm up. You won’t find Hardy here – he’s busy in Hollywood filming with Charlize Theron – but you can certainly get the measure of Heathcliff from the view outside.

Haworth Village

The Cow and Calf, Ilkley

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