I didn’t find Darcy – I found Heathcliff! Shucks!

Actually, it would seem I’ve landed some fabulous places to stay despite myself. Leaving the green and purple hills of Sheffield and the Peak district I rolled on to the M1 and pushed north today, heading for a place called The Weavers Guesthouse in an unknown town of Haworth. How was I to know I would almost be staying at the Bronte’s parsonage which is directly across the car park behind me.

I drove up in to Yorkshire in increasingly murky weather, an appropriate condition to see the Moors in. Did I hear “Cathy? Cathhhhhyyyyyy?” In the wind? Maybe.

Please squeal along with me when my GPS directed me around the corner and down a cobbled street. My B&B was at the top but needed to circle to come back up and park in the car park behind. I had stepped back in time nearly 200 years.

Having some time to spend before check in I went in to the Apothecary cafe and ordered the lunch special of Yorkshire pudding.

Next I negotiated the cobbled street and up to the Parsonage museum to see just how the Brontes lived and where Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre were written. I get goosebumps thinking that I am walking just where these sisters all shopped and lived.

Here is just where those books and others were written:

They paced around that table discussing their stories.

The rest of the house is full of memorabilia. It is hard to believe how short their lives when you consider the impact of their work. Charlotte lived the longest and watched her brother die of drugs and alcohol at 31, her four sisters of consumption or tuberculosis, her mother of cancer.

There are letters and ink pots and quills and even the blood-flecked handkerchief belonging to Anne (only 28 when she died).

It was all very fascinating and quite moving. That was Charlotte’s dress in the cabinet. I could have fitted my hands around the waist. If I go back through the stones I would be a phenomenon of towering stature.

After paying homage to this incredible family I pulled my hood up over my head and set off for my car, where I listened to my audiobook until the B&B opened. It is 5 mins walk from the Parsonage!

I am thrilled at my lodgings.

They look out from first floor directly on to the cobbled street.

I’ve been out for a wet walk and unearthed some more treasures like this Apothecary shop:

There in the time of the Brontes and no doubt where many a cure was hopefully sought.

This vintage shop my sister would love:

This sheep in the art gallery:

And this gorgeous prospect:

I’m coming back in the morning to investigate these when they open.