Haworth

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For alternate meanings, see Haworth (disambiguation).
Coordinates: 53°50′N 1°58′W / 53.83°N 1.96°W / 53.83; -1.96
Haworth
Haworth

 Haworth shown within West Yorkshire
OS grid reference SE030372
Metropolitan borough City of Bradford
Metropolitan county West Yorkshire
Region Yorkshire and the Humber
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town KEIGHLEY
Postcode district BD22
Dialling code 01535
Police West Yorkshire
Fire West Yorkshire
Ambulance Yorkshire
EU Parliament Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament Keighley
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire

Haworth is a small historic town in the City of Bradford metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is located in the Pennines, 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of Keighley and 10 miles (16 km) west of Bradford. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages include Cross Roads, Stanbury and Lumbfoot.

Haworth is today a tourist destination known for its association with the Brontë sisters and its preserved heritage railway.

History

Haworth is first mentioned as a settlement in 1209.[1] The name may refer to a "hedged enclosure" or "hawthorn enclosure". The name was recorded as "Howorth" on a 1771 map.

Governance

Haworth is part of the parish of Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury,[2] which in turn is part of the Bradford Metropolitan District Council, one of the five metropolitan boroughs of West Yorkshire.

Geography

Haworth is situated in the Worth Valley amid the Pennine moors. It is 212 miles (341 km) north of London, 43 miles (69 km) west of York and 9 miles (14 km) west of Bradford.

Economy

Brontë Parsonage Museum

Tourism accounts for much of the local economy, with the major attractions being the heritage railway and Brontë Parsonage Museum. In Haworth there are tea rooms, souvenir and antiquarian bookshops, restaurants, pubs and hotels including the Black Bull, where Branwell Brontë's decline into alcoholism and opium addiction allegedly began. Haworth is a base for exploring Brontë Country, while still being close to the major cities of Bradford and Leeds.

On 22 November 2002 Haworth was granted Fairtrade Village status.[3] On 21 October 2005 Haworth Fairtrade officially signed an agreement to twin with Machu Picchu in Peru.[4]

Culture

Haworth village centre

Haworth's traditional events were an annual service at Haworth Spa and the rush bearing. Spa Sunday died out in the early 20th century and the rush bearing ceremony has not been held for many years. A modern event organised by the Haworth Traders' Association is "Scroggling the Holly" which takes place in November.[5] Bands and Morris men lead a procession of children in Victorian costume following the Holly Queen up the cobblestones to a crowning ceremony on the church steps. She unlocks the church gates to invite the spirit of Christmas into Haworth. Father Christmas arrives bringing glad tidings.

The first Haworth Arts Festival took place in 2000 and was repeated in 2001, but ceased. It was revived in 2005 as a festival combining performing and visual arts and street performance.[6] The festival has community involvement and uses local professional and semi-professional musicians, artists and performers and a larger name to headline each year. It has provided a stage for John Cooper Clarke and John Shuttleworth. The festival has expanded across the Worth Valley outside Haworth and is held on the first weekend in September.

Haworth Band is one of the oldest secular musical organisations in the Keighley area.[7] History records indicate that there was a brass band at Ponden, close by in 1854 with a body of excellent performers. It was founded by John Heaton who lived at Ponden. The band played at a celebration in Haworth at the conclusion of the Crimean War. Over the years the world of brass band music went from strength to strength, during which time the Haworth Band went with it. [citation needed]

Every year the village hosts a 1940s weekend where locals and visitors don wartime attire for a host of nostalgic events.[citation needed]

From 1971 to 1988, Main Street housed the Haworth Pottery (1971-88) West Yorkshire where Anne Shaw produced hand-thrown domestic stoneware derived from the arts & crafts tradition. During the 1970s other craftsmen in Haworth included a smith and wood-turner.

Community facilities

On 13 January 2009, it was announced that a permanent library will be established in the village, replacing the mobile service which visits the village once a week. Haworth last had its own library in 1978.[8]

Landmarks

Haworth railway station
Haworth railway station is part of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, an authentic preserved steam railway.

The 43 miles (69 km) long Brontë Way leads past Lower Laithe Reservoir, Stanbury to the Brontë waterfalls, the Brontë Bridge and the Brontë Stone Chair in which (it is said) the sisters took turns to sit and write their first stories. It then leads out of the valley and up on the moors to Ponden Hall (reputedly Thrushcross Grange in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights) and Top Withens, a desolate ruin which was reputedly the setting for the farmstead Wuthering Heights. Top Withens can also be reached by a shorter walking route departing from the nearby village of Stanbury.

Transport

Haworth is served by Keighley & District rural bus service which provides links to the main local town of Keighley and the local villages of Oxenhope, Stanbury, Oakworth and Denholme. There is also a service to Hebden Bridge. Evening and Sunday services are partly paid for by Metro.

Education

Haworth primary school on Rawdon Road is the only school in the village and takes children from age 3 to 11.[9] Children from 11 to 18 attend secondary schools outside the village at Oakbank school in Keighley and Parkside School in Cullingworth.[10]

Religious sites

St. Michael and All Angels church is situated on Church Street, next to the parsonage. It is part of the Church of England Deanery of Craven.[11]

Baptists in the area met in a barn at the bottom of Brow Road in 1785. They subsequently moved to Hall Green Baptist Church at the junction of Bridgehouse Lane and Sun Street.[12]

Sport

Haworth Cricket club was established in 1887 as Haworth Wesleyan Cricket Club and are members of the English Cricket Board.[13] They have a permanent ground north of Well Lane, west of the village centre. Haworth West End Cricket Club was formed in 1900 as the Haworth West Lane Baptist Cricket Club.[14]

Notable people

The Brontë sisters were born in Thornton near Bradford, but wrote most of their novels while living at Haworth Parsonage when their father was the parson at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels. In the 19th century, the town and surrounding settlements were largely industrialised, which put it at odds with the popular portrayal in Wuthering Heights, which only bore resemblance to the upper moorland that Emily Brontë was accustomed to.[15] The Parsonage is now a museum owned and maintained by the Brontë Society.

Filmography

Haworth and Haworth railway station have been used as settings for numerous period films and TV series, including The Railway Children (starring Jenny Agutter), Yanks (starring Richard Gere and Vanessa Redgrave), and Alan Parker's film version of Pink Floyd's The Wall (starring Bob Geldof). It also featured in "Wild Child" (starring Emma Roberts), and "The Souk" (a high class vintage shop) was depicted as a charity shop.

Twin towns

References

  1. ↑ "Haworth Village – Visiting Haworth – England". Retrieved 10 August 2010. 
  2. ↑ "City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council – Parish and town councils". Retrieved 5 August 2010. 
  3. ↑ Telegraph & Argus, Fair traders win award
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Telegraph & Argus, Andes show boosts International link
  5. ↑ "Scroggling the Holly – 20th November". Archived from the original on 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
  6. ↑ "Haworth Arts Festival". Retrieved 6 July 2012. 
  7. ↑ "The Haworth Band – History". Retrieved 5 August 2010. 
  8. ↑ Evans, Fiona (13 January 2009). "Library hope for literary village". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 2009-02-07. 
  9. ↑ "Ofsted – Haworth primary school". Retrieved 9 August 2010. 
  10. ↑ "Haworth Village Local Information – Secondary schools". Retrieved 21 August 2010. 
  11. ↑ "St Michael & All Angels, Haworth". Retrieved 5 August 2010. 
  12. ↑ "Hall Green Baptist Church – History". Retrieved 5 August 2010. 
  13. ↑ "Haworth Cricket Club". Retrieved 14 August 2010. 
  14. ↑ "Haworth West End Cricket Club – History". Retrieved 14 August 2010. 
  15. ↑ Rebecca Fraser (1993). "The Brontës". In Kate Marsh. Writers and Their Homes. Hamish Hamilton. p. 41. ISBN 0-241-12769-6. 

External links

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