Top

After a train and bus ride to Haworth, 16yo and I headed out on the walk up to Top Withens, reputedly one of the inspirations for Emily Brontë’s ‘Wuthering Heights’. We joked that this was revision for her English Lit GCSE (exam Monday) although I don’t think there is any sign of a Brontë in the current syllabus.

It was a was a warm, sunny day, but there was enough of a breeze to keep things comfortable. It was a longer walk than I remembered, particularly when factoring in the walk up through Haworth, but we managed.

For wildlife we had plenty of Curlew, Lapwing (and chicks, extra) and a few Stonechat. We also heard our first Cuckoo of the year. And a smattering of butterflies and moths: Green-veined White, Large White, Orange-tip, Peacock and Common Heath.

Haworth was lively with the unofficial remnants of what would have been 1940s weekend, which had apparently been cancelled due to funding disputes.

Today’s view is looking back up toward Top Withens, marked by the furthest tree just below the Lancashire-Yorkshire border ridge, with a characteristic Worth Valley landscape. 

It is apparently more than 10 years since I previously did this walk, when the landscape was full of browns rather than greens.