Haworth Moor

Photo from Panoramio
Author: boranatty

Photo from Panoramio
Author: oomens

Photo from Panoramio
Author: johndaly

Photos provided by Panoramio are under the copyright of their owners.

Step outside Westfield Lodge Apartments and you are on the very edge of Haworth Moor where you can immediately take in the magnificent views or walk out on the moorland footpaths and see the areas that provided inspiration for the authors Emily Brontë, Charlotte Brontë and Anne Brontë.  The colour of this beautiful moorland changes with the seasons, from the purple heather of autumn to, possibly, the white snow of winter.

View from above Westfield Lodge Apartments

There are some good circular walks that can start and end at Westfield Lodge Apartments, at least one of which can take in the famous picturesque village of Haworth (pronounced How-arth).

Heading east from Westfield Lodge Apartments takes you through Penistone Hill Country Park and, optionally, into Haworth, whereas the westerly route takes you over Haworth Moor itself to Top Withens, a ruined farmhouse that is reputed to be the home of the Earnshaw family in the Emily Bronte novel Wuthering Heights.  (Over the years the area has been called both "Withens" and "Withins".)

Camp Site at Upper Heights - Pennine Way (www.Pennine-Way.org.uk)
Photo from Panoramio  Author: johndaly

A circular walk on Haworth Moor from Westfield Lodge to Top Withens and back can take you past Bronte Waterfalls, a series of stepped falls over stone layers, and Bronte Bridge.  The most obvious route to these is via Enfield Side Road and there is a direct footpath to it from the top of the moor near Westfield Lodge, overlooking Lower Laithe Reservoir (Stanbury).  The waterfalls can be anything from a trickle to a raging torrent and indeed Charlotte Bronte records witnessing a white torrent of melted winter snow in 1854.  The original Bronte Bridge was destroyed by a flash flood in 1989 and rebuilt in 1990.

East of Haworth Moor itself, Penistone Hill Country Park has criss-crossing of footpaths that allow you to see the beauty of this terrain at all times of year.  The area includes Haworth Cemetery, opened in 1893. (Not to be confused with Haworth Church's graveyard at the top of Haworth Main Street.)