Walking to the shrine

This is a walk on good moorland paths leading to a famous literary shrine.

Start from Penistone Hill Country Park, the car park is on Oxenhope-Stanbury road at Tom Stell’s Seat.

Rejoin unfenced Moor Side Lane on the north side of the brow, noting that on the brow itself, just up to the left, is Tom Stell's Seat, a gritstone block inscribed with the name of a local rambler.

Crossing straight over the road, a path runs to a kissing-gate in a fence and heads away across Haworth Moor, with immediate views over the valley to Stanbury.

The improving path enjoys a grand stroll across the moor, slowly merging into a broad wallside track.

Continue along this past a ruin, narrowing into a broad path as the moor opens out. The isolated farm of Harbour Lodge is seen ahead beneath the Top Withins skyline, attendant trees aiding identification.

The rougher path drops down to the Bronte Bridge. Across the bridge take the path slanting up to the left. Meeting another path as it levels out, turn left to enjoy a sustained level stroll parallel with the beck below.

A solid wall leads to a spell along the bottom of a grassy pasture, but from a stile at the end you are firmly onto open moor.

The splendid path rolls on, later curving right to stepping-stones on a side stream then commencing a part-flagged climb towards Top Withins.

Meeting the flagged Pennine Way at a lesser ruin, rise left for two minutes to the rather more famous remains of Top Withins, regarded as the Earnshaw home in Emily Bronte's classic novel Wuthering Heights.

It is difficult to imagine that this lonely outpost was once a home, but whether or not Emily actually visualised Heathcliff here, one can readily imagine her story being enacted in this bleak moorland setting. Big views look out over Bronteland to Rombalds Moor beyond the Aire Valley.

Retrace steps to Bronte Bridge, across which take a rougher path climbing steeply up the right bank of the sidestream boasting the ‘Bronte Waterfall’, a slender trickle no different from a thousand other Pennine streams.

This rough climb quickly levels out and the path runs on towards Harbour Lodge. Passing grouse butts, a small footbridge precedes joining the unsurfaced access road.

Turn left away from the farm, and on for some time until beyond an appreciable kink.

As the road levels and straightens, a waymark sends a thin but clear and more inviting path off to the right.

This angles gently down, with a brief moist spell in the middle (Leeshaw Reservoir is ahead, below) before improving and reaching a wall along the moor edge.

A good path is joined to run left: after a gentle rise Penistone Hill re-appears, and Drop Farm’s drive is joined to lead out to the road just down from the start.

l This and many more, feature in Short Scenic Walks – Haworth & Bronte Country by Paul Hannon, which is available from hillsidepublications.co.uk