Growing up in Bradford, Haworth - far up on the moors, away from the travel-clogged roads and council estates of the city - was a regular destination for weekend wanderings. Famously home to the Bronte sisters, who lived in the Parsonage for most of their lives, Haworth has become a site of literary pilgrimage for book lovers worldwide.
When I visited last weekend with my mum we didn't make the pilgrimage to the Parsonage Museum (although it's well worth a trip, it being fairly mind-boggling to see the rooms in which were written some of the best novels of the 19th century, and to read about the appalling living conditions in Haworth at the time). Instead, we spent a few happy hours strolling the cobbled streets, popping in and out of independent shops, and eating a delicious lunch.
Does Beavis & Butthead laugh at 'Penistone'
Those views! Almost twenty years living away from Yorkshire, and I still miss it so; Leicestershire just doesn't have anything to compare to the majesty of the Pennines.
Haworth is home to many a brilliant independent store, from antiquarian booksellers to old-fashioned apothecaries. My find of the day was the wonderful Hawksbys, the most incredible gallery space stuffed full of ceramics, paintings, prints, stationery and jewellry. I honestly could have bought half the shop, but went home with just a print and a necklace (for now - I'm sure I'll be back again soon to pick up more treasures).
