EMBRACE the spirit of the Bronte Sisters with this walk which takes you from their family home at Haworth Parsonage to the heather moors and stony becks which inspired Emily Bronte's classic doomed romance.

First we head for the stone bridge and seat by the waterfalls of the South Dean Beck where the young sisters played in their childhood. Then we climb to the derelict Top Withins, an isolated farmhouse at the head of the valley that was the real inspiration for Wuthering Heights -- the home of Cathy Earnshaw in the novel. Perhaps you may still hear her ghostly voice caught on the wind...?

DISTANCE: 7 miles

START: There are several public car parks in Haworth village. Follow the signs for the Bronte Parsonage and the walk starts there (OS Grid Ref. 029373). Haworth is located along the B6142, three miles south-west of Keighley, West Yorkshire.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Train stations at Keighley or Hebden Bridge. Bus connections to Haworth from either town or steam train from Keighley!

(Note: follow these route directions in conjunction with the OS South Pennines map, Outdoor Leisure 21)

START at the Bronte Parsonage. This is well signposted off the main cobbled street at the top end of the village and is reached by a little lane alongside the church. With the Parsonage on the left, continue straight ahead along the track which passes through gates and runs alongside gardens. It crosses fields and reaches a road. Go straight ahead along the road and at the nearby road junction take the left fork and continue straight ahead along a lane which reveals a view of a reservoir and the Worth Valley below to your right. After about half a mile the lane reaches a road junction above the reservoir.

Cross the road and go straight ahead here along the track. A distinct path now clings to the hillside and after about 1 miles the path drops down to the waterfalls and stone footbridge over the beck. This spot is popular with tourists in summer taking photos of the curious rock seat where the Bronte Sisters must have sat. Cross the footbridge and the waymarked path zigzags steeply up the opposite side of the valley across walls to reach an adjoining track running left to right across the hillside. Turn left along this track and continue your climb up the valley for another mile. It eventually leads to the isolated farmhouse of Top Withins with its commanding and windswept view of the valley below. A plaque explains the Bronte connections.

From the ruins head back towards the way you came with Top Withins on your left but make sure you take the upper path to the left which is the well-used Pennine Way. This track is now followed for about a mile. Shortly after it passes a camp site on the left and starts to drop downhill a crossroads of tracks is reached. The Pennine Way turns sharp left and heads north here. Leave it at this point and instead go straight ahead at the crossroads along a bridleway which continues as a wide lane heading towards the reservoir. When the lane joins a road turn right and follow the road through Stanbury village.

After passing through the village turn sharp right down the adjoining lane which drops down to the reservoir embankment. Follow this across the dam and climb uphill to the road junction passed earlier in the walk. The quickest way back to Haworth from here is to turn left and retrace your steps along the lane and path back to the Parsonage. The cobbled street and shops of the village are a fitting end to the expedition.

COUNTRY CLIPS

Why not combine a walk around historic Haworth with one of the many weekend events in the town leading up to Christmas? These include a Brass Band Weekend (November 16-17) and the traditional yuletide festival of "Scroggling the Holly" Weekend (November 23-24). The latter event welcomes Christmas into the town with local children in Victorian costume gathering the holly along with ponies, morris dancers and the Holly Queen. For further information on this and Haworth's other Victorian Xmas festivities contact tourist information (Tel. 01535 642329)