A week in West Yorkshire

 

View over Hebden Bridge from the road heading up to Heptonstall

Greetings, readers!

In early July we spent a week in a beautiful cottage just outside the lovely town of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, but it's taken me a while to get around to posting about it. Better settle in - this is a slightly lengthy read.

It was a week of typically 'northern' weather - we had rain most days. But I'm so glad we chose those dates because the following week the UK went into a 10-day heatwave with temps in the high 20s and low 30s, with very warm nights (19-23ºC) and there's no way I would have been scaling steep hills and clambering up torturous cobbled inclines under those conditions.

As is our usual practice on lengthy drives, we broke our journey to West Yorkshire (about 6 hours) with a visit to a National Trust property - an opportunity to get some exercise after several hours on England's motorways. I don't think I'd even heard of Nostell Priory when I started researching a mid-journey venue, and although the grounds are nothing spectacular, the house was well worth exploring - a large Georgian mansion built in the Palladian style by two successive generations of the Winn family between 1727 and 1785, who had originally made their money from the London textile trade and climbed the social ladder to become part of the landed gentry.

The impressive facade of Palladian mansion Nostell Priory, just outside Wakefield in Yorkshire

A large section of skylight panels at the top of the house means the south staircase is well lit during
daylight hours - in all its stone and cantilever fabulousness

Nostell isn't famed for its grounds, particularly, but it did have a huge and impressive walled garden

The interior of the house is opulent indeed, chock-full of Chippendale pieces and rich textiles. Many of the ceilings are elaborately decorated. Attention wallpaper fans: you are in for a treat at Nostell - the exquisite, handpainted original papers are miraculously still intact. I love a bit of chinoiserie and it was worth the visit for me just to drool over the still-richly coloured, exotic wall coverings.

Beautiful handpainted chinoiserie wallpaper in The State Rooms, Nostell Priory
- hanging there since about 1770!

More gorgeous handpainted wallpaper and japanned Chippendale furniture in The State Bedroom, Nostell Priory

Canopied bed in The State Bedroom, Nostell Priory

The State Dining Room, Nostell Priory

Just one of the elaborately decorated ceilings at Nostell Priory
- this one in The Saloon (designed by Robert Adams)

Chair, c. 1770-75, pollard oak inlay, painted finish, attributed to Thomas Chippendale.
It features the Winn family crest

After a refreshing couple of hours at Nostell we continued on to our final destination, the hamlet of Colden which lies above the town of Hebden Bridge in the Upper Calder Valley. We were given a warm welcome to Sutcliffe Barn by our Air B&B hosts and their adorable giant poodle and ginger-and-white cat, and we quickly settled in - such a comfortable and elegant abode in blissfully quiet farmland above Colden Water which joins the River Calder at Hebden Bridge.

The gorgeous Jacobean-style panelled interior of our Air B&B cottage, Sutcliffe Barn, near Hebden Bridge

Antique settle / bench near the rear entrance to Sutcliffe Barn.
Every evening we were treated to the sight of a barn owl flying backwards and forwards
in front of the trees you can just see through the top part of the doorway

Kevin helping himself to snacks as we enjoyed an aperitif on the rear terrace at Sutcliffe Barn,
on our first evening in West Yorkshire

As we had done at Christmas, we chose a fully self-contained cottage in an area unlikely to be thronged with holidaymakers in order to limit our interaction with others, taking enough provisions for the week. The Delta Variant was going gangbusters in nearby Halifax, Huddersfield, Rochdale and Manchester at the time of our visit, and knowing that just about every family in the UK would be looking to stay somewhere on the coast during the summer school holidays because they'd be unable to travel abroad, I deliberately focused my search inland. Fortunately Frensham breaks up for the summer several weeks ahead of state schools so in addition to being away from the coastal crowds, the area was still relatively quiet.

Sutcliffe Barn is beautifully positioned right on several walking tracks and we took advantage of this, braving humidity, showers and very wet, thigh-high grasses to descend down to the river and up the opposite hillside, then through woodland into Hebden Bridge itself. It's a bustling town that has an alternative flair, with lots of independent bookstores, cafés, whole-food shops, tattoo parlours and natural therapists.

Heart Gallery in Hebden Bridge. It occupies part of a former Baptist chapel

The River Calder in Hebden Bridge

Hebden Bridge Old Mill in the town centre - it now houses cafés and shops

We didn't linger long in the town and after a reviving coffee from our thermos we got cracking on the second half of the loop walk back to Sutcliffe Barn. It was an arduous and continuous climb up scarily steep cobbled roads in high humidity (I wonder how anybody manages those cobbles in icy weather), but with the reward of passing through the charming village of Heptonstall at the highest point.

Among Heptonstall's claims to fame is that it was the site of a battle during the early part of the English Civil War in 1643. It was once a centre for hand-loom weaving, and the village's many terraced cottages commonly have larger than usual first-floor windows, designed to maximise light for weaving back in the centuries prior to electricity. 

The village is also unusual in that, for such a small place, it has not one but two fairly substantial churches - the original old church founded in the 13th century, which is now a ruin, and the new church of St Thomas The Apostle. Apparently John Wesley preached in the former numerous times, but was known to have described it in 1786 as 'the ugliest church I know.' Small wonder, then, that when the tower was destroyed by a storm in 1847, the decision was taken not to rebuild and instead a new, grander church was constructed.

However in modern times Heptonstall's main attraction is probably the fact that American writer Sylvia Plath, who committed suicide at age 30 in 1963, is buried there. 'Of all the places for an American writer to be buried...' I hear you say. The reasons are that Plath apparently had a fascination for the local wild, windy moors (thank you, Kate Bush) that had been the inspiration for the novels of the Brontës - more on that below - and also that her poet husband, Ted Hughes, was born in the area and his parents still lived nearby at the time of Plath's death.

A charming cottage in Heptonstall

Sylvia Plath's headstone in the cemetery at Heptonstall.
The quote is often claimed to be from Hindu scriptures, the Bhagavad Gītā (“Song of God”), however apparently the more likely source is a 16th century Chinese novel "Journey to the West" by novelist and poet Wu Cheng'en (originally published anonymously in the 1590s during the Ming Dynasty)

Part of the old church ruins in Heptonstall

The tower of the new church of St Thomas The Apostle in Heptonstall,
 viewed from the ruins of the old church

This lovely, scruffy chap was just sitting in his garden in Heptonstall, watching the world go by

The final leg of our return to the cottage was a less exhausting affair which afforded us spectacular views across the Calder Valley, and I was so charmed by Heptonstall that a couple of days later we returned on foot - this time without the longer element of the walk down into Hebden Bridge.

Cautionary signs for walkers just outside Heptonstall.
- 'Don't use the fence as an anchor' !!!

The path from Heptonstall back to Sutcliffe Barn was absolutely beautiful, a combination of
woodland, open fields and rolling hills

Close-up of those lovely moss-covered rocks in the dry stone walls - a veritable micro-forest!

Views back over Hebden Bridge, with Stoodley Pike visible on the far hill

Kevin cycled to Stoodley Pike one day. You can climb up inside the tower....
[photo by Kevin Joy]

... and here is the view from the top
[photo by Kevin Joy]

Before travelling to this area I had a vague idea it was not far from Haworth - that's Brontë country, in case the town name is not familiar to you. In fact Haworth was a mere 30-minute drive away and despite the best efforts of the town to deter visitors in peak summer tourist season (many businesses closed, and the Brontë Parsonage Museum itself only open to very limited numbers Wednesday-Sunday!), naturally we took the opportunity to venture forth on one of the less rainy days.

The town is much larger than I had anticipated but very picturesque and we happily managed to while away a couple of hours, despite being unable to access its main attraction, ie the museum, as we had only arrived in Yorkshire on Sunday, the museum was closed on Monday and Tuesday, I was unable to secure tickets for Wednesday or Thursday, and we were leaving the area on Friday. Thus I was unable to increase my familiarity with this amazing family of talented sisters who produced some of the most renowned English language novels of the 19th century and inspired Kate Bush to write her breakthrough song. Charlotte's Jane Eyre and Emily's Wuthering Heights were published in 1847, and Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was published in 1848, all under male pseudonyms of course because even halfway through that century it still wasn't the done thing for females outside the working classes to earn a living.

The Brontë Parsonage Museum... which was closed :-( 

Given the proprietors' reluctance to admit visitors two days out of the week even in peak tourist season,
 this is the best shot I could get of the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth

Haworth has an abundance of quirky tea rooms and shops

Kevin near the top of Haworth's high street

I made several purchases of cruelty-free soaps and perfume oils in this fab emporium

Interior of The Cabinet of Curiosities, Haworth

Another view of the high street in Haworth

Cottage in Haworth

... and another - this little town has a lot of civic pride!

Cottage at the bottom of the high street, Haworth

Is this a view of Haworth? I have no idea. 
Took the photo but can't remember where... :-) 

Most of our week in West Yorkshire was spent walking which included a morning negotiating steep and slippery woodland paths at nearby Hardcastle Crags, a National Trust site with a 19th century mill, and an afternoon walking a section of the Rochdale Canal from Todmorden to Hebden Bridge which tested the waterproof capabilities of our wet-weather gear - we had to shelter from torrential rain under trees for a period.

It was a relaxing time and frankly just a relief to be exploring somewhere new - my first nights spent away from home since Christmas when we stayed in a cottage on the East Yorkshire coast.

 

The former 19th century mill at Hardcastle Crags

Somebody at Hardcastle Crags is a Wes Anderson fan :-)

Stepping stones across the river at Hardcastle Crags

Boat on the Rochdale Canal, just outside Todmorden

One of the locks on the canal between Todmorden and Hebden Bridge

Our return journey south to Surrey was broken by a couple of hours exploring Wightwick Manor (pronounced 'Wittick'), a Victorian house not far from Wolverhampton. Unusually, the property was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1937 when the house was only 50 years old and at a time when its Aesthetic Movement interior style was very out of fashion. However Wightwick's interiors are such a perfect example of Arts and Crafts design - and most particularly of William Morris - that the National Trust felt the house did need to be preserved. 

As if that wasn't enough to attract me, Wightwick has a significant collection of Pre-Raphaelite art by Rossetti and Burne-Jones, as well as works by some of the leading female artists of that era including Lizzie Siddal, Lucy Madox Brown and Marie Spitali Stillman. The former malthouse is now a gallery housing works by another of my favourite artists of the Pre-Raphaelite period, Evelyn de Morgan, and of her husband William. 

Wightwick Manor, a National Trust property near Wolverhampton

The Great Parlour, Wightwick Manor near Wolverhampton

Portrait of Jane Burden, Mrs William Morris, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
(face painted by Rossetti in the 1870s, hair and body painted by Ford Madox Brown many years later)

Love Among the Ruins (1894), by Edward Coley Burne-Jones
- this magnificent painting hangs in The Great Parlour at Wightwick Manor

The blue-tiled inglenook fireplace in The Great Parlour at Wightwick Manor.
William Morris textiles and papers abound

Detail of William Morris fabric wallpaper

The Entrance Hall Alcove Sitting Room, Wightwick Manor

Venus and Cupid (1878), by Evelyn De Morgan

The Trumpeter (1872 - 1907), framed tile panel by William de Morgan

A section of the gardens at Wightwick Manor

Exterior of the Morning Room, Wightwick Manor

So there you have it - not the most glamorous summer holiday we've ever had and it's frustrating and upsetting to pass another year where it's nearly impossible to travel abroad due to COVID restrictions and associated costs. But we are fortunate to live in a country with such a rich history and so many interesting places to visit.

Things could be worse.

Hillside opposite our Air B&B cottage bathed in golden evening light
- Suttcliffe Barn, Colden, West Yorkshire

Until next time,

- Maree  xo