The Mist Stone
On the journey to this brilliant stanza stone just outside Oxenhope, I travelled through the birthplace of Ted Hughes, Mytholmroyd, and near the grave of Sylvia Plath near Hebden Bridge.
the birthplace of Ted Hughes
These areas are surrounded by moors, which, in a way, become central to the Mist poem. This stanza stone overlooks the moors, and, possibly, Bronte land. From this point, you can see Haworth (the home of the Bronte sisters), a very quaint place that I also managed to visit. It is quite interesting to discover how few local people seem to know about the stanza stones. Asking a cyclist, when about 2 minutes walk away from the actual stone, if they knew where it was, got practically no response. It seems some of these stones are hidden too well.
Here is a picture of the views:
The only problem is the slightly precarious climb down the side of the hill in great gusts of wind.
The moors were essential inspiration for the Bronte sisters. Without the moors, the atmosphere of ‘Wuthering Heights’, in shocking contrast to Thrushcross Grange, would be reduced to nothing. The hostility of this environment generates the intense emotions of the characters, and conveys the bleakness of their situations. The home of Emily Bronte was of course an influence on the two other sisters; without the remote location of Haworth, and the natural landscape surrounding it, the lives of characters would have been very different, their attitudes to society also, and the audience of their novels would have limited many aspects. ‘Jane Eyre’, too, reflects the passion of the moors; the symbolism of nature, for example the ‘horse-chestnut’ struck by lightning, is key and the remoteness of Thornfield Hall allows Bertha to be locked up and almost feeds her madness. As I have said in an earlier post, Haworth gave them a freedom to write, and the ability to approach brutal nature with knowledge of the requirements of society.
Haworth is lovely. By the time I arrived, all the bustle of the day had cleared off and the streets were still and silent, except for the lonely voices of two people drinking outside a pub. Idyllic and pretty, it felt like a stage in time preserved; the lack of people in the streets made it feel literally as if time was standing still. In this town, it doesn’t take much wandering to find pieces of the Bronte legacy.
This is what I came across first:
Charlotte Bronte’s school
I passed by the closed Bronte Parsonage Museum. I guess this just means I’ll have to visit again in future!
Ididn'twantanyflowers 