Bronte Country is an area which offers the visitor a varied choice of interests and activities in a region of diverse and outstanding scenic beauty, with picturesque villages and towns that bear witness to the origins of the Industrial Revolution and the woollen textile industry.
The former weaving community of Haworth was home to the Bronte sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne who went on to write the classics for which they are famous. Their presence can still be felt in the small rooms of the Bronte Parsonage Museum where they used to live.
All the Brontes, with the exception of Anne who is buried at Scarborough, are buried in the Haworth Parish Church, directly behind the Parsonage. Numerous galleries, gift shops, boutiques and tea rooms line Haworth’s steep old main street, making it an ideal day trip out.
The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway is Britain’s last remaining complete branch line railway. The Railway runs through the Heart of ‘Bronte Country’ - the picturesque Worth Valley from Keighley through Ingrow, Damems, Oakworth to Haworth and on to Oxenhope.
As well as the Bronte connections, the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway is also famous for being the setting for one of Britain’s best loved family films, 'The Railway Children’. Oakworth is the station featured in the film and has been lovingly maintained as a fine example of an Edwardian Station complete with enamel advertising signs. There is a ‘Cinema 100’ plaque commemorating this classic British Film location displayed at Oakworth station. There are several special and themed events organised throughout the year.
Regular direct trains operate from Leeds to Keighley and frequent buses run from Keighley to Haworth, as well as the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway; and with journey times of less than an hour from Leeds, it is easy to see why it is such a popular day out with visitors to Leeds.