Autumn at Halloween Time Around Haworth and Stanbury, Brontë Country

November 01, 2019

Last weekend I wanted to stay at the wonderful Ponden Hall and go for a walk around Ponden Kirk on Stanbury Moor. However, Ponden was closed as the owners, my dear friends, were away on holiday. There was a room available at the nearby Old Silent Inn; I thought of the amazing Halloween decor I saw there previous years and booked the room hoping to experience the season's atmosphere at a leisurely pace through staying at this ancient pub, which is said to be haunted by a couple of ghosts.
My two day visit didn't start off very well. On the Saturday it rained heavily till afternoon, so the planned walk to Ponden Kirk went out the window. Instead, I visited Brontë Parsonage Museum and popped into the old School Room where there was a craft fair. I thought it was a good time to go and have a look at the Scartop Furniture shop too, which is tucked away up the hill past Ponden Reservoir; but when I got there I learned that it was now permanently closed.
On arriving at the Old Silent Inn I could tell even from the outside that things had changed here and that I wouldn't be finding what I had expected. Unbeknown to me, the pub changed management last January and currently nothing is left of the atmosphere I knew and loved; there was no trace of the attractive Halloween decor; not even a single pumpkin to be seen! Oh well, after a pang of disappointment I was determined to enjoy myself anyway. There would be no pics from a walk on the moors or of the Halloween at the pub, but what I could do was simply take season's shots from around the villages of Haworth and Stanbury. Sunday was a cold, but bright day with a few brief showers. Here is a selection of the pics I came up with.

Main Street, Haworth

Detail near the steps leading to Church Lane

Fuchsia on the corner of The Fold and West Lane

The front of the " Cabinet of Curiosities" shop at the top of Main Street

The book I had with me and am currently reading. Some of the tales are likely to be those Tabby, the Brontë servant, told the Brontë siblings. The book mentions the story of "The Old Silent Inn" (see below the photo of the inn) as well as those of alleged sightings of the ghost of Emily Brontë. It is a great read at this time of year.

The kitchen in the Brontë Parsonage Museum. It is here, around a roaring fire on cold days that the Brontë children gathered to listen Tabby's dark tales of Yorkshire Moors.

Branwell's last known drawing, made in 1848 two months before his death, showing himself lying ill in bed and being summoned by Death symbolized by a mocking skeleton.

The sculpture of the Brontë sisters and a pot containing "Emily" rose in the garden of the Parsonage.

A portrait of Branwell (based on his self portrait drawing) carved in wood in the Parsonage garden.

The Old Silent Inn. The pub was originally called The Eagle. When Bonnie Prince Charles came to hide here in 1745, the patrons remained quiet about his presence despite a huge reward for the Pretender's capture. Hence the inn's name changed to the "Old Silent". Several ghosts are said to inhabit the rooms of the inn, among which a ghost of a former landlady who sometimes strokes the heads of sleeping guests. Unfortunately, my head didn't get stroked, but I did wake up at the dead of the night thinking I could feel a presence in my room.