Vesna Armstrong Photography

  Dusk in June Evening, and all the birds In a chorus of shimmering sound Are easing their hearts of joy For miles around. The air is blue and sweet, The few first stars are white,- Oh let me like the birds Sing before night. - Sara Teasdale -  Top Of Haworth Main Street Evening Stroll  Haworth Church Bells on Sunday afternoon Facebook Video  June 2024 Facebook Reel 

  "Over the meadows the cowslips are springing, The marshes are thick with king-cup gold, Clear is the cry of the lambs in the fold, The skylark is singing, singing, and singing. Soon comes the cuckoo when April is fair, And her blue eye the brighter the more it may weep, The frog and the butterfly wake from their sleep, Each to its element, water and air." - George Meredith -  Haworth Old Post Office Bistro Bingley St Ives Estate  Happy 208th Birthday Charlotte Brontë The month of April Facebook Reel 

The fireplace at 72-74 Market Street, Thornton in front of which Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë were born The Brontë sisters lived and wrote all their novels in Haworth, but none of them were born there. Their father Patrick worked as a curate 1815 - 1820 at Thornton, another village within the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, seven miles south-west from Haworth, and it is here at Thornton where Charlotte, Emily, Anne and their brother Branwell Brontë were born and where they spent the first years of their lives. The movie consists of videos clips taken over a few visits I paid to Thornton. The house in which the Brontës were born by the dining room fireplace, 72-74 Market Street, has been a cafe called "Emily's" in recent times. However, it has sadly been closed to the public for the last couple of years, so for this video I have had to use the photos of the interior I took back in 2017 when I was there for Charlotte's  birthday. All the places and streets I have ...

  Some random content from a recent stay in my beautiful, spiritual, soon to be actual home, Haworth in Brontë Country. The image below shows the top of Haworth Main Street, which must be one of the most photographed scenes in the world. However, its otherwordly, old-fashioned, magical charm never ceases to inspire me to take yet another photo.    I enjoyed a most beautiful, character bedroom in our delightful and cosy holiday cottage. I made a short video of the much needed and welcome rain around the Brontë Parsonage.

 

  It is the time of year when rhododendrons are in bloom creating magnificent nature displays in parks and woodland. The tame and playful squirrels in Golden Acre Park add a special and cute interest.

Branwell Brontë (1818 - 1848) was the brother of the famous Victorian literary sisters - Charlotte, Emily and Anne. He appeared just as talented a writer and artist as his better known sisters, but sadly he squandered his talents through becoming addicted to alcohol and drugs, which resulted in his untimely demise at the age of 31.  There are a few Brontë connections in the Lake District, the most significant probably being the one of Broughton-In-Furness, a small historic town on the Duddon estuary in the southern part of the Lake district. Branwell Brontë lived and worked here in the first half of 1840. This is what Branwell said about Broughton in a letter to a friend, John Brown: " I am fixed in a little retired town by the sea-shore, among woody hills that rise round me - huge, rocky and capped with clouds ".  Branwell worked as a tutor to two small boys for the Postlethwaite family who lived in Broughton House, a large, impressive building which is used as offices today...

  Highlights from my first visit this year to my spiritual home, Haworth, the home of the Brontë Sisters. It was a beautiful weekend day with early spring in the air and cheering and uplifting signs of nature awakening all around. A much needed day for both my body and soul. 

Brontë Parsonage Museum is one of the most fascinating and well preserved former literary homes in the world. It was the home of the Victorian Brontë sisters - Charlotte, Emily and Anne whose novels belong to the classics of English literature and are still widely read and enjoyed today.  The parsonage is situated in the village of Haworth, West Yorkshire, at the top of Main Street and on the edge of bleak, broody but beautiful heather moorland which inspired the sisters' writing. There were no trees in the graveyard when the Brontës lived here. The sisters lived in the parsonage from the early childhood to their untimely and tragic deaths, with their brother Branwell, father Patrick and aunt Elizabeth Branwell (there were also two older sisters who died very young). Brother Branwell was just as talented as his sisters, but sadly succumbed to alcohol and drugs abused which prevented him from becoming an acclaimed writer/artist. Aunt E. Branwell came to look after the children when ...

  At this time of the year when the countryside is usually a bit too muddy for pure enjoyment I like to visit pretty villages or small towns and have a good explore and stroll around them. I regularly pass through the town of Bingley on my travels to Haworth, and  this quiet New Year Bank Holiday seemed a perfect time to actually stop there and have a gentle tour. Bingley is a great place for walkers and nature lovers. It lies both on the River Aire and Leeds-Liverpool canal. Right in the centre there is the entrance to the huge and very beautiful Myrtle Park, but the best thing for me is St Ives Estate, a 550 acres Country Park full of features and surprises which I will no doubt be returning to later on in the year.  

  Since, sadly, there is no Christmas market this year in Leeds, the town I live in, I was very pleased to learn there is one taking place in York, one of my favourite cities and most certainly one of the most beautiful towns in the UK and beyond. I hadn't been there for quite a while and was very excited to walk around the town's old, historic and charming streets festooned with Christmas lights and decorations. There is a lot of Christmas related events happening there at the moment, too, and the city very much exudes the magic of the season.   

  Last weekend I stayed in my beloved Haworth, for what could be the last time till spring. Yes, I will be going back soon, of course, but probably just for a day visit until days get longer again. Apart from a couple of brief sunny spells it was a very wet weekend, which prevented me from venturing out on the moors, but I still had a good and relaxing time staying in the village.  It was a Halloween weekend. I personally don't care much about Halloween; what interests me a lot more is Samhain, a pagan Earth festival that usually starts on the 31st October. Samhain marks the end of harvest season and the beginning of winter according to the Celtic calendar. For me winter does start in November when all the autumn colours slowly disappear, the trees become bare, the nights are drawing in, and there is that wintry chill in the air.  This short video is about the change in seasons - the transition from autumn to winter.     

Oakwell Hall is one of the nearest Brontë related places to my home. It is also one of my favourite ones due to the fact there is so much to enjoy around it; the fascinating historic manor house, beautiful gardens and over a 100 acres of country park, all coupled with the fact that Charlotte Brontë also enjoyed this place in her life time.  Oakwell Hall was built in the 16th century by the Batt family, and today it is a living museum featuring a home as it was to the Batt family at the end of the 17th century. In the 19th century the Hall used to be a boarding school for girls run by various families. Charlotte Brontë, the celebrated Victorian novelist, knew one of the Cockill girls who lived at the Hall from 1830 - 1865 and whose mother ran it as a girls' boarding school. Charlotte's best friend Ellen Nussey lived in the same village, Birstall, and it is believed that the two friends visited the Hall together in 1830s.  Charlotte was so inspired by Oakwell Hall that she featu...

  I visit Scarborough at least once a year and certainly every summer. I personally prefer inland countryside to the seaside, but in summer months I love to be near the sea for a change. Scarborough, a popular resort town on England's North Sea coast holds a lovely traditional and historic charm which is right up my street; and there is also a very special reason why I love visiting this place: Anne Brontë (1820-1849), the youngest of the three Victorian literary sisters died and was buried here. As a big Brontëphile, it means much to me to come and pay homage to Anne, who is the only member of the Brontë family not buried in Haworth, where they lived most of their life.  Anne became very fond of Scarborough through the holidays she spent here with the family for whom she worked as governess. When she got struck down by tuberculosis Anne came here with her sister Charlotte hoping the sea air would help her recuperate, but tragically she died just a few days into her stay, aged...

  I have been walking Haworth and Stanbury Moors in Brontë Country for many years now, but I have never had or seized a chance to be there on a beautiful summer sunset evening until last week. Oh my, the magic of it makes me want to witness the beauty as many times as possible in the future. On this particular occasion the sunset may have not been as spectacular as it can possible be, but nevertheless, the experience of being on those bleak hills as the sun was slowly slipping below the horizon bathing the landscape in warm, soft glow mingled with blue fading light was simply sublime.  Etsy Shop

  I am so lucky and grateful to live not far from the town of Otley and the wonderful forest park high up above it called Chevin. It is easily the most beautiful woodland area I have been to; full of character, history, lots of most breathtaking distant views and interesting features such as The White House, Dibbs Cottages, dry stone wall maze, Vacca Wall, to mention just a few. It is a perfect place for a refreshing stroll, reflection and a spot of connection with nature.  It was very cold on this early May morning, but the light was beautiful and the air crisp and scented with spring growth. Etsy Shop 

  The long, long, eagerly awaited day had arrived and the excitement at the prospect of being back to my beloved Haworth was overwhelming as I rode on the bus that would take me there. It was a beautiful, unforgettable day in every way; even the weather could have not been better for a leisurely, refreshing hike on the moors - warm, but not too hot, wall to wall sunshine and surprisingly, hardly any wind at all.  From the Brontë Parsonage I headed towards Penistone Hill via Balcony Lane; I walked towards the cricket club and down the path leading onto the road at the village of Upper Marsh. On Moor Side Lane I turned left by the sign for Drop Farm. After the farm I joined the track called Farm Road which leads to Harbour Lodge Farm. From the farm I followed the faint path across open moorland to Brontë Falls. I returned to Haworth by Enfield Side Road, Penistone Hill and Dimples Lane. Etsy Shop

  This year I spent my birthday with my beloved in laws who live in Newark, Nottinghamshire. The weather was lovely on the day and G and I enjoyed taking our doggie for a walk in the beautiful nearby  woodland. Etsy Shop 

My new video comes as highlights through a selection of photographs and video clips of my recent, extremely enjoyable two night stay at my beloved Haworth in Brontë Country.   A very special thing that happened was that my dear photographer friends, Helen and George Coupe came from Lancaster to meet me and it was such a pleasure to spend quality time with them chatting, walking, taking photos and having a meal together.   The places featured in the video are Ponden Kirk and Stanbury Moor, Top Withens and Haworth Moor, Penistone Hill Country Park and Brontë Parsonage Museum. The purple moorland heather, which was my main point of interest on this particular visit, was still very beautiful, but it had already started to go over.  The best thing about the video is probably my encounter with a grouse. What a beautiful and interesting bird it is! I really don't understand how people can go out and shoot them for fun. I'd never seen a grouse from such a close distance...

Now I have very much taken to creating videos on my iPhone I decided to pair my videography with my love and appreciation of nature by creating a short seasonal movie for each month of the year. Each of the movies will consist of a selection of video clips on nature around me which I took that month. The movies, which I will share from my new YouTube channel , will be accompanied by some still images also taken during the same month.  I am pleased I start my new project with the month of August, the last summer month, characterized by a sheer riot of colour in nature. There is an abundance of  great variety of flowers out there, and berries and autumn fruit are starting to ripen. It is certainly one of my favourite months of the year. Most of the still images were taken in Golden Acre Park, a park in north Leeds I am lucky to live not far from. I love going there at any time of year, but August is an absolute must as the colourful tended gardens are at their very best.