Walshaw Dean Reservoirs

Walshaw Dean Reservoirs are three reservoirs above Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England. They are between Hebden Bridge and Top Withins, a ruined farmhouse near Haworth, the reputed inspiration for "Wuthering Heights" in the novel of the same name by Emily Brontë. The reservoirs' catchments are dominated by peatland habitats. The reservoirs drain into the Calder Valley. On 19 May 1989 Walshaw Dean Lodge entered the UK Weather Records with the highest 120-minute total rainfall at 193 mm (7.6 in); however, the Met Office expresses 'reservations' about this record.

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2.2 km

Top Withens

Top Withens (or Top Withins) is a ruined farmhouse near Haworth, West Yorkshire, England, notable for its association with Emily Bronte's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights. It occupies a remote and exposed position on Haworth Moor, 1,377 feet (420 metres) above sea level. The name comes from a dialect word meaning "willows". A plaque affixed to a wall reads: This farmhouse has been associated with "Wuthering Heights", the Earnshaw home in Emily Brontë's novel. The buildings, even when complete, bore no resemblance to the house she described, but the situation may have been in her mind when she wrote of the moorland setting of the Heights. The popular misconception that Earnshaw's house was styled on Top Withens may have arisen from a series of letters between publisher George Smith and Charlotte Brontë's friend Ellen Nussey, as he sought a list of places that had inspired the novels. The ruin is east of Withins Height below Delf Hill. It lies on two long-distance paths, the Brontë Way and the Pennine Way. It is a popular walking destination from nearby Haworth and Stanbury. Such is the attraction to Japanese literary tourists that some footpath signs in the area include Japanese text.

Blake Dean Railway

The Blake Dean Railway was an approximately 8.9 km (5.5 mi) long, 3 ft (914 mm) gauge narrow gauge railway on the edge of Hardcastle Crags Valley in West Yorkshire. It went from Heptonstall to the dam construction sites of the Walshaw Dean Reservoirs.

Hardcastle Crags

Hardcastle Crags is a wooded Pennine valley in West Yorkshire, England, owned by the National Trust. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the town of Hebden Bridge and 10 miles (16 km) west of the town of Halifax. It gave the title to a poem by Sylvia Plath which was included in her 1960 debut collection, The Colossus and Other Poems.

Ponden Hall

Ponden Hall is a farmhouse near Stanbury in West Yorkshire, England. It is famous for reputedly being the inspiration for Thrushcross Grange, the home of the Linton family, Edgar, Isabella, and Cathy, in Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights since Brontë was a frequent visitor. However, it does not match the description given in the novel and is closer in size and appearance to the farmhouse of Wuthering Heights itself. The Brontë biographer Winifred Gerin believed that Ponden Hall was the original of Wildfell Hall, the old mansion where Helen Graham, the protagonist of Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, fled from her husband. Ponden shares certain architectural details with Wildfell: latticed windows, a central portico and date plaque above. The "old house" was built in 1634 by Robert Heaton (1587–1641) for his son, Michael Heaton (1609–1643), although the east end incorporates an older building from 1541. The "old porch and peat house" was later built by Michael's son Robert (1642–1704) and in 1801 the hall was re-built by Robert's great-grandson, Robert Heaton (1757–1817). In the early 19th century Ponden Hall held what was reputedly the largest private library in Yorkshire, which saw regular visits from Brontë children as they and the Heaton children would play together as well. There are two entwined withered pear trees on the property, said to be planted there by one of the boys, Robert, as he longed for Emily's heart (was not meant to be as she was a little older). In the 19th century the Heaton family were textile manufacturers – particularly wool. With the death of Robert in 1898, the last surviving Heaton male, the Hall was sold. The final Heaton male, George Smith Heaton, the son of Michael and Ellen Heaton of Royd House, died penniless at the Bendigo Benevolent Asylum in Victoria, Australia, on 12 February 1901. The house is a Grade II* listed building. The summary states that it was built in 1634 with an addition in 1801. "Coursed stone, stone slate roof, 2 storeys". The listing also listing states that the "farmstead built on the opposite side of the road" was demolished in 1956. The property was converted in 2014 into an award-winning bed-and-breakfast establishment. A September 2020 article in Country Life magazine provided an update, with photographs, about the property, after it was listed for sale for £1 million. The main house includes eight bedrooms while the annex has two. A great deal of care had been taken during restorations to maintain authenticity: "the beams, walls, floors, ceilings, fireplaces and windows are gloriously authentic".