Bronte Country Landscapes

For a long time now, I’ve been wanting to get up to Ponden Kirk, a rocky outcrop protruding high up on Stanbury Moor with spectacular views down the Worth Valley, to get some photos of the sunrise. The forecast looked promising on Saturday so, at 4:00am, I drove the couple of miles and parked at Stanbury and set off on the 2.5 mile walk in the dark to get up to Ponden Kirk before first light.

First Light at Ponden Kirk. I accidentally left my head torch switched on and, luckily it illuminated the foreground quite nicely.

Moving round Kirk Brink and looking back, Ponden Kirk can be seen to the right. The drop looks a lot steeper from up there.

The view across Heather Hole

A trio of natives leading the way across Heather Brink

Layers of mist down the Worth Valley.

Cold Knoll Farm. Note the sunbeams being reflected up from the mist in the valley bottom, rather than directly from the sun.

Upper Ponden Farm

Flocking starlings, known, amongst other things, as a chattering.

Behind Ponden Hall, looking over Ponden Reservoir.

Ponden Hall, where the Brontë sisters often came to read in the Heaton family’s extensive library. The house provided inspiration for Thrushcross Grange in Emily’s Wuthering Heights, as well as some interior features for Wuthering Heights itself and it is also believed to have been where Anne had in mind when she wrote The Tennant Of Wildfell Hall.

Paddleboarding on Ponden Reservoir. What a great way to start the day.

Ponden Hall again with Ponden Kirk on the horizon.

For more information about Haworth and Brontë Country, the Brontë family, local history and traditions, where to stay, eat and drink, go to www.bronte-country.com or www.haworth-village.co.uk