Thursday 21 July 2016
Not far to go today. A drive up and down some hills leads us into Keighley and I am amazed to find some free, on street parking almost immediately adjacent to the station. We are a little early and the station has not been unlocked as yet!
We acquire the tickets four our journey and after a short delay we are heading up the hill on one of the longer established preserved railway lines. We leave the train at Haworth and learn about walking uphill. Apparently there is a bus service to and from the station but walking is good for us! And it gives a chance to look in shop windows. It is a huge haul up from the station to the town and then it is another stagger up to the Bronte Parsonage. The photos of the latter are here. I think it is hard to imagine how the place was used as the rooms seem small – indeed it seems larger on the outside than on the inside. A completely different time of course – the mid 1840s – when the Bronte books were published. And short lives.
Going downhill is much easier and we get to The Fleece for lunch before going down the rest of the slope through the town gardens to the station. (Not the Fleece in Richmond which is closed!).
Once back on the railway we go to Oxenhope at the end of the line and then return to Keighley. At this time of the year loadings for the single train are reasonable as indeed they were at the Embsay railway earlier in the week. The K&WVR photos can be found here.
We take a slightly different route home. We drive into Esholt which until a dedicated set was built was the external shooting location for Emmerdale and had the original pub which was renamed “The Woolpack” to save regular name changes. Since 1997 the programme has had a dedicated set which looks very similar to Esholt (which was used in 2016 for a particular story).
Our journey continues and we stop in Ilkley for a wander around the town and to make use of Betty’s. A Harrogate institution as a tea room it has now added some further outlets including one in Ilkley. And useful toilets!
We do not need much more after that! Photos on the post from Jackie Whitbread. Linked photos are my own.