The weather was rather gloomy and wet on 6th June 2010. We had a pretty long bus ride to the Bronte Parsonage in Haworth and the long, winding, narrow lanes just made the trip more mysterious and kept us in suspense.
It was drizzling throughout the morning - certainly enhancing the Bronte country experience - and the more uphill we went the more misty it was.
We sat through a lecture on the history of the three sisters and learnt many facts about the lives of the Brontes we didn't know before. One astonishing fact we found out was that Charlotte Bronte actually dried her clothes on the tombstones in the nearby cemetery much to the dismay of her husband!
The workshop on the Brontes was engaging, giving us snippets
of the lives the Bronte siblings led.
The sisters' house was rather small but well organized and space efficient. Back in those days, paper was expensive. The sisters made use of any single scraps of paper they could find to write on. To save as much paper as possible, they had to write in very tiny hand-writing, and it was so small to the extend that we had to use a magnifying glass to view what was written on it in the exhibition. The exhibition contained works and portraits, including items they used back in those days. It was amazing how they could draw so well!
After that, we took a short walk in the graveyard that was filled with old tombstones. These tombstones were what the Bronte children would have seen as they gazed out their windows.
After leaving Haworth, we drove further up north to Lake District. Once we arrived our first stop was Rydal Mount, home to William Wordsworth. We enjoyed a guided tour through the house and the garden. Although, it was still drizzling, it was amazing how contrasting this place was compared to the Bronte Parsonage! For example, the house was bigger and better furnished, compared to the small, cramped house that the Brontes lived in. Also, the garden in Rydal Mount was huge and lively with flowers blooming. We had a lot of fun taking photos there.
The daffodils in the garden at Rydal Mount were just one type of flowers that were blooming!
All in all, it was a marvellous day, and we learnt much about the Brontes' and William Wordsworth's lives. (:
Written by: Shichan
