Victorian

A glimpse of Brontë country

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Haworth is a picturesque Yorkshire village famous for being the home of literary giants the Brontës.

It’s a train and bus ride away from my home in Manchester, and I paid a visit on a sunny autumn day.

Enjoy the photographs and read more below

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When you arrive in Howarth on the Brontë bus from Hebden Bridge you’re drawn up hilly Main Street, lined with dark stone cottages and a plethora of shops and eating stops for visitors.

At the top of the hill is the little parish church and parsonage, home to the Brontë family and the sisters who penned Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre among others there.

Howarth Parsonage, home of the Brontës

The Brontës lived at Howarth Parsonage

The graveyard is filled with old headstones and was intensely atmospheric yet peaceful under the dappled autumn sunlight.

It’s impossible not to contemplate where the Brontës trod and what their lives were like in this remote place.

There are various pathways leading out of the village and to the beautiful surrounding countryside. You can take a lengthy hike to the Brontë waterfall or a gentler meander to Howarth viewpoints like I did.

A last essential stop was a delicious plate of pie and chips at The Fleece Inn, one of Howarth’s surprisingly numerous pubs.

The village is a real mecca for literary types and casual tourists alike and can get very busy. A weekday out of season would be my tip for a contemplative, memorable visit.

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Cathedral of books

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This imposing building in the Deansgate area of central Manchester is the colour of dirty caramel. It sounds unprepossessing, but stands out among the sharp contemporary glass of its modern neighbours. But you have to venture inside the John Rylands Library to be truly impressed.

It was opened in 1900 as a memorial to Rylands by his wife, and its Gothic splendour is more in keeping with a place of worship. Stained glass, ornate stone columns and intricate woodwork make the library a reverential place to study and learn. It’s a building both flooded with light and full of dark, muted corners. I’ve captured my first architectural gem in this city…

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This way to the gallery

Dearly departed

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Place of restAs the old saying goes, you’re a long time dead. You could do a lot worse than spending your eternity of rest in Brompton Cemetery, a captivating place to visit in the heart of west London.

Opened in 1840, this large plot is adorned with the grandeur of Victorian architecture, from a domed chapel to parallel sets of stone porticoes. Around the edges of this order are reams of wonderfully overgrown gravestones, transforming a place of solemnity into one bursting with the life of nature.

The cemetery still has space and around two burials a week take place there. Worth bearing in mind, but for the moment I’d prefer to enjoy walking around with my camera in the here and now…

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The Photo Shop

The light fantastic

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I love the incandescent glow of these beautiful windows. They are decorated to a sumptuous degree and so effectively illuminated.

This architectural detail was stumbled upon by chance on my Open House London travels around the city. They are in the hall of the Bishopsgate Institute, close to bustling Liverpool Street train station.

The building was designed by Victorian architect Charles Townsend. His other achievements include the Whitechapel Gallery, now adorned with a scattering of golden leaves.

There will be more to come from the buildings of London soon…

The light fantastic

Gold banner

The cathedral of justice

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This building has all the hallmarks of being a lofty place of God or a palace of royalty. Beautiful arches, light flooding through a stained glass window. One of the women on the balcony looks upwards, enraptured.

The other woman, meanwhile, checks her camera. This is The Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand in London, a place where some of the biggest legal cases in the land are contested. Its doors were flung open to visitors, who spent the weekend thronging around its wonderful central hall, taking photographs at every opportunity.

While the Victorian building is magnificent in some areas, in others it’s a place of dusty corridors and has the stench of authority. It was a great opportunity to admire the architecture, huge in scale and created to make you feel small.