Last year’s English Literature trip to the home of the Brontës proved a real hit, so we were determined to repeat the outing with this year’s Year 12 cohort. Here’s Hannah’s account of how a very interesting and informative day unfolded. Thank you Hannah, for taking the time out to write for us!
“On Thursday the 29th of September, the English Department took the Year 12 English Literature class on an excursion to see the Brontë sisters’ house in Howarth, Yorkshire.
The long journey was made short by the incessant chatter as well as some ‘interesting’ choices of music courtesy of Evelyn. We were also very excited to stumble across ‘Vimto HQ’ (which was probably just an office). As our final destination drew nearer, we began to notice the charming architecture of Yorkshire, and remarked upon its superiority to ‘Anglesey pebble dash’. Over the dales and down endless winding roads the inevitable question seemed to be brewing - ‘Are we nearly there yet?’
Eventually we reached civilisation, having passed by countless establishments milking the location by taking ‘inspiration’ from the books to choose their name (steal name related to Brontës or their books equals attract gullible tourists). The moment we were released from the constraints of the car, our first mission was to alleviate our bladders. Mrs Tough was pleasantly surprised to find the toilets were free of charge. Considering we each used them twice, we each saved a whopping 60p that day! What a tremendous result.
Thanks to our impeccable time keeping skills, we had some time to burn before we had to get to work; we indulged ourselves with a little nosey down the High Street. We concluded that the little village was not at all the wild, brutal pocket outside of civilisation we had been anticipating, but rather a quaint little village with book and coffee shops. The tour guide Andrew insists, however that in its day it certainly would have been far less lovely and far more bleak. Mrs Tough began to fret we’d be late as we were waiting for Mr Guerrero to select a book (partly just to carry the bookshop’s bag around) and for Martha’s oat milk latte to be served. Despite th
e hurdles, nothing would stop us from arriving right on time, where we were welcomed into a lovely warm room which resembled a classroom. We learned about the Brontës. The most memorable fact I think we all took away was at a later part of the day when we walked over to the cemetery to discover a massive 40,000 bodies are buried in a relatively small graveyard. After a short lunch break, we were given the opportunity to tour the Brontës’ house, where we made a beeline for the infamous ‘sofa of death’ where multiple Brontës famously kicked the bucket.
Mrs Tough was very excited about the gift shop which she hurried off to after having been deprived of it last year. Once we managed to pry Mrs Tough out of the gift shop, and Mr Guerrero bought yet another book, which naturally needed a separate bag to be carried in, we returned into the warm classroom for more learning. Upon exit of the classroom I remarked “that was a trip for English teachers” after both teachers engaged in a long discussion about literature with the guide. Although us students may not have been able to participate quite as much as our superiors in literary knowledge, I think the trip was a great success enjoyed by all (I do have to say that though).”
Mr Guerrero says, “sadly, the book-buying isn’t exaggerated, but what English teacher doesn’t get excited about books? It was a lovely day out. Andrew and the team at Haworth looked after us very well, and we got real educational value from it as well as a good experience. The students did themselves and us proud, and were good company on the extended car journey, too. Great fun.”