Let it snow!

Ok, so apologies for the total slackness on the whole blog front. I have been super busy - class plus friends plus so many things to do in London equals no time for blog! Where does the time go? I mean, heck, its almost March, and at the end of March I finish class and then, I start my dissertation, and then I'm pretty sure it will be September before I know it. INSANITY! However, I will try and get back into the swing of this. Let's not hold our breath.

So, first, some snow photos! Even though this was a little ago, its still pretty impressive. In Dunedin, it snowed sometimes but it was kind of rubbish - sleety and hard, and it never settled. But here, it was floaty and soft, and it was thick and heavy and stayed around for ages! Amazing! So here, are some gratuitous snow photos:

Not to rain on anyones' dream of what living in a snowy wonderland is like, but it gets old fast. Especially when the snow doesn't melt but freezes overnight, turning the usually carefree trip to the tube into some sort of insane death-defying feat. There were a couple of very near misses. Anyway, not to worry about that anymore, because, in a few short weeks, London has pulled itself together, and given us this:

Blossoms and blue sky.



"I'm just going to write because I cannot help it."

So, despite the fact that the sun now sets at 5pm rather than 4.30pm (whoot!), it is getting colder in London. And when I say cold, I mean COLD. Like being slapped in the face by an icicle. But all those years in Dunedin have taught me not just to be a brilliant intellectual, but also to be tough and handle the jandal. Also, there are some benefits to cold weather, like having a perfect excuse to drink hot chocolates and boys in coats.

Winter also makes travel very cheap, which is why I took the oppourtunity to have a weekend off and travel to Haworth, just out of Leeds. What's so special about Haworth, you may be wondering. Well, let me end the suspense for you, Haworth is the site where the most well known literary family in the world lived - thats right, its the Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne! Admittedly, I did have to wade through cafes called "Eyres and Graces" (you can't even make this stuff up), but it was well worth it to see the place which inspired such great writing. And I'm deadly serious about how good they were - if you haven't read any of their books, you need to stop what you are doing RIGHT NOW, go and get a copy and start reading. I recommend Wuthering Heights (love that destroys everything it touches - what's not to love).

Haworth Main Street.

Now that you have read the books, you will understand why visiting where the Brontes lived is so important - the surronding landscape is like another character in the books. Especially Wuthering Heights. But we will come back to that later, first a little back story. Every story has a beginning, and its pretty safe to say that the story of the Bronte sisters begins with their father, Patrick. Patrick was born in Ireland, the eldest member of a large family. He was a pretty smart cookie - by the time he was 17, he was an assistant teacher at the local school, and then managed to secure a place at Cambridge. He became a minister, fell in love and got married. But he never forgot the benefits that education gave him, and dedicated his life to making education accessible to those who wouldn't ordinarily get the oppourtunity. He was backed in this enterprise by none other than William Wilberforce, leader of the abolitionist movement. Patrick was, in his own quiet way, quite a hero - dedicating his life to making education avaliable to the children who worked in the local mills.

Haworth Parsonage.

The woman that Patrick married was named Maria, and together they moved to Haworth and had six children: Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Emily, Branwell and Anne. They were happy for time, but then the worst happened - Maria (the mother) died, possibly of cancer. Patrick was devasted, but in order to get someone to come and look after his children, he proposed to two of his old friends. Both politely declined. So Maria's sister came to Haworth to look after the family, and she stayed for the rest of their lives. However, despite the presence of their aunt, Patrick decided that the four eldest girls should be sent to boarding school to get a proper education. If you've read Jane Eyre, you can see where this is going - Maria and Elizabeth got sick, probably of TB or typhoid, and Patrick immediately had them all brought home. But it was too late - the girls died soon after.

Walking up to the moors.

After this, the four remaining children became very close - they made up their own imaginary worlds, each with their own languages and histories. As they grew older, they realised that they would have to earn a living, and decided to follow in their father's footsteps and open a school. But first, they had to get the necessary accomplishments. And they needed more money. So, Charlotte and Emily went to Brussels to learn French and to work in a girls' finishing school. Emily didn't like it at all, and left soon after, but for Charlotte, it was a defining time in her life. It was here that she fell in love with a married professor, the husband of the woman who ran the school. My tour guide, John, and I (I was the only one on the tour, but thats totally not weird) had a detailed dicussion about this, and decided that falling in love with someone totally unobtainable is something that happens to everyone, but it never turns out well. And it wasn't any different in Charlotte's case - the wife found out and Charlotte had to return to England. However,  it did result in Charlotte's lesser known book, The Professor.

Haworth Church.

In the meantime, Anne had managed to become a governess. The first house she lived in she hated it and was soon dismissed because she couldn't control the children. However, the second house was a much better and Anne really enjoyed teaching the children there. But then, her brother had to come along and spoil it - Anne managed to get her brother Branwell as job as a tutor to the son of the family, but then Branwell had an affair with the wife of the household (named Mrs Robinson, no joke) and got them both fired.

Bronte Seat - apparently where Charlotte used to sit and think up story ideas.

So, now all the girls were at home, and they began writing in earnest. Soon, they had three books ready - Jane Eyre (Charlotte), Wuthering Heights (Emily) and Agnes Grey (Anne). After a little difficulty, the books were published under gender-neutral pseudonyms - Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. The books created a sensation in the literary world, the books were beautiful, emotional, passionate and by unknown authors. Some even suspected that they were all by the same person, and very few suspected they were written by women.

This is supposedly the house which inspired Wuthering Heights - trust me, it fits the isolated farm picture perfectly.

However, their success was soon tinged with sadness - Emily got TB and died. Then Branwell, who had become an alcoholic and opium addict and had to be watched day and night to ensure he didn't burn the house down, also died. Then Anne also got sick, Charlotte took her to the seaside at Scarbourgh in the hopes that her health would improve but Anne never returned to Haworth. Charlotte married her father's curate and for a while, was the toast of the London literary scene. But then she too died during pregnancy.

The memorial plaque for the Brontes in the Haworth Church.

If you've have noticed a reoccurring theme of death here, then congratulations, you have stumbled onto the flaw of Haworth. For some reason, the residents of Haworth decided to build their cemetery on the top of the hill, meaning that the water that they were drinking from the stream at the bottom of the hill was tainted with run-off from the cemetery. That, combined with the rudimentary sewage systems of the day, meant that 45% of the children of Haworth didn't survived beyond the age of 5. So, pretty much, the Brontes died from drinking dead people water. Grossly tragic.

Despite this tragic end, their books have meant that their legacy has remained. The books are so ubiquitous that when I walked to the old farm that inspired Wuthering Heights (see photo above), all I could think of was that 'amazing' song by Kate Bush. And the number of movie adaptions is just ridiculous. But their fame is well deserved, anyone who writes things like: "If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn into a mighty stranger" should live forever.

Read the books, go to Haworth.