Brontë Way
The Brontë Way is a 69 km route through West Yorkshire and Lancashire linking the places associated with the Brontë family — from Oakwell Hall near Birstall to Wycoller in the Forest of Bowland, with Haworth and the moors at its centre.
This route has no official waymarking. Serious navigation experience is required — do not rely on GPS alone. Carry OS 1:25,000 maps and study the line before you go.
About Brontë Way
The Brontë Way connects the locations associated with the sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë across the South Pennine landscape they wrote about. Haworth, the family home on the edge of the moors, is the central point — the Brontë waterfall walk, Top Withins (the ruin associated with Wuthering Heights) and the moors above the Worth valley are the literary highlights.
For trail runners it is a two-day route on varied terrain — South Pennine moorland, mill town fringe and the gentler Lancashire countryside around Wycoller. The moors section above Haworth is the finest running.
The route
Oakwell Hall to Haworth (~30 km): Through Birstall, Gomersall and Thornton (Charlotte Brontë's birthplace) to Haworth and the moor.
Haworth to Wycoller (~39 km): Over the moors via Top Withins and Ponden Reservoir into Lancashire. Wycoller Country Park is the finish.
Getting there & logistics
Start: Oakwell Hall near Birstall. Bus from Dewsbury (train from Leeds).
Finish: Wycoller. Bus to Colne; train to Leeds and Manchester.
Base: Haworth. Keighley & Worth Valley Railway connects to Keighley (main line).
Best time: Year-round, but the moors are best May to October.
Safety
The moorland section above Haworth can be boggy and misty — carry a map. In an emergency: call 999 or 112. Good mobile signal on most of the route.
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