Walshaw Dean Reservoirs

The Blake Dean Railway was an approximately 5.5 miles (9 km) long 3 ft (914 mm) gauge narrow gauge railway on the edge of Hardcastle Crags Valley in West Yorkshire. It went from Heptonstall to the dam construction sites of the Walshaw Dean Reservoirs.

Top Withens (SD981353) (also known as Top Withins) is a ruined farmhouse near Haworth, West Yorkshire, England, which is said to have been the inspiration for the location of the Earnshaw family house Wuthering Heights in the 1847 novel of the same name by Emily Brontë. A plaque affixed to a wall reads: This farmhouse has been associated with "Wuthering Heights", the Earnshaw home in Emily Brontë's novel. The buildings, even when complete, bore no resemblance to the house she described, but the situation may have been in her mind when she wrote of the moorland setting of the Heights. The ruin lies on the Pennine Way east of Withins Height below Delf Hill. It is a popular walking destination from nearby Haworth and Stanbury. Such is the attraction to Japanese literary tourists that some footpath signs in the area include directions in Japanese.

Hardcastle Crags is a wooded Pennine valley in West Yorkshire, England, owned by the National Trust. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the town of Hebden Bridge and 10 miles (16 km) west of the town of Halifax. It gave the title to a poem by Sylvia Plath that was included in her 1960 debut collection The Colossus.

Watersheddles Reservoir is an upland artificial lake in Lancashire, England. The reservoir was opened in 1877 by the Keighley Corporation Water Works, and is now owned by Yorkshire Water. It supplies water to the Worth Valley and Keighley area and compounds several streams at the source of the River Worth. Although the reservoir is just across the boundary of Lancashire, all of the water is used in the West Yorkshire region. Due to the peatland in the immediate catchment area, the reservoir is prone to a high acidity and discolouration in its water.

Colden is a hamlet in the civil parish of Heptonstall in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the hamlet consists of scattered houses and farms on high ground west of Heptonstall, above the valley of Colden Water. Colden School is a junior and infants school established in 1878.Colden Water is crossed by two old footbridges, possibly dating from the 17th century. Strines Bridge is a packhorse bridge, and lower down a clapper bridge crosses the stream. Both are Grade II listed buildings. The Pennine Way and Calderdale Way both pass through Colden.

Ponden Hall is a farmhouse near Stanbury in West Yorkshire, England. It is famous for reputedly being the inspiration for Thrushcross Grange, the home of the Linton family, Edgar, Isabella, and Cathy, in Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights since Bronte was a frequent visitor. However, it does not match the description given in the novel and is closer in size and appearance to the farmhouse of Wuthering Heights itself. The Brontë biographer Winifred Gerin believed that Ponden Hall was the original of Wildfell Hall, the old mansion where Helen Graham, the protagonist of Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, fled from her husband. Ponden shares certain architectural details with Wildfell: latticed windows, a central portico and date plaque above. The "old house" was built in 1634 by Robert Heaton (1587–1641) for his son, Michael Heaton (1609–1643), although the east end incorporates an older building from 1541. The "old porch and peat house" was later built by Michael's son Robert (1642–1704) and in 1801 the hall was re-built by Robert's great-grandson, Robert Heaton (1757–1817).In the early 19th century Ponden Hall held what was reputedly the largest private library in Yorkshire, which saw regular visits from Brontë children as they and the Heaton children would play together as well. There are two entwined withered pear trees on the property, said to be planted there by one of the boys, Robert, as he longed for Emily's heart (was not meant to be as she was a little older). In the 19th century the Heaton family were textile manufacturers – particularly wool. With the death of Robert in 1898, the last surviving Heaton male, the Hall was sold. The final Heaton male, George Smith Heaton, the son of Michael and Ellen Heaton of Royd House, died penniless at the Bendigo Benevolent Asylum in Victoria, Australia, on 12 February 1901.The house is a Grade II* listed building. The summary states that it was built in 1634 with an addition in 1801. "Coursed stone, stone slate roof, 2 storeys". The listing also listing states that the "farmstead built on the opposite side of the road" was demolished in 1956.The property was converted in 2014 into an award-winning bed-and-breakfast establishment.A September 2020 article in Country Life magazine provided an update, with photographs, about the property, after it was listed for sale for £1 million. The main house includes eight bedrooms while the annex has two. A great deal of care had been taken during restorations to maintain authenticity: "the beams, walls, floors, ceilings, fireplaces and windows are gloriously authentic".

Heptonstall is a small village and civil parish within the Calderdale borough of West Yorkshire, England, historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The population of Heptonstall, including the hamlets of Colden and Slack Top, is 1,448, increasing to 1,470 at the 2011 Census. The town of Hebden Bridge lies directly to the south-east. Although Heptonstall is part of Hebden Bridge as a post town, it is not within the Hebden Royd town boundaries. The village is on the route of the Calderdale Way, a 50-mile (80 km) circular walk around the hills and valleys of Calderdale.

Lumb Bank is a house near Heptonstall in West Yorkshire, England. It was the residence of the poet Ted Hughes. It is now one of the Arvon Writing Houses run by the Arvon Foundation. Lumb Bank was the original manor house of Heptonstall. It is situated in a secluded valley with the fields in front of the house falling steeply to a stream. It has been described as an 18th-century mill owner's house. It was bought by the poet Ted Hughes in May 1969. He had initially considered buying it in July 1963, a few months after the suicide of his wife Sylvia Plath. The house was damaged by fire in 1971. Hughes's biographer Jonathan Bate wrote that 'all the signs pointed to arson' due to a hole in the ceiling and a 'heap of charred rubbish'. Much of the bedding had been removed from the house along with 'a curious selection of items'. Two police detectives who attended felt they did not have enough information to investigate. One of the detectives believed the fire was due to personal malice, with the other believing that it might have been caused by local children. Hughes had recently taken his books from the house to Devon, yet piles of manuscripts remained which did not burn due to the dampness in the house. Some of Plath's manuscripts were destroyed in the fire. Lumb Bank was subsequently renovated at a cost of £20,000 in 1975 (equivalent to £211,907 in 2023). It was leased from Ted and Carol Hughes by the Arvon Foundation in 1975 before being acquired by the foundation in 1989 from The Hughes Trust with assistance from the Arts Council of Great Britain. In September 1988 the foundation was offered £36,500 over three years by the Arts Council of Great Britain. The award was an incentive offered on condition that the foundation raise its income by £73,000. It was the first full award offered by the council under their incentive funding scheme. Pat Barker attended a workshop at Lumb Bank led by Angela Carter which led to the contract from Virago Press to publish her first book, Union Street, in 1982. Nigel Williamson wrote an article for The Times in 1997 recalling his experiences attending a novel writing workshop led by Barbara Trapido. The writer Vernon Scannell was a frequent tutor at Lumb Bank and depicted it as "Crackenthorpe Hall" in his 1998 novel Feminine Endings.

Ponden Reservoir is an artificial upland lake in the Worth Valley, near Stanbury, West Yorkshire, England. Ponden was built as a compensation reservoir after the nearby Watersheddles Reservoir (upstream) was used to divert water away from the River Worth. Ponden was needed to regulate the flow of water down the river into the downstream mills in the valley. The reservoir is owned and managed by Yorkshire Water, and is used as a recreational waterbody by a sailing club.

Scar Top is a farming hamlet near the tourist village of Haworth in the City of Bradford metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire in England. It is in the BD22 postcode area. Located west of Stanbury on a minor road connecting Haworth to Laneshaw Bridge, the hamlet contains a chapel, a farm and a collection of cottages; an infrequent bus service, route 916, runs to Keighley. Scar Top Chapel and Sunday School was built in 1869, replacing one built in 1818; it formerly belonged to the Methodists but since the 1970s has been independent. Ponden Mill, on the road to Haworth, was one of the main employers in the area. Moor Lodge, located northwest of the hamlet, is a former shooting lodge, built by Amos Nelson, that has been converted to a furniture and gift shop and tearooms'. It is thought to be the inspiration behind Ferndean Manor in Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre".

Wainsgate Baptist Church is a redundant chapel standing in an elevated position above the town of Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England (grid reference SD998288). The chapel and its attached school are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. The chapel is managed by the Historic Chapels Trust.

Old Town is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated on a hilltop above Hebden Bridge and across the Hebden valley from Heptonstall. The village falls within the Calderdale Ward of Luddendenfoot. Both Old Town and nearby Pecket Well are served by Wadsworth Parish Council. Old Town has a village green, two chapels, a pub called the Hare & Hounds (known by the locals as Lane Ends) and a post office which has a café situated within. The village has a population of about 1,070.