Visiting The Wuthering Heights Locations

Are you looking to take a trip to the Wuthering Heights locations and wondering which are the best ones? You are in the right place. In this article I’ll walk you through my recent visit to all the Wuthering Heights locations, and give you all the tips you need. 

Whenever I tell someone my name they automatically assume I am named after the Bronte sisters, and while I like the notion of this whimsical idea it simply isn’t true. I’m actually named after a place in Canada.  My mum visited Bronte when she was pregnant and fell in love with it. Apparently it’s a native word for ‘thunder’.

All of this however does not stop people thinking I have links with these famous sisters. It’s somewhat of a coincidence I ended up being obsessed with literature and writing.

However, like Emily Bronte I do have a love for a dark and tortured romance. My mum originating from the north of England, has often said she believes that the Yorkshire Moors are among one of the most beautiful places she has ever visited.

Our Trip To Wuthering Heights locations, Bronte Country. 

So when the opportunity arose for us to create some content for a brand inspired by a place and a book, Wuthering Heights sprung to mind. For me there is something so beautiful about this book and the films that have followed. The desolation and beauty mixed together with passion and desperation is so appealing.

Together we decided that we would travel to the Moors in Emily’s footsteps.  Visiting  some of the places associated with Wuthering Heights would allow us to create an epic photo for the brand.

After much research we decided the place that seemed most appropriate for this were Top Withens and Ponden Kirk, both representing places mentioned in the book. We also wanted to visit Bronte Waterfall because we just had to go to a waterfall named after me. The town of Haworth, where the Bronte sisters grew up was also on the list.

We stayed at the amazing Ponden Mill which is right on the Bronte Way and Pennine Way and in a lovely location. It’s also supposed to be haunted. 

As soon as we got into the area I fell in love, the buildings, the vast expanse of nothingness and the sheer beauty of this area is breathtaking. We only had one night at the location and lots of footage to get so we didn’t have a lot of time to enjoy it.

Ponden Kirk – A Wuthering Heights Location

This was a last minute add to our schedule and is probably what made the trip really tiring.  The location was  a little further out than the other locations and in the opposite direction.

We had initially thought we could get there and Top Withens and the waterfall on the same day. If you are an experienced walker you might be able to do this, we were not.

When we reached Ponden Kirk we asked a few people how to get to Top Withens and the answers ranged from ‘you are on the wrong valley’ to ‘I’ve lived here my whole life and have never got on the right path’. To someone even telling us ‘just don’t go that way there is nothing but Moors’. I’ve never seen American Werewolf in London but my mum has and it was enough for her to call it a day.

We were inspired to go to Ponden Kirk when we saw a pretty epic picture of the location. It is likely the inspiration for Penistone Crags and The Fairy Cave in the book. Making it a great Wuthering Heights location to visit. 

It is a crag of rock that sticks out over the valley below with a steep drop. There is a hole at the bottom of the rock known as the fairy cave and associated with many legends. Getting to the fairy cave below seems to me to be super dangerous and for experienced climbers though.

Our journey here was eventful and difficult. Of coarse we were equipped had a map but we went the wrong way. We ended up just following signs which was a much longer route and it was steep in places. We were carrying a lot of equipment so to say we found it hard would be an understatement.

However when we reached the top it gets flatter and the going easier. And the climb was so worth it. Up the top the area is stunning.

You can see Ponden Kirk from a distance and the walk to it is honestly stunning. We stopped at the most beautiful little waterfall on the wall and also stopped to take pictures in the moors which were covered in heather.

Getting the picture was not that easy, we are both scared of heights so the huge drop wasn’t helping. Mum had to climb down a bit of the mountain and sit in the wet heather to get the shot with some of the view. Had we had a drone the shot would have been relatively easy but we didn’t. The shot we got while beautiful really didn’t do the place justice.

Out of all the Wuthering Heights locations we visited this was by far the most stunning and the most deserted.

Most people stick to the more well known places and overlook this spot. If you have the time this walk is stunning.

What I will say though is don’t stray off the path we did once because we saw something pretty. Mum fell and hurt herself and it was rather dicey. We quickly turned back.

On day one this was the only thing we managed.  From Ponden Kirk we went to check into the hotel. I have to say we were also so unprepared for this walk that we had no food and ended up doing this all with no lunch. To say we were exhausted is an understatement.

Top Withens

Top Withens is perhaps the most well known of all the Wuthering Heights locations. Many believe it is the farmhouse Emily based Wuthering Heights on. The Bronte society have said it isn’t and it is highly improbable that Emily would never have visited Top Withens on her walks.  Apparently it is one of Emily’s friends who started this rumour and it hasn’t died down since. 

However this hasn’t stopped the association and people flocking to this ruin to see if for themselves. And it is very dramatic.

It is essentially a ruined farmhouse on the moors in the middle of nowhere made all more dramatic by the placement of an ominous tree.

The appearance of the house doesn’t match the one in the book but it’s location certainly does, all wild, windswept and very isolated.

It’s about 5 km from Haworth and most walk here from there taking in Bronte Waterfall on the way. It lies on the Pennine Way and is a popular walking spot.

We came to it from a slightly different way which involved a steep climb at the beginning. Once you reach the top you can see Top Withens for ages but it seems to take an age to get there. The end bit is steep and pathed so I imagine it gets very slippery in the wet conditions.

There is no doubt this palace has an atmosphere,  an entirely different feel to Ponden Kirk. While its beautiful it’s more desolate and windswept.

It was busy, not incredibly so but since we had only seen two people the day before the 50 or so people we saw felt like a throng.  We did have to wait an age to get the picture without anyone in.

Most people take a picture of Top Withens from the south or west side. We climbed a little further up the hill on some very unsteady ground and took it from the north. We got in position and just waited until everyone was out of shot.

People use this place as somewhat of a picnic spot and we got there about lunchtime so perhaps getting there earlier would have meant we waited less time.

The walk here is well marked and the path easy. It’s a much easier walk than the one of Ponden Kirk and a lot of people take their children.

I actually loved how this picture turned out I think we really managed to capture the feeling of Wuthering Heights and I really did love the atmosphere at this place. It’s as if it knowns what it is meant to represent and then oozes that.

Bronte Waterfall.

Our trip here was fueled by a picture I found on Instagram not thinking at the time the picture was taken in autumn and we visited in summer.

The Bronte waterfall is so named because the sisters, especially Emily loved it here.  There is even a Bronte bridge and a Bronte chair.

Most people approach this from Haworth we came in from the other side from Top Withens. This involved a very steep climb at the end and the same climb back out. I think the walk from Haworth is perhaps not as strenuous.

As soon as we hit this palace we were mesmerized.  It was covered in heather and honestly looked like some kind of fairy glen film set. No pictures can ever do this place justice.

You couldn’t actually see the waterfall because it was covered in foliage so the picture I wanted to take here didn’t happen. But the area around the stream was just stunning and we got some lovely pictures. We stayed here for quite a long time just taking it in as it was so so stunning.

It was perhaps the busiest place we visited too not over crowded but a steady stream of people.

One visit here and you will know why the sisters visited so often. It was other worldly particularly in late afternoon when the sun shines on it just right causing beams of light.

Haworth

We knew we wanted to go into Haworth and get a picture and we knew we would have to do it early as this place get crowded.

If there is one thing I wish we could have done on this trip it was spend more time in Haworth when it was open and visit the Bronte Museum but we just didn’t get the chance.

To get the picture we needed we actually arrived in the town at about 6.30 and there was no one around. I don’t think I have even see a cuter, more picturesque town in my life.

Looking around in the shop windows and marveling at the cute houses is something I could have done for hours. We got the picture we needed and left pretty quickly because we had to get back for breakfast.

The museum was closed so we could only see by holding the phone over the wall. When we were there you had a book at certain time to visit and we just could not make it work but I would have loved to have visited the place where the sister grew up. 

These were the four Wuthering Heights locations we wanted to visit and while it was a jam packed trip we managed to fit it all in. We really needed a couple of more nights to make the most of it.

I can honestly say this trip was incredible and the locations while challenging to get to were so worth it. 
Seeing these Wuthering Heights locations and traveling somewhat in Emily’s footsteps you can see how the sisters managed to create such masterpieces.

There is something about this area that just demands you write about it. You can’t help but get lost in the wild dark aromanticness of it all. And I cant wait to go back and visit again.

You might Also like reading about my trip to Bram Stoker’s Whitby.