Lower Sixth Explore Gothic Literature
‘Were I once amongst the heather on those hills….’
The Brontë sisters’ writings, although famous now, were not always and it took for them to write under their pseudonyms of Currer, Acton and Ellis Bell to be able to have their work published. In the Lower Sixth, the Drama students study ‘Brontë’ by Polly Teale, an exploration of ‘how three Victorian spinsters living in isolation on the Yorkshire moors’ wrote some of the most incredible literature ever read. The English students also explore Gothic Literature and it was for this reason that these students with Mrs WItcomb and Mr Garrity, travelled to Haworth to expand their understanding and support their studies with a visit to the village where the sisters and their brother Branwell and father Patrick lived.
After a long Friday afternoon journey the minibus arrived at the YHA which in itself was a building steeped in gothic architecture and would be our accommodation for the next couple of nights. After a much-needed dinner, the students headed out into the gardens in the early evening sunshine to start work on their task of creating a film using the resources at hand; the films had to be ready to show the following evening.
On Saturday morning the students rose early to enjoy a cooked breakfast before venturing through the ‘steep’ cobbled streets to the Brontë parsonage where they spent the morning listening to an inspiring and historical talk on the family followed by a walk through the graveyard, into the church and then up onto the moors to walk in the sisters’ footsteps. After a picnic lunch sat in the parsonage garden, they then toured the Brontës’ house and viewed their original furnishings and décor as well as exhibitions of clothing, writings and art. As Haworth was also having its annual 1940s weekend, the streets were packed and the students enjoyed a couple of hours exploring while the teachers did a spot of sunbathing at the ‘meeting point’. In the evening students enjoyed another delicious dinner before finishing their films before viewing them in the YHA games room. The resulting films were excellent and evidenced how inspired the group had been by their day.
Before heading back to Worcester, Sunday morning was spent hiking to Top Withins ruins which was thought to have been Emily Brontë’s inspiration for ‘Wuthering Heights’. They passed the Brontë waterfall and Brontë bridge before heading up the steep climb to the top. The views were spectacular and the surroundings were so peaceful, providing the students with a real sense of why Emily loved being out on the moors so much. Mrs Witcomb read Emily’s poem, ‘High waving Heather’ before they all made their way back down to the minibus and the journey home. It was a fabulous weekend!
