Millstone Grit, Blackstone Edge: Literary and Heritage Tourism in the South Pennines, England

Abstract

The South Pennines stretches across the southern end of the Pennines in England, the range of high moorland and millstone-grit outcrops that divides the Peak District of Derbyshire to the south from the Yorkshire Dales to the north. The area is a popular place for walking, for touring and visiting. In this chapter, I explore the ways in which the South Pennines landscape and history has shaped (and has been shaped by) the romantic, literary stereotype of the wild moor, through a discussion of the Brontë sisters and Ted Hughes. I then describe and critique the tourism that has grown up around the Brontës in Haworth, and Ted Hughes in the Calder Valley.