Thought for today:
"Only a true Haworth resident will know that 'The Bronte Way' is no rambler's walk or bridal footpath in our fair land. We true stalwarts know that the phrase was born in the breast of a mother of thirteen children who was reported to have been born in a little cottage up Main Street during the 1830's.
It was she who first found 'The Bronte Way' after she discovered the best method of disciplining her young without needing to resort to the belt or birch. For a mother to be a good disciplinarian she must have the 'Bronte Look' and the 'Bronte Finger' as the residents of Haworth have come to know and she must also possess the skill to synchronise both perfectly.This is what has come to be known as 'The Bronte Way'.
If you don't believe me, wait until you next see a child about to break out into a tantrum in the Main Street. If they get a sharp clout, a smacked bottom or their ice cream cornet snatched from their hands in punishment and thrown away, then know them to be visitors.
If, on the other hand, however, instead of threatening them with any words or stick to hand, the mother simply looks them straight in the eye and points in 'The Bronte Way,' you know she hails from Haworth. I guarantee that the silent image will initially stop them in their tracks for a moment, which is usually enough time to regain control of the situation.
Where do you think that the late Barbara Woodhouse developed her successful approach to establishing dog obedience? Why from Haworth of course!
As for Bronte women's way of keeping their husbands in check in the departments of drinking too much, having a wandering eye or even daring to have a mild dalliance with a loose married woman who has recently come into the area, there is the eternal threat of the 'Cullingworth Cleaver' which is hung within husbandly eyesight in every Bronte woman's kitchen. Every Bronte man knows that if he desires to remain a man and is to be one day buried with all his body parts which he had attached to his torso when he first entered this life, that drink in moderation, no fanciful notions of mind or deviation from marital vow is the order of the day." William Forde: March 16th, 2018.
