198/365 Jack Burgoyne’s literary tours: Part 3 — Wuthering Heights

Not on the same trip as Oxford and Watership Down, but the same visit to England in 1976, Jack took us to Haworth and the surrounding moors. This was his idea because he was appalled when I told him I’d not read anything by the Brontës.

We visited the home of the Brontës, took a walk on Haworth Moor, part of the Pennine Way, and visited Top Withens, the ruin said to be Emily’s inspiration for Wuthering Heights. Somewhere in my house are photos of this trip, and one of me sitting on a stone “chair” that the Brontës allegedly often sat on.

When I returned to the States that fall, I decided to read Wuthering Heights and it is a book that I consider one of my favorites. I gave myself 15 minutes a day to read it before I began my homework, so the book took me a whole semester to read.

On my next visit to England in the winter of 1978-1979 I discovered Kate Bush, and her rendition of Wuthering Heights still gives me goosebumps.

Jack Burgoyne’s literary tours are something that I treasure to this day. He was an incredible man and I miss him.

8 thoughts on “198/365 Jack Burgoyne’s literary tours: Part 3 — Wuthering Heights

  1. One day I would love to do a long-distance hike on the moors–they seem mysterious and ghostly and possibly even faintly dangerous, although I of course don’t want to encounter any ghosts or danger. Or hounds or Heathcliffs, for that matter.

    • When Jeremy and I were talking of marriage we planned on hiking the Pennine Trail for our honeymoon. I even took a backpacking class at college (it was a PE credit) to prepare.

  2. I read Wuthering Heights, and so adored finding the moors in England. Unfortunately, my husband has not read it (I don’t think) and was more prepared to drive straight through them!

    • When I took my family to Haworth it was during one of Yorkshire’s wettest and coldest summers. Needless to say we didn’t do much moor wandering.

  3. There’s just something about a bleak, unforgiving landscape that makes my northern heart at home. I’ve grown to appreciate Wuthering Heights more over the years, even as Jane Eyre has grown more irritating. Jack, however, sounds like a delightful man.

  4. Pingback: 268/365 Kate Bush | Cedar Waxwing's 365

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