Letter: The way the wind blows in Bronteland

Sir: Your Diary columnist (18 February) comments on the eruption of wind turbines in the literary shrine of Bronteland. Unlike some of the 62 dignitaries reputed to have written to the Times Literary Supplement in objection to these beautiful, elegant and clean machines, I actually live in the area all year round.

Due mostly to its connection with the Bronte family, the small village of Haworth is descended upon by more than a million visitors each year. Most of them come in motor cars, polluting the clear moorland air and discarding their soft-drink cans and Bronte nougat wrappers everywhere. True, a tiny proportion of these visitors take to the moors to search for the inspiration reputed to have moved Emily, Charlotte, Anne and Bramwell to great literary outbursts. If they climb high enough, they might just catch a glimpse of a wind farm glinting silently in the far distance. However, they would have to choose a good, clear day, a not- too-frequent occurence in the Yorkshire climate.

In Haworth itself one wind turbine curiously dominates the village, but the Haworth seen by visitors today bears little resemblance to that the Bronte family knew during their tenancy at the parsonage.

Meanwhile, protests roll in because a new wind farm is planned that will be visible only by telescope from Haworth but will be seen a little more clearly from nearby Hebden Bridge, where a number of the 62 literary dignitaries have holiday addresses.

Yours sincerely,

GRAHAM SMOUT

Oakworth, West Yorkshire

18 February

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