Early in June, there will be an fabulous opportunity to see Haworth Main Street as it looked in the Victorian era AND to see a film set being built.
Sally Wainwright, the write and creator of 'Happy Valley' and 'Last Tango in Halifax', amongst many others, is set to film 'To Walk Invisible' in and around the village during the week after the Spring Bank half term. The film, a feature length drama, is based on the lives of the Brontë family in Haworth. Wainwright suggests that this will not be the chocolate box image of a cosy village, but will show the 'true grit' realism of life at that time.
During the half term week itself, many of the shops towards the top of Main Street will be taken back to the 1840s. All of the shops will still be open while the transformation takes place giving locals and visitors this unique opportunity to experience the village at the time of the Brontës as well as seeing how a TV company creates a film set.
You may have seen the construction on Penistone Hill where a temporary mock-up of the Parsonage and the Old School Rooms is being constructed. It's difficult NOT to see it - it can be viewed from as far away as Harecroft, 4 miles from Bradford. It is being built as, during the period when the film is set, there were no trees around the building, and where many of the houses in the area now exist, there were fields - the area around the Parsonage looks very different today! At the end of filming, this new 'old' Parsonage is due to be completely removed by the middle of June!
The week after half term is when the filming takes place. Much of the upper part of Main Street (from the Black Bull Inn down to Lodge Street opposite the chocolate shop) will be closed to visitors and traffic between Monday 6th and Thursday 9th June. Arrangements are being made for locals and visitors to bypass this section, which means that the rest of Main Street remains open throughout this time.
The drama is due to be screened this Christmas on BBC1.
(Image courtesy of Emily Ross - Blog: http://bronteblog.blogspot.com/, Instagram: thebrontelink)