Claire Campbell: Touring Skipton and Haworth

After spending the past two years attending a school outside of Boston, I have been on quite a few tours led around Paul Revere’s house, through graveyards, and across the historic cobblestone streets of Boston. I had never thought about the details that go into presenting a historical site, as each tour was similar enough that no definite opinion could be formed. Now, I first take note of the presentation of these incredible British sites, down to every detail that makes our experiences either profound or frustrating. In a single day, we visited two sites that greatly showcased this range of experiences.

The castle at Skipton was beautiful; it did not need tour guides dressed up in period clothing, replicas of items from the past, or really anything but the very bones of the building. Our imaginations filled in the details of past grand gatherings, how the courtyard would have looked with various royals parading about.

I was deeply impacted in knowing that this place had value because it had seen so many amazing things. Nothing else was needed to convince me of this location's worth.

 The Brontë house at Haworth was different. While equally beautiful, with a gorgeous courtyard and house, I felt like the inside of the house was a strange shrine to the Brontës. I didn’t sense any kind of respect for the sisters, as illuminated glass containers held random artifacts from sisters and their family and friends in the rooms that they lived and died. I would have preferred to see those items in a museum, not in a home. I was distracted by the amalgamation of items and posters with paragraphs full of trivial information; I did not walk away from that house feeling as though the love that the Brontë family had for Haworth was honored at all.

 It is easy to become overwhelmed with the history and artifacts of a place. I don’t know how to avoid this, as it is important to preserve places such as those we saw in Skipton and Haworth. It may be that it is necessary to have all kinds of historical sites in an attempt to honor both the owners of the past and the visitors of the present. I wish we could ask the authors and royals what they would have wanted, even though I doubt we would often be happy with the answer. But we did see beauty that day, in several forms that all helped us understand a bit more of this interesting place we are calling home these next three months.