On Friday, 27th July, 2018, I enjoyed a magnificent bus trip. It started in the hamlet of Utley, and took us to Haworth, home of the Bronte family: Bronte Land itself. The weather was perfect – lots of hot sun appearing through the early cloud. My long time friend, Eileen, came with me. Eileen once lived in Haworth, so she was the ideal tour guide. All other planning was simplicity itself. Normally we drive, but today we were going by bus. We looked at the official timetables and selected our chosen routes and times. Everything worked. At Utley, our first, patient bus driver was (coincidentally) called Chris, and he picked us up in his tiny Hopper bus, for the one and a half mile journey into Keighley. Then we boarded the B1 Stanbury bus. Our second driver was called Bob, and he too was friendly and happy. We stopped at the War Memorial, dedicated to the memory of the thirty eight Haworth soldiers who died in France in 1918. And we were pleased to learn that the Kings Arms pub, which is close by, always welcomes dogs and muddy boots. A former landlord, Enoch Thomas, was friend and confidant to Branwell Bronte. And another landlord, Joseph Fox, a confectioner, provided all the food for Emily Bronte’s funeral feast.

Once we arrived, we sat in the Bronte Parsonage garden, admiring the honesty plants and the roses. We met and spoke to visitors from Italy, America, Canada, Japan, Germany and Sweden. We saw the plaque commemorating the opening of the Bronte Museum in 1878. And on the day we were there, celebrations had just begun for the 200th anniversary of Emily Bronte’s birth, on 30th July, 1818. It was pleasing to see the Haworth allotments, full of runner beans, yellow courgettes and brassica plants, and among them, big butterflies and heavy bees. We visited the Apothecary, with its traditional ancient cures, and had lunch there. And wherever we went, we were given free samples of food, of flowers, of perfume and aftershave.

Julie was our driver on our bus journey back, and she was friendly and reassuring. Both Eileen and I felt privileged to have been part of the continuing, unfolding tapestry that binds this country together. Together in sickness and in health. Together in conflict. Together in fairness. Together as one, in a series of common causes, common interests: together in friendship and fellow feeling.