A list of delightful self-catering holiday cottages in the county of Yorkshire in the north of England

<body> <p align="left"><strong><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Self catering holiday cottages, farmstays and homestays in Yorkshire, and other counties of the UK and Eire, Tel: 01245 425718 for details. </font></strong></p> <p align="left"><strong><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Some details about Yorkshire that you may like to know before your trip.</font></strong></p> <p><b><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"><u>West Yorkshire</u></font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Bradford : </b>The city of Bradford lies on the edge of the moors. A product of the industrial revolution, the dark satanic mills" of the textile industry populated the city with workers in the 18<sup>th</sup> and 19<sup>th</sup> centuries. The profit from the mills built fine victorian bulidings such as the Wool Exchange.</font></p> <u><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Places of interest</u> : The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television.</font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">The Alhombra Theatre</font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">The Priestley Centre for the Arts</font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Bradford Premiership Football Club</font></p> <b><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Saltaire : </b>This Victorian industrial village was built by the philanthropist Sir Titus Salt in order to create a better working and living environment for the workers of his woollen mills. The village has now been converted to the 1853 Gallery which houses a collection of work by local artist David Hockney. Shops, restaurants and pubs add to the ambience of this development. Not that Sir Titus would have approved as he believed in abstinence from alcohol.</font></p> <b><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Bingley : </b>The Leeds-Liverpool canal runs through Bingley where boats have to negotiate the Five rise locks.</font></p> <b><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Clayton : </b>Once a village, Clayton has now been absorbed by the spread of the Bradford conurbation. However, a village atmosphere survives, enhanced by the presence of traditional pubs such as the Albion and the Black Bull. Clayton was the birthplace of Albert Pierrepoint Britain's last number one official hangman. Despite carrying out his job with great skill, Mr Pierrepoint himself voiced concerns on the appropriateness of capital punishment.</font></p> <b><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Cottingley: </b>In 1917 two school girls Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths photographed fairies at the bottom of the garden. The photographs drew the attention of paranormal investigators including the creator of one Sherlock Holmes. However, even he could not deduce that these clever girls had made the fairies out of paper and fooled the world.</font></p> <b><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Burnley : </b>Located in Padisham near Burnley is <b>Gawthorpe Hall. </b>In the 1830s this was the home of the Kay-Shuttleworths, friends of Charlotte Bronte. This fine 17<sup>th</sup> century house, set in riverside woods, is now owned by the National Trust and open to the public. The interior features 17<sup>th</sup> century National Portrait Gallery paintings; Jacobean and Victorian furniture; elaborate ceilings and The Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth Texile Collection.</font></p> <b><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Denholme Village :</b> the breathtaking home to the largest wind farm in England, where the hill tops are dominated by the gleeming white blades of the clean electricity generating windmills.</font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"> <b>Halifax : </b>An industrial Pennine town which features the interesting architecture of the Piece Hall Yard. Halifax is also the home to the "Halifax Gibbet". This little piece of Yorkshire engineering is an English guillotine which was hard at work long before the French version had been invented. Nearby lies the village of <b>Southwram </b>where for a little while Emily Bronte taught before she wrote Wuthering Heights. Her well lubricated brother Branwell worked briefly as the Station Master in nearby <b>Luddunden</b>, a frightening prospect for the Victorian rail traveller!</font></p> <b><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Haworth : </b>Haworth lies above the Worth Valley amongst the lonely bleakness of the Pennine moors. In 1820 Patrick Bronte became the perpetual incumbent of Haworth. He, his wife and six children took up residence in the parsonage where after only a year his wife passed away. In 1824 the elder four daughters where sent to Cowan Bridge boarding school where the conditions were so harsh that the two, eldest, girls returned home ill and died. Charlotte and Emily were removed from the school and taken home. The children grew up inventing stories which reflected their environment, wild and powerful, bewitching and tragic. </font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Present day Haworth resonates with echoes from the past. The cobble stones of the stone built, shop lined main street trace steeply down the hill to the beautifully preserved, authentic Keighley and Worth Valley Steam Railway. Tearooms, gift shops and antiquarian book shops offer diversion and respite to the visitor. Thirsty travellers are well provided for with a choice of pubs including the Black Bull, where it is said that Branwell Bronte began his descent into the abyss of alcoholism and opium addiction. </font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">The Parsonage still remains and is furnished with the Bronte's own belongings. It is open to the public as the Bronte Parsonage Museum. Remnants of Bronte daily life can be seen including the writing desks of Charlotte, Emily and Anne, toys and Charlottes clothes. The "little books" that the children exquisitely stitched from scraps of paper and filled with works of imagination; precisely scribed to look like the printed word, can be viewed. Behind the parsonage lies the Haworth Parish Church which is the final resting place of the Bronte's, with the exception of Anne who died on a journey to Scarborough and is buried there, in a graveyard overlooking the sea.</font></p> <b><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">The South Pennines :</b> Tracing steps to a time where the only wheels which turned to press the ground were those pulled by the horse and ox, the powerful tranquillity of the moors is best experienced on foot. A footpath begins near Haworth Parish church which leads past Stanbury reservoir to the pretty, but unremarkable, Bronte falls; the Bronte bridge and on to the Bronte stone chair, where the sisters are said to have rested. The path then leads out of the valley and up on to the moors. Here lies Ponden Hall, which appears as Thrushcross Grange in Wuthering Heights. Continuing on, four miles out of Haworth, standing high on the lofty moor is Emily Bronte's inspiration for Wuthering Heights, Top Withens a desolate, ruined stone farmhouse. </font></p> <b><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Keighley : </b>A town set in West Yorkshire's Aire Valley. It is the terminus for the Keighley and Worth Valley railway.</font></p> <b><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Kirklees :</b> Near the town of Kirklee are two country houses, open to the public, with which Charlotte Bronte was familiar in the 1830s.</font></p> <u><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Oakwell Hall (Batley)</u>: A 16<sup>th</sup> century manor house internally recreated as in the late 17<sup>th</sup> century. A small exhibition details the families association with Charlotte Bronte, who drew inspiration from the house to create "Fieldhead" in the novel Shirley. Over 100 acres of country park surround the house and facilities include a visitor centre, café, shop and an environmental exhibition.</font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Red House (Gomersal): The home of Charlotte Bronte's close friend Mary Taylor. The house is exhibited as the 1830s home of the Taylor family. Outside the 1830s style is continued with recreated gardens featuring decorative iron work and shaped flower beds typical of the period. Charlotte Bronte was a frequent visitor and both the house and the occupants were immortalised as the Yorkes and Briarmains respectively, in the novel Shirley. The exhibition "The Secrets Out" allows visitors to "listen in " on Charlotte Bronte's personal correspondence with her friends using audio technology. Red House is a winner of a 1999 Interpret Britain Award. </font></p> <b><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Holme Valley: </b>The rugged Pennine scenery is dotted with villages of low cottages made of limestone hewn from the body of the land itself. <b>Holmfirth </b>is one such village which has been made famous as the set for the "Last of the Summer Wine". Although no longer filmed in the village, regular viewers of the show will be able to recognise such familiar landmarks as Sid's Cafi and Nora's steps. Guides for walking tours of the village are available at the bus station.</font></p> <b><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Wakefield: </font></b><u></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Nostell Priory</u>, situated 5 miles from Wakefield, is a National Trust property and open to the public. This fine Palladian House features a collection of Chippendale furniture.</font></p> <u><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Newmillerden Country Park,</u> 3.5 miles South of Wakefield. Woodland and lakeside walks offer a wealth of birdwatching. By the water course fishing is available and there is a restored boat house and visitor centre.</font></p> <b><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Leeds: </b>This industrial city is currently enjoying a renaissance as a stylish and vibrant centre for shopping by day and by night the heart of the city pulsates to the beat of numerous clubs, bars and restaurants. </font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Notable shopping experiences include the refined <u>Victoria Quarter</u> where designer names jostle for attention, dominated by the Harvey Nicholls department store. </font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">The <u>Corn Exchange</u> is a distinctive circular masterpiece conceived by Cuthbert Brodrick in 1865. Under its domed glass roof are numerous shops and restaurants.</font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Leeds is also home to the <u>Armouries Museum</u> which exhibits part of the Royal Collection from the Tower of London.</font></p> <p><strong><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Special offer of 2 years advertising for the price of one from Country Copttages Online for holiday property owners.</font></strong></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">More self catering accommodation wanted from anywhere in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Eire or further afield in Europe: Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Holland, Greece, Portugal.</font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Especially in the following counties: Yorkshire and Dales, Shropshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Sussex.</font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">All types of self catering holiday accommodation required: bungalows, chalets, apartments, flats, houses, villas, maisonettes, lofts, barn conversions, farmhouses, farm cottages, crofts, typical stone built English country cottages, luxury cottages, stately homes, castles, wings of castles and palaces, converted windmills, lighthouses, 1,2,3,4 or 5 bedrooms or more, with or without gardens. Secluded or suitable for city breaks, near beaches, hills and mountains, ideal for hill walkers, outdoor types or more luxurious for people who want a quiet time of pampering, farm stays, specialist and interest locations with fishing, sailing, water sports, horse riding.</font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">Reciprocal links invited from hotels, bed and breakfast residences, tour operators or any other organisation connected with travel and tourism.</font></p>  </body>