A strange encounter.

[ColinJ]

Maybe you weren't gloomy and taciturn enough? Anyway, it's "Haworth", not "Howarth", despite the pronunciation.

True, but a lot of people make the same mistake ...

The name Haworth is said to originate from "hedged enclosure" or "hawthorn enclosure" Records are said to date back to 1209 when it was recorded as a settlement. The name is often misspelt as Howorth and Howarth. The 1771 map (left) records the name as Howorth, later maps revert back to the original spelling.

Even companies based there get it wrong!

 

[661-Pete]

True, but a lot of people make the same mistake ...

Even companies based there get it wrong!

Aha! And I'm not even a Yorkshireman! Though I did live for some years in Bradford...

 

[Globalti]

She was surely expecting Heathcliff, not you. Maybe you weren't gloomy and taciturn enough? Anyway, it's "Haworth", not "Howarth", despite the pronunciation.

Damn you're right! Thanks.

 

[theclaud]

Ghost-tastic! Have you investigated whether there are any local legends that tie in with your apparition?

 

[Globalti]

Local legends? Perhaps Colin in drag?

 

[ColinJ]

Local legends? Perhaps Colin in drag?

I'd never wear my skirt up there in those conditions - I'd die of exposure!

I told a friend your tale and she said "The poor woman was probably busting for a pee and was just about to squat down in the middle of nowhere when some bloody mountain biker appears out of the mist and almost catches her at it. No doubt she ran off behind some hillock while he was picking himself back up!"

Not as much fun as the idea of the ghost though is it!

 

[Alan Whicker]

Have to say, if somebody was going to make a habit of wearing a 19th century outfit, they'd do it in Hebden Bridge.

 

[Spuddle]

Maybe she was so startled she jumped into the nearest hedge / over the nearest wall until you had got up out of the ditch and carried on going?

 

[hondated]

Great story and it certainly gets you thinking.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Great story. Whether it's a 'ghost story' or a 'real' encounter, it can't help also remind me of all those little occasions when I didn't stop, you know the ones where nothing much seemed to be wrong but then later you get a nagging feeling that it wasn't quite right and perhaps you should have taken a closer look.