Clean energy should be a priority, not wuthering 'Brontë country' nostalgia | Letters

Readers respond to an article by Simon Jenkins about a proposed windfarm in the PenninesRe Simon Jenkins’ article (Ed Miliband would let a turbine farm destroy Brontë country. We need net zero, but at what cost?, 14 July), there might be good reasons for opposing a windfarm on the Yorkshire moors, but Emily Brontë isn’t one of them. Nor is the “turbulent romance” of Wuthering Heights an appropriate filter through which to view the Pennines. The Brontës’ local landscape would have changed considerably in their lifetime. They would have seen the rapid industrialisation of nearby towns such as Bradford and Halifax, and the mills that sprang up along the river in Haworth.They would have recognised the benefits of the expansion of the railways despite the impact on the countryside (their brother, Branwell, worked as a railway clerk). The “historic Brontë village of Haworth” where they grew up was not a rural idyll, but a breeding ground for cholera and typhoid. The Brontë sisters must have applauded the campaign by their father, Patrick, for improved sanitation there, leading to the creation of a local reservoir that doubtless affected the countryside but also saved lives. Continue reading...

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