Dan Rutstein heads for Bront country to see what could have inspired the literary family.

TO write as well as the Bronts you would need a fair amount of inspiration. And arriving in "their country" by steam train, you feel almost inspired to pick up the pen yourself.

Classic children's film The Railway Children and cult TV comedy The League of Gentlemen have used the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway as a location.

And quite rightly so.

The destinations, including Haworth and Oxenhope, are well worth a visit, and the countryside along the way, babbling brooks et al, is also a treat.

There is something about these sort of journeys, with the old carriages chugging along, that makes arriving at picturesque villages all the more enjoyable.

The five mile journey from Keighley, worth a visit in its own right, was a pleasure. Glued to the window the entire journey, passengers are treated to all the rural delights that foot and mouth has deprived us of.

The railway has six superbly restored gas-lit stations, a fleet of steam locomotives and historic carriages, a Museum of Rail Travel at Ingrow, buffets at Keighley and Oxenhope - and even a CAMRA real ale bar on many trains.

Once alighted, we naively succumbed to the temptation of leaning over the railway bridge at Haworth and got a well-deserved faceful of sooty filth along with many others.

Then a stiff walk up the cobbled streets took us into this delightful place.

Much like Robin's Hood Bay, Haworth boasts coffee shops and tea-rooms aplenty. These are interspersed with gift shops offering everything from novelty tea-towels to home-made jams.

But among the notable highlights of this historic extravaganza is the Apothecary. An ancient drugs store, this antiquated treat offers carbolic soap, sherbet dib-dabs as well as a variety of other gifts long since disappeared from general sale.

It is the sort of tourist trap you are happy to be caught in.

Nothing is particularly expensive, apart from some of the more poncey soaps and herbal remedies, but it is all delightfully laid out with particularly helpful, genuine and friendly staff.

Moving further up the hill you find the Bront Parsonage Museum itself.

The Bronts were an extraordinary literary family and Haworth Parsonage was their life-long home. The Reverend Patrick Bront, his wife Maria and their six children came to live at the Parsonage in 1820. Maria and Elizabeth, the eldest girls, died here in childhood, not long after their mother.

Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne survived to adulthood and the sisters went on to write some of the greatest novels of the English language: Charlotte's Jane Eyre, 1847, Emily's Wuthering Heights, 1847 and Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, 1848.

The Bronts were an intensely close-knit family and their home formed the heart of their world from early childhood until the end of their brief lives.

The Yorkshire moorland setting provided them with inspiration for their writing.

The Parsonage was opened as a museum in 1928. It is set out with the family's own furniture and possessions, bringing the rooms to life as they would have been in the time of the Bronts.

Examples of the works and writing desks belonging to Charlotte, Emily and Anne are permanently on show, as are Branwell's striking portraits of local people. A changing display of Charlotte's tiny dresses, bonnets and shoes are also exhibited.

Although it is a fantastic museum, Haworth village itself is worth a visit, especially if it is busy.

As the tourists trek up the hill to join the museum queues, you may as well just relax, enjoy the countryside and get back on the railway.

Fact file

Museum opening times: every day except December 24-27, 2001 and January 7- February 1, 2002. 10am - 5.30pm April to September, 11am - 5pm October to March

(Please note: last admission is half an hour before closing.)

Prices: Adults £4.80, senior citizens and students £3.50, children 5-16 years £1.50 (under fives free). Family ticket £10.50.

Contact: 01535 642323

Trains: Day ticket: £8, gives unlimited travel for a whole day. Ideal for those wanting to spend all day on the railway.

Family day ticket: £20 (two adults and three half fares). Full line ticket: £6, allows one round trip on the line from any station. Family full line return: £16 (two adults and three half fares), allows one round trip on the line from any station for two adults and up to three children.

For more information on the railway, call 01535 645214