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ashetlandpony13 August 1969
Today, we visited the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire. Having never read anything that the Brontë sisters wrote, however, the house tour must have bored me, because I don't remember a single thing about it.
Haworth the town was quite memorable, though. I'd never seen so many antique shops in one street before. Of them all, my favorite was one that we here in America would more properly call a 'junk shop'. In one corner of this dark, dirty, dusty place, they had a huge bin full of old skeleton keys and padlocks. Eureka, I struck gold! In it, I found one of my Holy Grails: an ancient padlock which still worked and had its original key! I think I paid 30/- for it. And here it is!
Shown approximately actual size.
I've only recently learned that the lock was made in Germany by a company called Fuchs, or Fox, and is an earlier example of such without the embossed fox trademark on the coverpiece.
Although I have a distinct memory of the junk shop and thought I also remembered its precise location, I was unfortunately unable to locate it with Google Street View. What I did find, though, was that Haworth, itself, has hardly changed at all in the last 50 years.
Witness these views of Main Street, then and now:
Quite remarkable, in my opinion! Hat's off to the city fathers over the years for doing such a fantastic job of preserving the historic integrity of their town!
Today, we visited the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire. Having never read anything that the Brontë sisters wrote, however, the house tour must have bored me, because I don't remember a single thing about it.
Haworth the town was quite memorable, though. I'd never seen so many antique shops in one street before. Of them all, my favorite was one that we here in America would more properly call a 'junk shop'. In one corner of this dark, dirty, dusty place, they had a huge bin full of old skeleton keys and padlocks. Eureka, I struck gold! In it, I found one of my Holy Grails: an ancient padlock which still worked and had its original key! I think I paid 30/- for it. And here it is!
Shown approximately actual size.
I've only recently learned that the lock was made in Germany by a company called Fuchs, or Fox, and is an earlier example of such without the embossed fox trademark on the coverpiece.
Although I have a distinct memory of the junk shop and thought I also remembered its precise location, I was unfortunately unable to locate it with Google Street View. What I did find, though, was that Haworth, itself, has hardly changed at all in the last 50 years.
Witness these views of Main Street, then and now:
Quite remarkable, in my opinion! Hat's off to the city fathers over the years for doing such a fantastic job of preserving the historic integrity of their town!
