Wuthering blights?

LEADING literary figures and other admirers of the works of the Bronte sisters are protesting over a plan to build several wind farms, consisting of large metal turbine mills, on the Yorkshire moors near the Brontes' home in Haworth, writes Stephen Ward

Last week 62 of them signed a protest letter to the Times Literary Supplement, saying: 'The moorlands round Haworth have become famous throughout the world as the inspiration behind some of the greatest novels and poetry ever written. Without entering the debate on the appropriate role for wind energy within our national energy policy, we must all deplore the wholesale despoliation of a landscape with uniquely important literary associations.'

The first wind turbine was built in Britain two years ago. There are now 400 on 21 wind farms. The area around Haworth is vulnerable to applications to build more because it does not enjoy National Park status, which protects the Dales and the Peak District, says the letter. It called for an area of 20 miles around Haworth to be given special status to prevent any such developments.

The signatories included the Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes, and novelists Muriel Spark, Iris Murdoch, Mary Wesley and Joanna Trollope.

(Photograph omitted)