Brimham Rocks
Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor
A place for families, adventurers, geologists, photographers and film crews, the bizarre wonder of Brimham Rocks is easy to appreciate. The attraction here is the almost unbelievable balancing rock formations. It was once though that the rocks had been stacked by druids, but in reality, this prehistoric landscape was created by an immense river some 100 million years before the first dinosaurs walked the earth.
The site has been managed by the National Trust for the past half century and visitors eager to learn about the area’s geological or social history can book onto a range of guided tours. There are toilets, refreshments and a visitors centre, and the Trust also run scheduled children’s activities such as tree trails and pond dipping. Of course families can enjoy running, jumping, scrambling or even just a picnic at any time.
Film buffs and literary enthusiasts will appreciate the area’s cinematic bonafides, as the Rocks have been as locations in adaptations of Wuthering Heights, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and Jane Eyre — why not see if you can find the spot where Charlotte Gainsbourg’s Jane and William Hurt’s Rochester first meet?
