Man, ain't Haworth cool?

The Telegraph and Argus has an article and an opinion column on a recently-launched campaign to make Haworth a cool place. However, we have found no mention of this campaign on the Haworth Traders Association.

A campaign has started to demonstrate that a world-famous village is more than a tourist honey-trap.
Haworth traders want to show that the picture-postcard 19th century cobbled Main Street it is not just a shrine to the famous Bronte family but is also home to a vibrant 21st century community.
The town is branding itself as a great place to shop, to eat and spend a weekend - as well as a destination for Bronte lovers heading for the famous Parsonage museum and steam fans to the Worth valley railway.
The Seeds of Change campaign is being spearheaded by Haworth Traders and produced by design company Mine Creative, which is based in the village.
Focal point in promoting the new image will be a website and a short film called The Village which shows five young women arriving by steam train on the Worth Valley line and enjoying a fun-filled weekend of shopping for top quality clothing, eating fine food and staying in luxury accommodation.
Mine Creative's Karl Helliwell said: "Haworth is not just about the Bronte, although of course they are very important to its image.
"But we want to show the village in a new light - one which reflects that it is also in the 21st century and has lots to offer.
"There are quality shops, places to eat and sleep - it's a cool place to be."
Behind the new image is Haworth Traders group which wants to change the village's image as being "just full of tourist shops."
Pam Howarth, of Haworth Traders, said: "Haworth has changed a lot - there are more new businesses which are not just connected to tourism. It is very much up-market.
"We want to show people that it's a great place to come and stay and shop, visit the restaurants and pubs and enjoy the beautiful park and of course visit the Bronte Parsonage Museum.
"The Brontes and the railway are very important to the village but it is more than just a place of tourism."
The women featured in the film are sales executive Sarah Toothill, 23, of West Lane, Keighley, schools worker 21-year-old Emma Roberts, of Beechcliffe, Keighley, Lydia Viccary, 18, of Cross Hills, who works at Rackhams in Skipton, Claire Scott-Grice, 34, of Leeming near Oxenhope and waitress Hiroko Newiss, 35, of Haworth.
All five were auditioned for the roles and will be featured shopping in Main Street, enjoying a drink in a pub, visiting the church, alighting from a steam train and enjoying a picnic at Top Withens, said to be the location of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.
Mrs Scott-Grice, who runs The Beauty Rooms in Low Street, Keighley, said: "I think it's a fantastic thing for Haworth. It's about putting it back on the map - it has the Brontes but we are also saying it has great shops and eating places and places to stay.
"I was flattered to be asked to take part and it has helped me make some new friends."
The five women have also taken part in a photo shoot for the website which will be unveiled later this year at Haworthvillage.co.uk (Clive White)

Don't miss the readers' comments beneath the original article.

Haworth has a lot to thanks the Brontes for. Over many decades they have brought countless visitors to the village and hopefully they will continue to do so for many more decades, to the benefit of Haworth itself and the wider Bradford district of which it is a part.
But in the hard-nosed 21st century, a village cannot live on romantic literary legends alone. If it is to thrive, it needs to be able to offer something else. The Seeds of Change campaign launched to give Haworth a makeover and change its image to one better suited to our times is overdue.
It is particularly welcome given that the initiative is home-grown, springing from the Haworth Traders group and being spearheaded by locally-based design company Mine Creative. The campaign wisely does not seek to play down the importance to the village of the Brontes or the Worth Valley Railway. They remain the joint keystones of its popularity.
But there is more to Haworth than that. There is more even over and above the splendid countryside with which so much of this part of West Yorkshire is blessed. That is what the Seeds of Change campaign is emphasising by turning the spotlight on the village's shops, restaurants, bars and hotels and seeking to make the place "cool".
It is no bad idea to strive to move forward by singing your own praises. The road that Haworth is setting off along is one that many other parts of this diverse, interesting and perhaps over-modest district of ours could follow to their advantage.

While we applaud the initiative and encourage the Haworth citizens to look to the future instead of remaining glued to the past, we are also a little afraid of the results. Sometimes cool does not equal good. They're probably very lucky - although they seldom seem to notice - in that they are a rich place brimming with tourists while other local small villages just as charming but without a world-famous literary family are not blessed with such a chance.

And anyway - isn't the devil you know better than the devil you don't know?

Categories: Haworth, In the News