Taking A Walk On The Wild Side

Penistone Hill Country above Haworth is an atmospheric place, not least because of its connection to the Brontë sisters. Easily accessible from the village and covering the site of three disused quarries, it’s the perfect place to soak up the magic of the moors either solo or with family or friends.

Until October, a further incentive to go is Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture’s Wild Uplands project which invites people to experience the landscape in a very different way. Thanks to the initiative, the moorland has become the setting for four sculptures which take their inspiration from the landscape and its industrial heritage, and a brand-new soundwalk, Earth & Sky, created by Opera North. Having opened in May, it’s now reached its midway point before closing in October, so MagNorth went along to give it a go.

The soundwalk is the latest in a series of immersive journeys which has seen Opera North providing musical accompaniment to people crossing the Humber Bridge, strolling along the River Tyne and exploring the streets of its home city of Leeds. This is the first one however to be placed in a natural setting away from urban distractions, and the first time the company has created an app for the walk. This can easily be downloaded in advance – something which is recommended due to the village’s patchy Wi-Fi - then it’s simply a case of connecting your headphones before setting off. For those who prefer, tablets and headsets can be booked in advance and collected from The Brontë Parsonage Museum, an attraction which is well worth a visit in its own right.

Thanks to GPS, Earth & Sky immediately immerses you in a special soundscape. As you head along a footpath towards the moorland above, you are treated to local field recordings gathered by sound artist Sarah Keirle-Dos Santos, and classical music from Bradford-born 19th century composer Frederick Delius, recorded by the always excellent Orchestra of Opera North. Providing a spoken word element is poetry written and read by Bradford’s ‘Voice of the Hills’ Nabeelah Hafeez.

This sets the tone for a 2.6 mile/ 4.2 km recommended route through the rugged landscape, which encourages listeners to pause at certain locations to soak up the scenery while listening to a track inspired by a particular feature. The first of these is a suggestion to enjoy a moment of calm by a small lake where Pakistani-born artist Meherunnisa Asad, in collaboration with Peshawar-based atelier Studio Lél, has placed intricate butterflies carved from pink marble sourced from Pakistan. Inspired by these and referencing her East African heritage, Kenyan composer Nyokabi Kariũki has experimented with the idea of a butterfly flitting across the wild landscape. Making use of muttered voice and choral styles, the butterfly (‘kipepeo’ in kiswahili) invites the listener to join her in exploring the terrain by calling “Tembaa nami” or ‘follow me’.

The music seamlessly takes you from one place to the next. Italian composer and the first Artistic Director for Music at Venice Biennale, Caterina Barbieri has composed a site-specific work located at the tumbling cascade of rocks on the outer perimeter of Penistone Hill. ‘It was the Limit of My Dream’ features her signature electronics, chromatic vocal harmonies sung by members of the Chorus of Opera North, and extended brass drones played by the Orchestra of Opera North. The result is a strikingly atmospheric piece referencing, and celebrating, the beauty around you.

The synergy of natural and industrial elements found within the landscape, including rockstrata and quarrying processes, inspired Welsh multidisciplinary artist Gwen Siôn. Her composition combines electronics and acoustic instrumentation, both unaltered and heavily distorted environmental recordings, and vocal recordings which include fragments from literary texts written about the moorlands – a nod to the Brontës who still haunt these hills. It is to their home that you return, serenaded by Delius and Nabeelah Hafeez’s third poem which provides a fitting and thought-provoking end to the cultural trail. Time for a well-earned brew at the Parsonage Museum or one of the village’s many independent cafés.

Earth & Sky is free to download and is available until 12 October 2025 with an accessible version available to watch and listen online, so that those unable to cope with the terrain or living too far away to visit don’t miss out.

More information HERE.

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Header image: Nyokabi Kariũki on Opera North's Earth & Sky Soundwalk (Charlie Swinbourne)