Matilda Swift's Blog

While not literary in the sense of a classic novel, the story of the Cragg Vale Coiners is a legendary piece of local history that has inspired a wealth of modern literature, most notably Benjamin Myers’ brilliant and visceral novel, The Gallows Pole. For anyone interested in the darker corners of West Yorkshire’s past, this...

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If Haworth is the soul of 19th-century literature, then Heptonstall, perched precariously on the ridge above Hebden Bridge, is the haunting heart of the 20th. This ancient weaving village, with its steep, bone-rattling cobblestones and its two churches (one ruined, one standing), is the final resting place of Sylvia Plath, one of the most influential...

The post A Hilltop Requiem: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes in Heptonstall appeared first on Matilda Swift.

Just a short, dramatic drive over the tops from Hebden Bridge, where I live, lies Haworth, a village that has become synonymous with the most famous literary family in history. For a mystery writer, the Brontës represent the ultimate closed circle—three sisters and a brother, isolated in a parsonage, creating vast, tumultuous worlds from the...

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When I visited York last year, I wasn’t there for the winding cobbled streets or the dramatic cathedral. Instead of my usual haunts, I took a trip into the Howardian Hills to stay at Ampleforth Abbey. Some might think a Benedictine monastery is too peaceful a setting for a writer who spends her days thinking...

The post The Silent Sentinel: Reflections on Ampleforth Abbey appeared first on Matilda Swift.

I recently had the immense pleasure of attending Stockport Noir, a fantastic crime fiction event held at the Masonic Guildhall. There was something undeniably delicious about sitting in a room decorated with ornate Masonic symbols while discussing the finer points of fictional murder and the darker side of human nature! Hiding in Plain Sight Freemasonry...

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I recently spent a wonderful afternoon at Belvoir Castle—pronounced “Beaver”, for my international readers! It is one of those classic English linguistic traps that we locals take great delight in. While the name translates from the French as “Beautiful View,” the earthy British pronunciation reminds us that our landscape is often far more rugged than...

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There is nowhere in the UK—and perhaps the world—quite like Burgh Island. Sitting just off the coast of South Devon, it’s a place governed entirely by the moon. When the tide is out, you can walk across the golden sands from Bigbury-on-Sea. But when the tide rushes in, the island is severed from the mainland,...

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I have just returned from a stay at Dunkenhalgh Castle in Lancashire, and I must confess, I spent far more time peering into the shadows of the long, velvet-carpeted galleries than I did relaxing by the fire in the lounge. While the building is now a magnificent hotel and spa, the grit of its 13th-century...

The post The Lady in French Lace: A Night at Dunkenhalgh Castle appeared first on Matilda Swift.

To finish our tour of the inspirations behind the Parchment Paper Mysteries, we have to step out of the cobbled streets of Haworth and Hebden Bridge and climb upward. Above the towns lies the true heart of the North: The Moors. For my friends across the pond in the US, the moors are a landscape...

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If Haworth (see last week’s post) is the brooding soul of my Parchment Paper Mysteries, then Hebden Bridge is undoubtedly its beating, creative heart. Just a few miles over the tops from the Brontë Parsonage, Hebden Bridge offers a completely different—yet equally captivating—inspiration for my writing. Known as the ‘coolest’ town in the North, it’s...

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