Wuthering Heights: West Yorkshire, U.K.

 
 
 

September 6th - 11th, 2024

Next September, we will gather in a small group in West Yorkshire to embark on a Wuthering Heights walking pilgrimage led by Sanne Vliegenthart. Our days will consist of daily class time, long walks, delicious food at local pubs, and peaceful moments for reflection.

The group will discuss Wuthering Heights through the theme of ‘imagination.’ During the trip, they will discover the incredible inner world of the Brontë sisters, explore the vivid landscape that inspired Emily Brontë to write Wuthering Heights, and delve deep into the whirlwind story of Catherine and Heathcliff, filled with passion, loss and revenge. Pilgrims will visit Haworth, where the Brontës grew up, and the Brontë Parsonage Museum, walking in the sisters’ footsteps as they contemplate their legacy. Through total immersion in the environment and daily discussions, they will harness the power of their imagination for confidence and creative expression.

Our group of pilgrims will convene at midday on September 6, 2024 in Manchester to begin our adventure; we will end the pilgrimage at 11 am on September 11.

What’s Included:

  • Five nights in a shared or private room at Oakwood Hall, a 19th-century manor house that’s been converted into a luxurious hotel

  • All meals from lunch on Sept 6th to breakfast on the 11th

  • Transportation within West Yorkshire from the afternoon of the 6th to midday on the 11th within the region

  • One-on-one chaplaincy sessions

  • Private walking tours, picnics, and museum tours

  • Customized journal

PRICING/LOGISTICS:

  • We will be meeting in Manchester on September 6th.

  • We have a payment plan for this trip (read below!)

  • We will be walking up to 12 miles each day, sometimes on hilly terrain. The weather in the UK is notoriously variant. It might be mild and sunny, or wet and windy, sometimes all in the same day. We won’t rush our walks, but we expect to be tired at the end of each day.

  • The total cost of the trip is $4,500 for a shared room and $5,000 for a private room.

  • People who have attended another Common Ground pilgrimage will receive a 5% discount on the cost of the trip.

  • Once you register, spots are offered on a first come, first served basis.

  • Within 48 hours of your registration, we will send you a link to complete your payment for the trip. You will then have 48 hours to fulfill payment or begin your payment plan to officially reserve your spot.

  • If you cannot fulfill payment, we will offer the spot to the next registrant on the list until all the spots are full.

  • At that point, we will notify any remaining registrants that they are now on our waitlist for this trip: if a spot opens up, we will offer it in order, from the earliest to most recent registrant, until it is claimed.

  • If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at commonground@notsorryproductions.com.

Payment Plans

We’re thrilled to be able to offer a payment plan that breaks the cost of the pilgrimage into two parts:

Shared Room

$2,850 Deposit Upon Registration

June 1, 2024: $1,650 Automatic Withdrawal

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Total Cost of Pilgrimage (Shared Room): $4,500

Private Room

$3,350 Deposit Upon Registration

June 1, 2024: $1,650 Automatic Withdrawal

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Total Cost of Pilgrimage (Private Room): $5,000

If you’re interested in a payment plan, fill out our registration form here and, when asked if you can pay in full, select the answer “No. Please send me a payment plan.”

Within two business days, the Common Ground team will email you at the email address you have provided with all information needed to activate your payment plan and reserve your spot.

Note: Past pilgrims will receive 5% off the cost of the trip, even through payment plans.

More About the Trip

Wuthering Heights is uniquely aligned with the landscape that inspired it: unruly, harsh, and stunningly beautiful. Like the wild and rolling Yorkshire moors, the novel’s heroes Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff are neither cozy nor sweet, but instead immensely, irresistibly compelling. Sanne Vliegenthart is an ideal leader for this trip: a stalwart fan of both Wuthering Heights and the Brontë sisters, she has actually made this pilgrimage previously as an individual traveler.

 
 

We are beyond excited to match her with pilgrims who will share her heartfelt love of Emily, Anne, and Charlotte Brontë and let the challenging passion of this novel give them fresh access to their own imaginations. Together, pilgrims will contemplate questions like: which myths fuel my imagination, and which ones limit it? Are there cycles in my life I need to imagine myself beyond? And how does immersing myself in new worlds help my imagination grow?

Trip Faculty

Sanne Vliegenthart | Faculty Leader
(she/her)

Sanne Vliegenthart is the creator of Books & Quills and author of the Book Club Journal. On her YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, her literary explorations of the UK and favourite reading recommendations have been viewed by more than 15 million people. She’s been featured in The Times and The Guardian, appeared at Cheltenham Literature Festival, and has interviewed many of her favourite authors and actors, including Saoirse Ronan, Ruth Wilson, Garth Nix, Neal Shusterman and Alice Oseman.

After completing her English Language and Culture MA in the Netherlands, Sanne moved to London, where she now combines her years of experience working in publishing, including at Penguin Random House UK, with her knowledge of the online reading world to create connections and inspire readers as a freelance Social Media Producer, Strategist, and Literary Event Host.

Her favourite literary excursions this year include visiting Pride and Prejudice filming location Stourhead (from the rainy Darcy proposal scene), attending the Jane Austen Festival in Bath in full Regency costume, and a solo trip to Haworth to sketch in nature and be inspired by the stunning landscape.*

To learn more about Sanne’s incredible work, check out her website!

*(Note: We scheduled this pilgrimage to end shortly before the 2024 Jane Austen Festival in Bath begins, so keep that in mind as you plan your trip!)

 

Colette Potts | Chaplain
(She/Her)

Colette is a licensed therapist who has worked with families across the developmental spectrum in settings ranging from urban public schools to rural homes, to help parents raise loving children, using caring communities to make it easier – and more fun.

Colette will serve as chaplain on this trip.

Refund Policy:

Please be sure you can attend the event before booking. If an unforeseen circumstance does occur, we will do our best to find a replacement for you. If we are able to get someone to take your place, we will refund your full payment minus a service charge (10% of the full payment). For cancellations within six weeks of the beginning of the trip, we are not able to find replacements. We strongly urge you to purchase travel insurance in the event of a personal conflict, health issue, or unexpected circumstance.