I don’t look like Jacob Elordi. I don’t compare to Heathcliff. But, with Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights set to reignite a national obsession with Emily Brontë’s classic Gothic novel, I’m looking for somewhere with that wild, remote, and expansive feeling to roam.
Because Wuthering Heights’ Yorkshire moors setting is, probably, more famous than its intensely passionate love story. Vast, open spaces, heather-topped landscapes, and dramatic ridges echo the characters’ turbulent emotions. But I don’t want to travel all the way to Yorkshire—it’s a 3-hour drive from Birmingham.
Where can I go instead?
If you want somewhere with a similar feeling of rugged ridges and heather-clad moorland, you want to set out on a misty day to the Shropshire Hills. Just an hour from Birmingham, the area provides an eerie and open atmosphere to rival the northern park’s sweeping landscape.
What sets the Shropshire Hills apart from Yorkshire is its greater diversity in scenery, from wooded valleys to agricultural land, while the Stiperstones is a unique ridge in the former Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, world-renowned for their jagged, craggy quartzite rock formations.
And most Brummies will know Shropshire’s most iconic hill, The Wrekin. Climb up through the Forest Glen to the open hilltop for incredible views and the famous crag, the Needle’s Eye. Next to it, visit the smaller hill, The Ercall, to wonder at rocks from the earliest beginnings of life on earth.
But for that Wuthering Heights vibes, head to The Long Mynd, a huge plateau of vast heather moorland (that blooms with a vibrant purple in late summer), with rocky outcrops—a dead ringer for Yorkshire moors. You’ll also find the ancient Portway, the Bodbury Ring hillfort and Bronze and Iron Age monuments.
How do I get there from Birmingham?
To discover Shropshire Hills’ rich landscapes, it takes around an hour to drive, if you follow the A5 to Shrewsbury, before turning onto the A49 to lead you into the heart of the National Landscape. Alternatively, it takes less than two hours to get a train to Shrewsbury and change for Church Stretton—from here it’s a 20-minute walk to The Long Mynd.