Beautiful English nature reserve that inspired famous writers named ‘2026 Wonder of the World’
IF you fancy visiting one of the ‘Seven Wonders of the World’ – there’s a place right here in the UK that has made it onto a new list.
It might not be one of the classics like the Great Wall of China or Petra, but rather one with modern twist.
Condé Nast Traveller declared the Bradford Pennine Gateway in England to be a ‘wonder of the world’ that should be on your must-visit list for this year.
The publication said: “One of the reigning monarch’s ongoing Kings Series of nature reserves, the Bradford Pennines Gateway is part of a nationwide initiative to protect and celebrate the UK’s natural heritage, enhance biodiversity, and give local communities better access to nature.
“Rather like King Charles himself, there’s something stoic and un-showy about this 1,272-hectare region, resided in, and beloved by, the Brontë sisters and encompassing Ilkley Moor, Penistone Hill Country Park, Harden Moor and Bingley North Bog.”
It continued: “These are landscapes of unhurried drama: undulating moors, wind-polished gritstone tors and views that collapse into long, moody distances broken only by the slow, stately flap of a marsh harrier.”
Bradford Pennine Gateway was only declared a Nature Reserve in May 2025.
It forms part of the King’s Series of National Nature Reserves (NNRs) and is the first in West Yorkshire.
These were launched in 2025 to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III and ‘create a lasting public legacy for people and nature by accelerating the pace of nature recovery in England‘.
The Bradford Pennine Gateway spans 1,274 hectares – twice the size of Ilkley Moor.
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The reserve links together eight nature sites within the Bradford and South Pennines area.
The sites include Ilkley Moor, Baildon Moor, Shipley Glen, Trench Meadows, St Ives Estate, Harden Moor and Bingley Bog North.
Another is Penistone Country Park which was the home of authors Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte.
The natural surroundings which consist of heathlands and wetlands were said to inspire novels like Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.
Ilkley Moor is a place to go for panoramic views across the countryside, and is home to rock formations like the Cow and Calf Rocks.
The two rocks got their names because the bigger one looks like a cow and a smaller boulder nearby resembles a calf.
There’s also the ancient site of the 12 Apostles Stone Circle.
Other major sites in the reserve include the Harden Reservoir and the Goit Stock Waterfall.
By 2027, there’s set to be 27 major NNRs across England including the Lincolnshire Coronation Coast National Nature Reserve.
Others are the Mendip National Nature Reserve in Somerset and North Kent Woods and Downs National Nature Reserve.
This quaint English village that inspired one of UK’s top TV soaps…
The village was used for filming the British ITV soap, Emmerdale…
The rural village of Esholt, just outside of Bradford, is an unlikely hotspot for soap fans.
Despite no actors or camera crew setting foot in it for almost 30 years, it regularly attracts crowds of telly addicts because the stone cottages, shops and local farms were used to film exterior scenes in Emmerdale until the nineties.
Esholt, on the outskirts of Shipley in West Yorkshire, was the backdrop for what was then called Emmerdale Farm between the 1970s to the 1990s.
Producers first chose to film Emmerdale in the village because of the classic North Yorkshire village look, and it being a half hour drive from the Leeds studios.
The local pub found on Main Street was originally called The Commercial, but it was later renamed The Woolpack, after the owner got sick of changing the signs back and forth.
The pub is still called The Woolpack to this day, despite production leaving the village in 1996.
Home Farm was based on the real Home Farm on the Esholt Estate, which dates back to 1691. The row of six cottages on Bunkers Hill was used for filming Demdyke Row. Emmerdale stopped using the plot in 1993 when there was a fictional plane crash that demolished the houses.
Plus, discover the UK’s ‘mysterious and untouched’ rainforest that’s now a protected nature reserve.
And here’s the free wildlife reserve in the middle of a UK city – with ‘beast hunting’ and nature trails.