Pam Howorth has an appropriate surname. Although spelt differently from Haworth, her home and workplace, Pam has it on good authority from a local historian that early references record this former industrial town as Howorth on maps documenting the area in bygone times.

Pam almost delights in this fascinating fact, as though it reinforces her being here. Sweeping the front step of her vintage shop – one of the quirky enterprises lining Haworth’s cobbled Main Street – Pam looks as if she belongs. Her rhythm only briefly interrupted by the exchange of pleasantries with passing folk – greetings of ‘hellos’ and ‘how are you’ are traditional traits among the traders.

Pam’s vibrant fuchsia outfit and floral pinny provides a colour wash to the town’s famous cobbles and remind us all that Haworth isn’t as bleak as the Brontes made it out to be in their romantic tales set against the windswept moors.

Pam’s affection for the place, made famous by the literary siblings who brought to book this quirky and characteristic town where tourists from all over the world still visit, stems from childhood.

“I’ve always loved Haworth. As a child I would come to Haworth,” she says recalling how she once pedalled all the way here from her home city of Bradford.

“I was 14 and I cycled all the way here on my push bike. I was so tired when I arrived I sold my bike and got the bus back! That must have been my entrepreneurship!” she laughs.

Pam came to live here a decade ago following her divorce. “I have three children and when we moved here they were quite small. I wanted a nice community for them to grow up in and where there is always something going on,” she explains.

Three years after her arrival Pam spotted an empty shop along Main Street. Tired of working in the financial sector, she sought a new challenge and opened Oh La La.. She’d studied fashion design at Bradford College in the Eighties and decided to launch a business selling lingerie.

Gradually she expanded, incorporating vintage clothing – an interest which developed from her involvement in Haworth’s popular 1940s weekend.

When her children grew up she turned the upstairs room where they would play after school into a dress agency. Lingerie occupies a small corner of this opulent emporium with its ebony chandeliers and twinkling jewellery cabinets.

She stocks some theatrical costumes too – perfect for the forthcoming festivities. Christmas is one of Pam’s favourite seasons in Haworth. Scroggling the Holly, the weekend festival on November 14 and 15, is when Christmas officially comes to Haworth with goblins and fairies sprinkling pixie dust and processions and parades of costumed characters.

Three years ago Pam became involved in Haworth’s festive preparations. This year is a first for the craft fairs she has organised in the schoolroom on the Sundays over Christmas. Pam tells me she wanted somewhere for locals to showcase their work providing visitors with the opportunity to purchase unique and individual presents. The Christmas Market Weekend on November 21 and 22 is another place to pick up gift ideas.

Throughout December the town will be thronging with folk revelling in festive entertainment; Pipes Bows & Bells on November 28 and 29; Pantomime Weekend on December 5 and 6; the Torchlight Procession on December 12 and 13 and the Nativity Weekend on December 19 and 20.

To coincide with the festivities, Keighley & Worth Valley Railway will be running their popular Santa Special steam train ride on November 28 and 29 and December 5 and 6; 12 and 13, and 19 and 20.

Pam agrees it is one of the most atmospheric places to be over the festive season. “Sometimes I sit outside my shop and think I am really lucky because it is gorgeous. We get people from all over the world coming here. Christmas is my favourite season because there is so much going on and when they do the Torchlight procession the street is crammed with people holding torches, singing carols. It gives me goosebumps, it’s so traditional.”

Along the higgledy piggledy row of stone properties Martin Dutton is working away on his latest floral creation. Close by a wreath stands in readiness to be placed on a door to welcome in the festive season.

Willow, the floristry business Martin set up three years ago after leaving the construction trade, is a wonderful mix of contemporary and traditional.

Martin’s interest in landscape gardening, and yearning to do something creative, led him into floristry and Haworth was the perfect place to start.

“It’s a small quaint village where everybody gets together,” says Martin. “And it has a warm feel to it.”

With the winter sun illuminating the cobbles as I stride forth to find other characters living here, I can appreciate why those who live and work here think it is so special.

Early morning is probably the quietest time to arrive but there is still plenty of activity on Main Street as commuters head off in their cars to work in far off connurbations.

Traders prop up their A-boards advertising their businesses from books to crafts and collectibles. By lunchtime the coffee shops are bustling with people seeking refreshments.

Linda Presley, one of the Christmas committee, with the hugely responsible role of decorating and trimming the town to organising the Christmas calendar of events and activities, is working her way up the cobbles.

As usual she’s juggling jobs en route from the chocolate shop she runs in Main Street – the one with the window with the ‘wow’ factor. It is one of Main Street’s main attractions by virtue of the fact most people are naturally attracted to chocolate!

She loves seeing youngsters gazing in at the fudge and sweet treats she lovingly creates. “I always wanted my shop so children would come up and say ‘wow,’” smiles Linda.

“It is so busy at Christmas, probably more than any other time of the year. Just walking in you feel the whole Christmas spirit.

“I love Christmas I think it is a magical time of year.”

Generally it is argued Christmas has become too commercialised. What I found refreshing was here in Haworth they are extremely mindful of retaining the important traditions.

The Bronte Parsonage is a popular place for visitors wanting to peep into this famous literary family’s past. Regardless of the time of year or season, most people who come to Haworth naturally migrate to the museum enthralled by the tale of the sisters whose romantic writings are still as current and powerful today. There is currently an exhibition of costumes used in the televised adaptation of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.

Chatting with museum director Andrew McCarthy, I discover it is something of a sanctuary for those wanting to briefly escape the festive frivolity.

In keeping with tradition, the museum’s celebrations tend to be low-key as that is how Christmas would have been commemorated in the Brontes’ bygone times.

Andrew, whose extensive knowledge of the family stems from his English and History degree studies, explains the Brontes were essentially pre-Victorian so Christmas for them would have been a religious festival in the similar way we celebrate Easter with less of the razamataz associated with Christmas.

“It is an important religious festival, they would go to church but beyond that, and as far as I understand it, certainly I don’t know of any reference within their readings or diary papers to Christmas so it obviously was not remarkable enough for them to comment about it,” explains Andrew.

Following that tradition, the parsonage is decked out in traditional holly and ivy trimmings too, the celebrations tend to be low-key, according to Andrew, although in recent years they have organised Christmas trails around the parsonage for children.

“It is fairly low-key but it is atmospheric in a traditonal way,” he says.

May be we can all take a leaf out of the Bronte’s book and while enjoying the razamataz, spare a thought for what the season actually means too.

“I love Christmas, I think it is a little bit over-commercialised and that one of the things about the Parsonage is the decorations are very traditional so we do offer something of the earlier traditions of Christmas,” says Andrew.

“There is the Christmas glitz as well in Haworth and there is room for everything and I think that is a good thing for visitors coming into Haworth.

“It is wonderful the way it has developed over the years and I can’t think of anywhere else that does Christmas in the same way as Haworth. The atmosphere here is special.”