ILKLEY 17th August 2025

 


What a wonderful sunny day for fell walking. Great weather was forecast and it didn’t disappoint the 37 walkers who made the trip along the M65 and across to Ilkley. There were five led walks and a variety of routes ranging from a mega 15 mile trek to a more relaxing 7 miles.

Intermittent walk leader John Gartside discovered to his astonishment that he had fifteen followers for his broad traverse of Ilkley Moor! As this included half of the club committee John was thankful he had come armed with a newly updated OS Explorer map of Lower Wharfedale. Ably assisted by the very experienced Gerry as back-marker, John herded his group on a panoramic route linking the manmade Ilkley Tarn to the popular Cow and Calf Rocks. A good track was then followed, in glorious weather, across heather-clad Burley Moor as far as Horncliffe Well, at this point joining the Dales High Way. After lunch a gentle ascent led to the Twelve Apostles stone circle and on to the trig point.

 Progress continued broadly westwards as far as East and West Buck Stones before descending via the Keighley Road rough track back down to the town. Thanks go to Ian for identifying a solitary wheatear and to Ele for the (not solitary) St Mark's fly! They covered around 11 miles in the end finishing with chilled refreshments at the local Wetherspoons - a perfect way to round off a good day out.

There were just three walkers in Geoff’s group, and although he was carrying an injury, they still managed to complete the full route as planned. They progressed up to the Swastika Stone then decided to stay on the Millennium Way to White Wells Cafe and spring baths. They then met up with John Gartside’s group at Twelve Apostles stone circle on their way back on to Ilkley Moor to continue the walk. This detour added a mile and a few hundred feet to the route, but all was good as they all got back in time for a couple of well-deserved pints in Wetherspoons.

Walking from Addingham up to Addingham High Moor, Clare’s group of seven were rarely more than a stone’s throw from Ilkley as they visited the Noon, Jeb and Swastika Stones (a memorial to a WW2 bomber). They then descended the lush green but sadly almost dry Heber’s Ghyll to then climb back up to the moor through Panorama Woods (some choice words were shared)!! No complaints about White Wells and cold ice cream but no cold dips. Then on to the impressive Ilkley Crags via Rocky Valley before trying to work out which was the Cow and which was the Calf. A stroll around the Tarn before completing the day with a walk through the hidden gem that is Mill Ghyll.

Clare’s first photo is of the ‘Whatsit? Stone’ by the memorial on High Crag (so named by the group as they didn’t know what it was). But she HAS found the following info – a boundary stone carved “N ILB 1893” which apparently relates to the Ilkley Local Board acquiring the moor in 1893 and opening it for public access. Prior to this it had been in the ownership of William Middleton who in 1842 had sought to enclose the moor. Thanks to the foresight of the Council all those years ago this remains as open access land.

Steph’s group with Lorna and David had a very pleasant walk in the Wharfe valley following the Dales way along river and back to IIkley.

Keith’s group had another wonderful walk, going over the stepping stones on the river Wharfe. Keith took them through a field with bulls in before the group were chased by a horse. To avoid being the victim of a stampede Howie jumped over a fence faster than a racehorse at the grand national!! It turned out that the horse was actually just a bit curious, and in the end it was Keith who turned into the horse whisperer and tamed him. A bit of cross-country trekking was thrown in ie no recognised path - which is to be expected on a ‘Keith’ walk!! But all in all, a great day.

Thanks again to everyone  for coming along and supporting the Club. As usual special thanks go to all of you who have sent in your photos (Eric, Michelle, Clare, Monica, Pam B, Christine, Wai Lee, Nancy, Jason, Geoff, Mike C, Steph, Neil and Claire; and to the leaders who have taken on the responsibility of leading the walks (John G, Clare, Geoff, Steph and Keith).



Open up the album by clicking HERE

Next Walks:

Sunday 31st August 2025 – Glenridding via St John’s in the Vale

5.30 p.m. departure

Northbound to Preston, M6 north to junction 36, A591 through Windermere and Ambleside to Stanah, B5322 to the A66, A66 east, A5091 south through Dockray to the A592, A592 to Glenridding. Park in Glenridding. Morning coffee stop at Burton services.

Sunday 14th September 2025 – Ingleton

5.30 p.m. departure

Northbound to Preston, on to the M65, M65 eastbound to junction 7, via A6185/A678 to the A680, A671 to roundabout N of Whalley, A59 to Gisburn, A682/A65 to Ingleton. Park in Ingleton. Morning coffee stop at Darwen services, M65. Return via A687/A683, M6 junction 34.

Sunday28th September 2025 – Betws-y-Coed via Dolwyddelan

5.30 p.m. departure

M57 south, Mersey Gateway Bridge, M56, A55 westbound to junction 19, A470 to Dolwyddelan, A470 back to Betws-y-Coed. Park in Betws-y-Coed. Morning coffee stop at Chester services, M56.

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