Almost 10 miles today with my friend Heather. We went up to Ilkley Moor and above White Wells through Rocky Valley, passing the Ilkley Grammar School Coronation Cairn and the Badger Stone. Once across Keighley Gate we passed the Neb Stone and walked along High Crag ridge, past the Canadian airmens’ memorial, and on to the Millennium Way past the Noon Stone and Piper’s Crag to the cairn on Addingham Moorside. Taking a left, we headed down towards Silsden, with the Doubler Stones prominent on the horizon. They have been weathered in much the same way as Brimham Rocks: the more resilient gritstone on top has withstood the elements better than the softer sandstone below, resulting in a mushroom shape on one and a similar effect on the other. Apparently there are prehistoric cup and ring marks on them but I’m too short to see them! We then walked back up to Windgate Nick at the western end of Rombald’s Moor, where there is another memorial for a crashed aircraft, and home along past the Swastika Stone.
The Badger Stone is one of the best examples of prehistoric carved stones on Ilkley Moor. The cups and rings were carved around 4000 years ago, in the Bronze Age. It’s really special to feel this tangible connection to our ancestors, who trod these paths so long ago.
The Neb Stone is a distinctive landmark. Its name comes from the Yorkshire dialect word meaning nose, or the peak of a cap: easy to see how it got this title!
The Canadian airmen’s memorial is so moving. In dense fog, during WW2, 5 Canadian and one Scottish airmen got lost and crashed into the hillside at High Crag. 5 were killed instantly and one was taken down off the moor by locals who took a gate off its hinges to carry him, but sadly he died soon after. The only clue to his identity was that the rescuers didn’t think he had a Canadian accent, so the supposition is that he was Felix, the Scot. Note the tributes left here.
Wreckage from the plane crash has been left in situ as a memorial.
The Doubler Stones look so intriguing from the moor. Airedale in the background.
The “Mushroom” or “Table” (our nickname!)
The “Writing Desk” (our nickname)
Both the Doubler Stones together,
Heather and Bruce inspect the airmen’s memorial at Windgate Nick, the western boundary of Rombalds Moor.
Walking back towards Ilkley with the wide sweep of moor before us.
