Ilkley: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
English|
GBP 49 - 95 Dalesway Hotel
 The Dalesway is situated right in the heart of the pretty spa town of Ilkley. The guest rooms and the public areas have all been totally refurbished f… MoreGBP 69 - 141 Craiglands Hotel
 Set in mature landscaped grounds, Craiglands Hotel offers free parking and an on-site restaurant. Just 5 minutes’ walk from Ilkley centre, the spaci… More | ||||||||||||
Ilkley: Guide
Ilkley is a town in the City of Bradford|metropolitan borough of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It lies mainly on the south bank and valley of the River Wharfe in Wharfedale, one of the Yorkshire Dales. It has a resident population of 13,828, as measured by United Kingdom Census 2001|Census 2001.
It is a prosperous town and has a thriving centre. Much of the architecture is of Victorian architecture|Victorian design from a time when Ilkley was promoted as a spa town. Consequently it is aesthetically pleasing and the centre's two main streets, Brook Street and The Grove, are unusually wide and, especially in the latter case, appear purpose-designed to enable visitors to promenade. Although not part of the town's Victorian spa heritage, its Lido (swimming pool)|Lido, constructed in 1935, is one of the few remaining public open-air swimming pools in Yorkshire and is a popular tourist attraction during the summer holiday season.
Ilkley is home to the largest and oldest literary festival in the north of England, the Ilkley Literature Festival. The annual Moor Music Festival also takes place just outside the town at Addingham Moorside, promoting green politics and social issues.
Since 1969 Ilkley has been a Town twinning|twin town with Coutances in France. In 2004, Ilkley won the Britain in Bloom contest, in the category of 'Town'.
It has little by way of industry or commerce, though is the United Kingdom|UK home of The Woolmark Company.
Features
Rombald's Moor and Ilkley Moor (which is a constituent part of the former), above and to the south of the town, are the location for a famous folk song, 'On Ilkla Moor Baht'at ("On Ilkley Moor without a hat").
The southern skyline is dominated by the millstone grit outcrops known as the Cow and Calf Rocks, which offer a number of rock climbing routes of up to about 15 metres in height.
Geography
The town is 700 feet above sea level and lies in a wide valley with the River Wharfe and pastoral farmland to the north, and Ilkley Moor, a bracken and heather moorland with rocky outcrops, to the south.
The river runs through the north extent of the town from west to east, and is crossed by four bridges, in order: a 16th-century three-arched stone bridge, now closed to road traffic; a 19th-century single-span wrought-iron bridge, a suspension bridge for foot traffic only (a set of concrete stepping stones) and a prefabricated steel arched box-girder bridge. The river is prone to flooding the sports fields (and a few houses) that occupy the watermeadows.
Nearby villages are Denton, Yorkshire|Denton, Burley-in-Wharfedale, Bolton Abbey, Middleton, Addingham, Addingham Moorside as well as Menston and a larger town, Guiseley.
The town is within the travel-to-work radius of Leeds and Bradford, England|Bradford, Leeds being 17 miles away and Bradford 9, with a railway connection offering about 35 trains to each destination per day. The railway, before the Beeching axe, also connected to Addingham, Bolton Abbey, and Skipton to the west, and to Otley, Pool-in-Wharfedale, meeting the main Leeds to Harrogate line at Arthington.
History
The area around Ilkley has been continuously settled since at least the early Bronze Age, around 1800 BC; cup and ring markings, and swastika carvings dating to the period have been found on rock outcrops, and archaeological remains of dwellings are found on the moor. The Roman Britain|Romans built a fort in AD 79, which some suggest was named Olicana (although the name is not universally accepted), on a site now near the centre of the town, but with the exception of some few sections of wall, it is now covered partly by the Elizabethan Manor House Art Gallery and Museum and partly by All Saints' Church.
Three Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon crosses formerly in the churchyard of All Saints, but now removed into the church to prevent further erosion, date to the 8th century.
Although relatively inaccessible in the 17th and 18th centuries, the town gained a minor reputation for the efficacy of its water. In the nineteenth century it became established as one of the more fashionable spa towns, with the construction a mile to the east of the town of the vast Ben Rhydding Hydro or Hydropathic Establishment between 1843 and 1844. Tourists flocked here to 'take the waters' and bathe in the cold water spring. The eastern part of the town is now called Ben Rhydding, after the Hydro, despite it having been demolished many years ago; the area was formerly known as Wheatley.
Development based on the Hydro movement, and upon the establishment of a number of convalescent homes and hospitals was accelerated by the establishment of a railway connections from Leeds and Bradford in 1865. Charles Darwin was undergoing hydropathic treatment at Wells House when his The Origin of Species was published in 1859. Other famous Victorian visitors to the town included Madame Tussaud. Today, the only remaining Hydro is the cottage known as White Wells House, which can be seen on the edge of the famous moor over-looking the town.
In the 20th century Ilkley has become a relatively wealthy dormitory town for the nearby cities of Leeds and Bradford.
Between the 5 and 17 August philosophical approach, he commented on the town's archaeological heritage:
:in the remains of dolmens and old Druidic altars lying around everywhere, has traces of something that reminds one of the ancient spirituality that has, however, no successors. It is most moving to have on the one hand the impression I just described and then, on the other, to climb a hill in this region so filled with the effects of those impressions and then find in those very characteristic places the remains of ancient sacrificial altars marked with appropriate signs.Rudolf Steiner, Rudolf Steiner Speaks to the British: Lectures and Addresses in England and Wales. London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998
In 1967 Jimi Hendrix played at the Troutbeck Hotel (now a nursing home). However the show was cut short by the police. The local newspaper headline read: Pop Fans Ran Amok in Hotel: They ripped off doors, pulled out electrical fittings and smashed furniture after a police sergeant stepped on stage and stopped Hendrix half-way through a number.
Folklore
On the moor are several mounds of rocks, or cairns. These are known as the skirtful cairns. The story has it that Rombald was a giant who lived on the moor. One day, his wife was angry at him and collected rocks to throw at him. She collected the rocks by holding up her skirt and dropping them into it. The skirt ripped and rocks fell out in piles, thus the name skirtful cairns.
The spectral hound, known as the Barghest|Barguest is supposed by some to appear on the moors above Ilkley and Otley as a portent of doom. The alleged sightings of a huge black dog descending from the moor have mostly occurred near the Cow and Calf rocks.
Religion
According to Census 2001, 75.64% of Ilkley residents are Christian. The second largest group are people with no religion who account for 15.53% of residents. 7.48% did not state their religion and 1.34% fall into a variety of other religious groups.
Churches
All Saints Parish Church
Ben Rhydding Methodist Church
Christchurch
Ilkley Baptish Church
St John's Parish Church, Ben Rhydding
The Church of the Sacred Heart
The Ilkley Society of Friends (Quakers)
Education
Higher education
In 1978 Ilkley College of Education merged with Bingley College of Education to become Ilkley College. In 1982 Ilkley College merged with Bradford College to become Bradford and Ilkley Community College.
From 1973 onwards David Gayle brought some of the most distinguished names in dance to the college through his Yorkshire Ballet Seminars.
In 1999 the Ilkley campus of Bradford and Ilkley Community College closed despite much public opposition. The campus occupied the site of Wells House, Wells Road (originally a hotel) which was sold for housing after its closure.
Schools
All Saints C of E Primary School (state primary)
Ashlands Primary School (state primary)
(independent primary)
(state secondary)
The Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Ben Rhydding (state primary)
Notable residents
Gillian Baverstock, writer and daughter of Enid Blyton.
Martyn Bedford, novelist.
Don Brennan (Cricketer)|Don Brennan (deceased), England cricketer.
Jilly Cooper, novelist (former resident).
Rob Cowen, singer/songwriter (former resident).
John Cunliffe, children's novelist and television presenter.
Anthony Earnshaw (deceased), anarchist and Surrealism|surrealist author and illustrator.
Gomez (band)|Gomez, British rock band (resident during the production of their Mercury Music Prize-winning album Bring It On (album)|Bring It On).
Neil Hanson, author.
Georgie Henley, actress.
Rachael Henley, actress.
The Reverend|The Rt Revd. and The Right Honourable|The Rt Hon. David Hope, Baron Hope of Thornes (formerly Archbishop of York).
Clive Hornby, actor.
Tom Jackson (trade unionist)|Tom Jackson (deceased), Trade union|trade unionist.
Mark James, professional golfer.
Paul Jewell, Wigan Athletic F.C. manager.
David Jones, Yorkshire County Cricket Club president and former Next (retailer)|NEXT chairman.
Ian Linnegan, entrepreneur.
Edward Maufe|Sir Edward Maufe (deceased), architect.
Albert Modley (deceased), comedian.
Colin Montgomerie, professional golfer (former resident).
Alan Silson, musician and lead guitarist of rock band Smokie (band)|Smokie.
John Thorne, BBC North of England correspondent.
Alan Titchmarsh, celebrity gardener (former resident).
Richard Whiteley (deceased), television presenter and journalist.
Ricky Wilson (British musician)|Ricky Wilson, lead singer of rock band Kaiser Chiefs (former resident).
Arthur Wood (cricketer)|Arthur Wood (deceased), England cricketer.
Notes
See also
Ben Rhydding
Ilkley Moor
External links
- Ilkley Mountain bike|MTB team
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Ilkley". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.