A WALK THROUGH ILKLEY

Sunday 28th July 2003 Week 22, Day 125 Prior to visiting France for a short holiday, Rosie, Dave's mother, came to visit us and so we decided to head for the hills on what was a lovely day. We drove to Ilkley, and headed up The Cow and The Calf. Apparently, the rocks there are meant to look like, yes you guessed it, a cow and a calf. However, I couldn't see the resemblence. We began with following a walking track and then ended up in what felt like, the middle of nowhere. And naturally, what one finds there is a bench commemorating the life of a man (who died on my sister's birthday), who it seems used to like sitting there (well that's what we think anyhow). Making our way back down the hill we encounted a track (though a very untrodden one) through jungle-like foilage, then ended up in a tiny forest, only to come out by some small blueberry bushes, back onto a track leading to some old baths which have been turned into a tourist spot. From there we headed up the hill again towards where our car was parked. Back in Ilkley town, we wondered around the gorgeous little stores. Dave bought a new sleeping bag for his Pyrenees trip, Rosie bought some Hershey's chocolate from a specialty candy/chocolate store, and some rye bread and Yorkshire Tart from a bakery. As a result, we discovered that Hershey's Milk Chocolate has the aftertaste of vomit (I kid you not) but Yorkshire Tarts are scrummy. View of Ilkley from up top. And another view. Rosie & I on 'that' bench. Dave & Rosie - see the resemblences? ;) All photos © David G. Birch, 2003.