Skiilk two

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

Ilkley Moor (despite the silly song) and the adjacent moors with other names was a stunning revelation of quiet, high moorland with fascinating natural rock sculptures and lovely views down into Wharfdale. Ski-ilk sarts from Skipton with a pleasant rough moorland section and good views. In between the two open access moorland sections is a length of remote farmland which was reasonably easily accessible, followed by a short steep climb onto the main moor, from the top of which it was downhill all the long way, insistently into ILkley.

A busy start from Skipton bus station but very easy to get on the Slow Ways route and the traffic soon quietens as you climb up out of the town on a pleasant residential road towards moorland. From here you are on quiet bridleways and paths which are all mainly well signposted by way-markers or marker posts. A well-placed bench is situated on the first climb with views back over Skipton and the hills beyond. From here it is relatively easy walking, with GPS support, following narrow moorland paths with soft, rolling moorland with views into the mill villages below.

The middle walk section off the moors takes you through fields and farms which are mainly well signed with well-kept stiles and/or gates.

Climbing up to Windgate Nick on Silsden Moor you are greeted with another bench. It is then a delightful traverse along the Dales High Way and Millennium Way to above Ilkley with great views and points of interest along the way, namely the cup and ring marked rocks, Swastika Stone and ending at a Roman bath house. After the initial climb of the day, we were walking in full sun on a very hot day, so I was glad to find refreshments and shade at the Roman bathhouse cafe as well as a public convenience before the drop down into Ilkley.

This was a lovely walk with very few route finding problems. The route takes the walker over a succession of moors culminating in the iconic Ilkley Moor with neolithic cup and ring marks and a swastika carving to give the walk even more interest. Great views throughout with a fabulous last mile above Ilkley passing through the Roman bath house where you can take a dip in the plunge pool for the price of a cup of tea at the cafe. Ilkley is a stunning town with a lot of life and the Best Western was an excellent value for money stop.

We left Skipton just as the rain had stopped. As we walked further uphill out of the town, gradually the sounds of the town receded until all was peaceful. We left the road and walked up a track onto the moors.
Thankfully it was still cool as we started out, the sky a little overcast.
We carried on onto open moorland finding our way fairly easily using maps and gpx. Gradually the sky cleared and it began to get hot. Stiles were generally easy to find and climb over.
Lovely views all around.
Although it was very hot, the last part of the walk took us past prehistoric and ring stones, including the sepulchre stone and the swastika stone.
Sizeable settlements unfolded beneath us, including Keighley, Addingham and Ilkley.
The walk took us past an old roman bath, where we stopped at the cafe for a welcome drink before descending into Ilkley and walking to our hotel.
We met only a handful of walkers along the way.
All in all a very rewarding walk with lovely views.

Nice walk, no issues. I would walk it again. I'd downloaded the .gpx file into OS maps and the live positioning was useful in a couple of areas.

A fantastic walk with great views. However there are many, many stiles and, in places, a lack of footpath signs.
I thoroughly recommend this walk and plan to repeat it, however, you do need to be agile to get over some of the stiles and be competent following a map/gps device.
I did write a more descriptive review but the page timed me out and deleted it.

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