Over and over, my dad sang on our one hour and forty-minute drive to visit a town that had just been named one of the best places to live in Britain: “Wheear ‘as ta bin sin ah saw thee, On Ilkla Moor baht ‘at?!”
Ever since I told him the location of our next day out, he’s been teaching me about the Yorkshire rhyme he picked up in school in the 1960s. I’m not quite sure what it means, but it’s definitely referring to the moor above the town of Ilkley, the town name on the aforementioned list.
The first thing on our to-do list was to visit the legendary Cow and Calf, a rock formation which was easy to find. After some of our misadventures on our walks, we had brought a sat-nav and printed out a walking guide of a circular route with six points to make sure we did not get lost.
This was not the first time I had been here — my parents brought me as a baby when we were visiting relatives who lived in the area. Sadly, there is no photo evidence of this but during the visit we planned to change that by making new memories with the circular route around the tourist attraction.
The route took about an hour and did involve walking up steep hills, avoiding bogs and using a wooden plank to cross a river but it was enjoyable and kept our interest with different landmarks to look out for, such as a disused hut and rocks. It was also quite a short walk and I would also say it is dog-friendly. Do be careful of bees and wasps, though, as I did have to swat some away and it might be muddy, so your canine friend may get covered.
After coming down from the moors, we decided to go into the town centre to grab some lunch, before looking around ‘The Best Place to live in the North’ according to the Sunday Times. As soon as we parked up, we decided that it would be best to grab some food as some places did not open until 5pm. Thankfully, we researched where to go and picked Yorkie Cow – where we enjoyed a Yorkshire pudding dish that came to £10 (not including drinks).
With stomachs full, we decided to take a walk around Riverside Park – which was a short walk away from the town centre. At first glance, we were surprised to see how many facilities it had. Not only did it have a large green space area for recreational activities, but it had a café/ restaurant next to the river. It had everything for everyone and was a great place for walking dogs.
Walking back into the town centre, we noticed there was every store imaginable. From M&S to Costa to Fat Face and Weird Fish to local businesses such as Boyes. It even had a Bettys tearoom!
It really was a picturesque place to walk around, surrounded by the hills and walking under the cherry blossoms on the high street. There was even a fountain as well as a beautiful walkway through the town with a running river – perfect for summer evening walks.
On the way back to the car park, we wondered if we stood a chance of being able to afford a house in Ilkley. Of course, we could not afford the mansions but perhaps semi-detached houses in the town centre with no garden.
With our egos bruised, it was time to head home to our affordable homes but overall, we enjoyed our visit to Ilkley. Not only was it a friendly place, with everyone saying hello on the moors and in the town but a place with a vastly different cuisines to try.
It is the perfect place to go in the winter or summer with lots of walks to do as well as taking a splash in the local pool and lido. No wonder it was named the best place to live in the North – we would happily give up everything to come down and live there.
