Welcome to the award winning Ilkley Chat!
Friends of Ilkley Moor events
On Saturday 1st September June the Friends of Ilkley Moor led one of their heritage walks on Ilkley Moor, ‘Across Crawshaw Moss and Neolithic Sites’.
This is a 4-mile walk starting on the lower slopes and gradually climbing to the Twelve Apostles standing stones; continuing to the Trig Point at 1,281 feet - the highest point on Ilkley Moor - and returning down Keighley Road.
A strenuous walk of 3 hours, with uphill climbing, the walk uses rough moorland tracks and crosses boggy terrain. The group spent time taking in the whole landscape views from various resting points along the way; as well as discovering the archaeology of the moor and the heathland and peatland habitats. People learnt about the plants and wildlife which could be seen on the day and how Ilkley Moor is managed.
On September 7th a guided walk took place to discover the bats of the moor. Led by Andrew Milne and with the use of bat detectors both Common Pipistrelle and Daubenton’s bats were detected. Bats are flying mammals that feed exclusively on insects. The Daubenton’s bat is commonly referred to as the ‘water bat’ because it can usually be seen flying low over water bodies, picking insects from the surface with its feet. Its flight is fast and agile.
More practical conservation days in habitat management took place in September, with volunteers helping to manage and conserve the habitats of Ilkley Moor and restore eroded footpaths.
Everyone had a great time on the events and said they look forward to attending more events from this year’s events and learning programme so they can discover more of Ilkley Moors amazing heritage.
The events programme and heritage walks can be downloaded from the FOIM website www.ilkleymoor.org or collected from Visitor Information Centre and shops in Ilkley.