When the sun shines on it, Ilkley Moor is a cheerful place to be. But it's rather different when the mist swirls around the crags and clings to the clusters of pine trees that interrupt the acres of bracken and heather.

Then, Ilkley Moor is rather spooky.

As I headed up towards it on a February morning the week before foot-and-mouth put the moor out of bounds, climbing the deserted track that leads to the White Wells spa and fording the stream which came tumbling down from the greyness to cross it, an image kept flitting across my mind.

It was of that famous photograph taken on the moor some years ago: a photograph snatched by a startled moorland walker which showed the indistinct shape of a being which might or might not have been an alien from a different time or place.

This moor is, after all, a place of many unanswered mysteries: the Swaztika stone carved with its swirling cross; the many boulders etched with cup-and-ring markings; the huge, embellished Badger Stone; the Twelve Apostles stone circle.

Who were the people who created these things? What brought them to the moor - or, rather, to a place which long ago would have been forest? Was the magic they believed in still active?

If it was, then this was surely just the sort of morning for it to manifest itself. I clutched my camera tightly, anxious not to miss the moment if the alien should choose to amble in my direction.

But first there were nostalgic memories to deal with, at the small tarn just beyond White Wells. Here, years ago, we as a family used to spend many an hour while my son, then fascinated with anything to do with reptiles and amphibians, peered into the water in search of tadpoles, frogs and newts.

I stood and looked over the tarn for a while, conjuring up scenes and sounds from a quarter of a century ago, before tearing myself away to walk back past White Wells and then turn up to the moor on the broad, stony track marked "Millennium Way".

There was nobody up here except me and the sheep who peered at me suspiciously as I picked my way through the mud created by weeks of rain and sleet and passed below Ilkley Crags. Where steps led to the right, up to a higher level of the moor, I kept ahead on a path which, in other circumstances, would have afforded glorious views across Wharfedale. On this day, though, there was only a valley filled with mist.

The path kept climbing through Rocky Valley, filled with tumbled boulders and overhung by sombre outcrops. Here if anywhere would surely be where the alien would show itself. It didn't, which was something of a relief.

The path descended now, and the mist started to lift. I walked down the moor towards the quarry beside the Cow and Calf rocks then swung round past this famous landmark to start the return route along paths which were sometimes grassy, sometimes stony as they clung to the moor edge above the busy road.

Ilkley Tarn was deserted. The glory days of this Victorian tourist hot spot are behind it, but it's still a fine place where peace can be found.

On the way back to the car, I had a look at a new tourist attraction, the Darwin Gardens Millennium Project created near the entrance to the former Ilkley College to mark the start of a new century and named in honour of Charles Darwin, who once visited the town.

Verdict: well worth a visit even now, but it'll be even better in a few years when the trees and hedges have grown.

I wonder if Darwin could have had an educated guess at the origin of the species in that mysterious photograph taken on the moor some years ago?

Step by Step

  1. From centre of Ilkley, walk up Wells Road towards moor. Go through gate beside cattle grid and keep up road to pass lake on right with former college buildings (being converted into homes) beyond. Look for White Wells sign on left and walk up track to spa buildings. Swing right to pass between Ladies toilets and end of main building and climb up to meet wide, stony track signed "Millennium Way".
  2. Walk up this to go below Ilkley Crags, winding round with path to where it forks with steep steps climbing right. Ignore these and instead take left fork to follow contour with good view to left and eventually pass through Rocky Valley.
  3. At end of this, fork slightly left, descending via clear path to ford Backstone Beck. Climb to pass to left of big boulder and walk ahead, descending to meet wider path. Walk across grassy plateau to arrive at rim of old quarry. Swing right here to follow a couple of marker post, passing above another old quarry with cliffs favoured by climbers (of which "the Cow" forms a part).
  4. At marker post pointing ahead on grassy path, swing left, curving round quarry to join flagged path which at a T-junction meets main path climbing up from Cow and Calf car park. Walk up this for a few yards towards quarry mouth, then go right on another flagged path to "Calf" rock. Have a look at this then take path leading from it towards car park. Soon, though, drop left from this down thin grassy path to meet well-worn stony path and turn left to walk along this parallel to road below. Keep on along this main track to point where it veers right-ish to head towards road.
  5. At this point either follow that path downhill and then swing back uphill with it instead of turning right to stile into road, OR keep ahead on narrower, winding path. Either route arrives at edge of a gulley and a footbridge spanning Backstone Beck. Cross bridge, follow path down other side and veer rightwards with it to arrive at Ilkley Tarn. Walk along side of tarn and follow main track beyond to meet Wells Road for return to centre of Ilkley (paying a visit to Darwin Gardens on the way).

WARNING: The moors might be open again, but care is still needed. Wash your boots, steer clear of the sheep, and keep your dogs on a tight lead.

Fact File

  • Time for three-mile walk: 1-1 hours.
  • Going: easy.
  • Map: OS Pathfinder 671 Keighley & Ilkley.
  • Getting there: bus or train to Ilkley, then walk up Wells Road from centre of town. Or drive up Wells Road and either park at roadside beyond cattle grid, walking up to entrance to White Wells track, or park on special area at start of track.
  • Toilets: in Ilkley and at White Wells.
  • Refreshments: in Ilkley, and at White Wells when open.