Glorious bluebell time

It’s been a stunning day so we decided it would be a good one to do our annual bluebell pilgrimage to Middleton Woods above Ilkley. 

Set off after breakfast as we’d heard it was going to be quite a hot day.

A pleasant walk along the River Wharfe to start and then a climb up through the well heeled houses in the Middleton area of Ilkley. Lots of sheep and lambs mainly seeking the shade under trees and hedges.
Past the Calvary and Myddelton Grange before dropping down through the field to the top of the woods. 
No matter how many pictures you take you cannot reproduce the wonderful sight and scent that greets you in a bluebell wood. They are everywhere at this time of the year and no doubt I will see more tomorrow on our early walk in St Ives woods but this wood is one of the best in the area to see enjoy them.

We met a group climbing up the steep paths to do the walk the other way around. I didn’t  know which way is best but there is a climb either way. They stopped for a rest and said they were heading to the a Riverside, which we’d passed on the way, where they had a table booked for lunch. We said we were going there too for a coffee. When we git there we sat in the shade and indulged in a shared tray of chips as well as a coffee.

The field between the Lido and the river had a fair setting up for Ilkley Carnival on Monday (bank holiday) I believe fellow blipper Mambo might be participating in the parade.

When we passed through the town centre I noticed lots of people standing by the new fountain just off The Grove. Turns out Alan Titchmarsh, an Ilkley lad, was officially opening it. Missed it!

The extra is a picture Chris took of me on his phone. I’ll add a Flickr album link of the whole walk.