It feels like it's been a busy few weeks, what with my London Lidothon, cycling and restarting swimming lessons, and so my trips out to the Yorkshire town of Ilkley and to Edgehill in Liverpool a couple of weeks ago seem to have slipped through the net (as far as blogging is concerned).
I went to Ilkley principally to visit the lido (an outdoor swimming pool and leisure facility), but while I was there I also had a bit of a wander on the famous Ilkley Moor (and yes I went "baht'at", as the song goes - but I managed to survive all the same).
I was interested in the outdoor swimming pool after seeing it in a list of Britain's top ten lidos. It's a classic lido design, with a curved pool and a fountain (there are some nice pictures at http://www.ilkley-town.co.uk/ilkley-pool.html). The lido was open for the summer, but the water is unheated and the cooler summer so far this year meant that it was a bracing 18C (around 65F) - no wonder it was so quiet! I felt like all the breath was sucked from my lungs when I first got in, but after a few minutes swimming around I adjusted and began to enjoy the view of Ilkley Craggs in the distance.
I swam for around 20 minutes or so (feeling a little envious of the triathletes in their wetsuits - must get me one!), and afterwards I'd planned to get something to eat at the lido cafe. Unfortunately it was closed, so I settled for fish and chips back in the town centre before heading up towards the moor. I'd printed out a guide from the web so at least I thought I had some idea of where I was going. First stop though was the White Spa Cottage, which offered a mug of tea and a big piece of fruit flapjack served with a spectacular view over the town across to the hills opposite (I even spotted the lido, a splash of artificial blue next to a cricket pitch).
After that I spent a few hours following tracks over the moor. It's quite beautiful in a desolate way, and apart from the sheep it was pretty empty - I only passed one person, although I did see others occasionally in the distance. Some parts even reminded me of the volcano area on the Big Island of Hawaii, and I was entranced by patches of silver-white "flowers", as well as the distant wind turbines (always a favourite!) and the mushroom-like domes of the early warning station at Menwith Hill. All in all I really enjoyed my long walk and would love to go back again sometime - I think Kyle might have enjoyed it too.
(See all my pictures from Ilkley on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/oblong_dog/sets/72157621355190058/)
A couple of days later I met up with my friend James on the outskirts of Liverpool, to visit part of the Williamson Tunnels that have been excavated and turned into a tourist attraction. The tunnels themselves were originally built in the 1820s and 30s by Joseph Williamson ("the Mole of Edgehill"), an eccentric local landowner and philanthropist. Aside from the very colourful stories about Williamson (there must be a film in there somewhere!) there are some wild theories as to why he built the tunnels. The most plausible seems to be that it was a form of land reclaimation - the tunnel roofs spanned gaps left behind by sandstone quarrying.
Only a small fraction of the tunnels have been cleared (they were used extensively as landfill for building rubble after Williamson's death), and an even smaller part is actually open at the moment. But the workmanship is pretty amazing - huge brick arches that are still solid today, nearly 200 years later.
Hopefully in the next couple of years more of the tunnels will be open and it will possible to go even deeper into this secret world. In the meantime you can see my (not so great!) pictures from the tunnels at http://www.flickr.com/photos/oblong_dog/sets/72157621386627854/ or check out the official website at http://www.williamsontunnels.co.uk.
No comments:
Post a Comment