Jacob's Ladder on Ilkley Moor gets a new lease of life
A guest post from The Friends of Ilkley Moor 🪨
The complex reconstruction work to the flight of steps above White Wells on Ilkley Moor, has been completed.
Known locally as ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, this is the steepest section of an ancient route across the moor used by traders with packhorses, as it descends from the moor tops to the outskirts of Ilkley.
Well-used by walkers and runners, it had fallen into a state of disrepair since little work had been done on the path since Victorian times. Starting in mid-June, 10–15 volunteers from the Working Party of the Friends of Ilkley Moor have worked on the upgrade for eight consecutive Tuesdays (some 250 hours of labour in total).
The result is a flight of 120 steps constructed from either existing stones that needed re-positioning or new steps with timber rises. and finished with rock and hardcore gravel, all of which had to be carried up the hill.
The work involved The Friends of Ilkley Moor Volunteers carrying several tons of hardcore up the steps in buckets.
Richard Perham, countryside officer at Bradford Council, said:
“It’s been great working with the volunteers on this project. It was planned and designed by them and has been a catalyst to get the steps repaired. It looked like a daunting task, but the skill and hard work of the group has created a much safer and easier-to-use flight of steps on this right of way across the moor.”
Owen Wells, chair of The Friends of Ilkley Moor, explained that the project had been a long time coming, but that the repair work to the steps felt like too much of a challenge. He added:
“Now, because we have an exceptionally keen and skilled team of volunteers it has become possible. Walkers, for years to come, will be indebted to our volunteers for repairing one of the most used paths onto the Moor.”
The Friends of Ilkley Moor, which was founded in 2008 as a charity, has received grant support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to help fund this work. For more information about what they do, check out its website here.