Ilkley Historical Multi (West)
Note: the posted coordinates are for suitable parking/starting point
This 2.6 km multi which should take around 50 minutes to do, takes you around some of the historical features on the west side of the town.
The cache, a camo-taped preform tube, is hidden just off a quiet short-cut footpath through a leafy residential area in the west of Ilkley.
Parking: a suitable place and good starting point for the multi is the central Pay & Display parking area @ N 53 55.538 W 1 49.471 - make sure you pay for a sufficient period - the officials here are very dedicated as I know to my personal cost!
Step 1 - Ye olde cricket match: after securing your car head for N 53 55.574 W 1 49.453 on the main Leeds Road where you will see a large board on the side of this watering hole with fascinating information on 'The Black Hats Versus White Hats' cricket matches.
From this you will learn that in 189A a 'handsome silver cup' was purchased' for annual competition.
Step 2 - Ye olde Manor House: from here (carefully) cross the busy road - preferably at the nearby traffic lights (east) or pedestrian crossing (west) - and pass through the stone alleyway just west of the church wall into Church Yard where at N 53 55.608 W 1 49.489 you will see a blue plaque on the wall of this historic building (now a museum) which was divided into cottages in 18B4.
Step 3 - Ye olde West Gate: if you turn around at the same spot, on the wall opposite you will see a plaque with C faces on it identifying the location as that of the gate of an old Roman fort (see here).
Step 4 - Ye olde pub: move on down the street and around the corner to N 53 55.582 W 1 49.521 where you will be standing outside another famous Ilkley refreshment location where above the door you will see the well eroded date 170D inscribed into the stone.
Step 5 - Ye olde school: head west down the main road to N 53 55.575 W 1 49.683 where you will see 
another Ilkley Civic Society plaque on the wall of this old building - the original Ilkley Grammar School. From this you will learn that it continued on this spot until 18E2 when it moved to its current location. See here for more information on this historic school.
Step 6 - Ye olde milestone: continue further west, and at a convenient spot carefully cross back over the main road to N 53 55.575 W 1 49.753 the location of this old distance marker on which the distance to Bolton Bridge is shown as F miles
Step 7 - Ye commemorative tree: now head south along Bolton Bridge Road into the Ilkley Memorial Gardens (the memorial was unveiled ion 23 July 1922) where at N 53 55.470 W 1 49.730 you will see a plaque commemorating the planting of this tree to mark a special occasion in 197G
Step 8 - Ye (very) olde rocks: walk along The Grove to N 53 55.471 W 1 49.542 the lower end of Back Parish Ghyll Road just before the gardens*.
[*If short of time and/or wishing to save yourself some 1.3 km of walking (50% of the total route) you may wish to head back to your starting point at the car park to do the last step and final with vehicular assistance . . .]
Turn right here and continue up to N 53 55.297 W 1 49.610 the location of some ancient rocks (opposite St Margaret's church - location of another [short!] multi GC7V6M9 Church Micro 12019 - Ilkley St Margarets).
On the information board you will learn from the centre graphic/text that the Panorama Stone itself '. . . there are 25 cups 1H of which are surrounded by between 1 and 5 rings, some incomplete . . .' See here and here for more information on these ancient rocks.
The cache is hidden some 300m/5 mins walk away at:
N 53 55.(D-E)(G-C)(H-A) W 1 49.(F+3)(D-G)B
Short 'QI' notes on some Step locations
Step 2 - The Manor House: This Grade 1 listed building is built on top of an ancient monument - the old Ilkley Roman fort (aka Olicana). It is of the oldest surviving buildings in West Yorkshire with the earliest parts from the mid-14th century. Unlike most similar buildings the central great hall (c.1340) is made of stone, not timber – probably due to the availability of Roman building material 'on site'. In c.1550-60 it was rebuilt to make a ground-floor room with a bedroom above, and the east wing was constructed in its present form. The rounded 2-storey bay or ‘oriel’ window and the built-in east wing latrine was unusual in houses of this size and age. The west wing was rebuilt in the 17th century to create the current building.
Step 7 - Ilkley War Memorial (IWM) Gardens: the WW1 memorial - a cenotaph mounted by a flaming urn and made of Portland stone - was dedicated in July 1922 by the Bishop of Bradford and designated as a Grade II listed building in 2017. It was designed by John James Joass, the winner of an architectural competition organised in 1919 by the IWM Committee. See here for more information on the memorial and gardens.
