Ilkley Eastside Wander #10: Holly Hideaway
This is the 10th of a series of 20 caches which takes you around some of the lovely countryside immediately to the east of Ilkley.
The cache is hidden on the edge of a large field just off the path heading down and across from its south-eastern corner below the golf course club-house to an exit gate and steps on its western side giving access to the High Wood residential area which was built after the demolition of the Ben Rhydding Hydropathic Establishment in 1955.
See GC8PCW2 Ilkley East Wander #1: Intro and . . . Prick!? for information on the series and waypoints. See Gallery for an annotated map with cache locations and parking spots.
From IEW#9, pass through the gate, and follow the track down & across the sloping field to the cache location. After completing the cache, continue a few metres further down to locate the stone steps exiting onto High Wood. From here turn right and head down to the junction and turn left along Wheatley Grove as far the junction at N 53 55.192 W 1 47.543. Turn right here and right again onto High Wheatley and follow this to the end at the junction with Ben Rhydding Road, where you turn left to return to the starting point of the series and parking P1.
Adapted with [additions] from a page on the website of The Woodland Trust . . .
The holly (Ilex aquifolium), festive, neat and prickly, is a well-loved shrub that shelters birds and gives hedgehogs a cosy place to hibernate.
It is native in the UK and [also occurs] across Europe, North Africa and western Asia. It is common in woodland, scrub and hedgerows, especially in oak and beech woodland.
Mature trees can grow up to 15m and live for [over] 300 years. The bark is smooth and thin with many 
small, brown 'warts', and the stems are dark brown.
[The leaves are normally] dark green, glossy and oval. In variegated and cultivated varieties, the leaves can be various different and attractive colour combinations. Younger plants have spiky leaves, but those of older trees and the upper parts of younger trees are generally smooth.
Holly is dioecious - male and female flowers are on different trees. Flowers are white with four petals and bloom between early spring and early summer, depending on the weather.
After insect pollination, female flowers develop into scarlet berries which can remain on the tree right through winter.
Value to wildlife: it provides dense cover and good nesting opportunities for birds, while its deep, dry leaf litter may be used by hedgehogs and small mammals for hibernation.
Its flowers provide nectar and pollen for bees and other pollinating insects. The leaves are eaten by caterpillars of the holly blue butterfly, as well as those of various moths, including the yellow-barred brindle, double-striped pug and the holly tortrix. The smooth leaves found at the tops of holly trees are a winter source of food for deer. The berries are a vital source of food for birds in winter, and small mammals like wood mice and dormice.
Mythology and symbolism: holly branches have long been used to decorate homes in winter. The tree was seen as a fertility symbol and a charm against witches, goblins and the devil. It was thought to be unlucky to cut down a holly tree.
Uses of holly: it is the whitest of all woods, and is heavy, hard and fine-grained. It can be stained and polished and is used to make furniture or in engraving work. It is commonly used to make walking sticks. It also makes good firewood and burns with a strong heat. Its branches are used to decorate homes and make wreaths at Christmas.
Threats and conservation: the holly leaf miner may cause damage to foliage and holly leaf blight may cause dieback.