Middleton Woods #1: Ancient Arboreal Asset
This is the 1st of a short series of 6 caches hidden in these beautiful ancient indigenous 45.8 hectare broadleaf woodlands just north of Ilkley. They join several existing caches providing additional incentive (if needed!) to visit this special place.
See Gallery for a map of the woods showing the main trails, parking spots and approximate locations of this series of caches.
The cache, a small screw-capped, camo-taped plastic pot is hidden just of a small trail heading eastwards along the southern edge of the woods.
To Reach the Cache:
Park @ or near N 53 55.928 W 1 48.648 about 250m east of Ilkley Suspension bridge and make your way across and west down the road towards the bridge and head into the woods where you will find myriad trails enabling you to make your way around easily.
Middleton Woods (east and west of Curly Hill) is the largest remaining ancient woodland site in West Yorkshire and is of special importance for nature conservation in the Leeds area. There are also many historical and archaeological features, including bell pits, from early coal mining and the former routes taken by trams.
It is actually a collection of smaller woods known by a variety of names over its long history: Coppice (later Coppy) Wood at the western end through Stubbings (1851) and Stubham Wood (1892), straddling Curly Hill to Middleton or Hudson Wood and Nell Bank Wood at the eastern limit.
Both Coppice and Stubbing (Anglo-Saxon for clearing) attest to both the length of time the area has been wooded and its function as a productive woodland. Coppice and 'stubbing' indicate that the trees were being actively managed to produce sticks, poles, timber, and possibly charcoal by periodic cutting. Stubham probably refers to the ancient hamlet that existed in the clearing.
Part of the ancient woodland along the lower slope has been developed for housing. Many of the trees 
enclosed by the developments are covered by Tree Preservation Orders to help maintain the landscape character, including the 500-year-old Stubham Oak (located @ 41 Curly Hill) believed to be Ilkley's oldest surviving tree.
Natural History of the Wood
Historic records indicate that woodland has been present on site since at least 1600 and is thus formally designated as Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW) – which constitute only 1.2% of all woodlands in Great Britain. A number of indicator species also point to a long history of woodland including, bluebell, wood anemone, dogs mercury and wood sorrel.
The dominant tree species is oak (Quercus robur and Quercus petraea), however, in some wet areas alder is dominant and ash, beech, birch, hazel, elder, elm, rowan, sycamore, hawthorn, copper beech, holly, sweet chestnut, Norway spruce and white poplar are also present. A survey of oak numbers and health was carried out by Indy Gosal and Dr David Pilbeam between 2010-12.
Not only are living trees important, old, dying and dead trees, rotting, fallen timber and decomposing leaves all provide food and shelter for a wealth of invertebrates, particularly woodlice, spiders, millipedes and beetles. These in turn are eaten by mammals and birds including bats, mice and voles, and woodpeckers and tree-creepers.
Early spring is a wonderful time to enjoy the woodland, as wildflowers are at their most abundant and bluebells, wood anemone, wood sorrel, dog's mercury, lily-of-the-valley and lesser celandine cover the ground. By the streams and within the wetter areas can also be found patches of bog-stitchwort and opposite-leaved golden saxifrage.
The woodland edge, open glades and path edges are also important for plants and butterflies, which can be seen flying in these sunny spots during the summer.