Ilkley Quarry is the site of the famous "Cow and Calf", a large rock formation consisting of an outcrop and boulder, also known as Hangingstone Rocks. The rocks are made of millstone grit, a variety of sandstone, and are so named because one is large, with the smaller one sitting close to it, like a cow and calf. Legend has it that there was once also a "bull", but that was quarried for stone during the spa town boom that Ilkley was part of in the 19th century. However, none of the local historians has provided any evidence of the Bull's to legend, the Calf was split from the Cow when the giant Rombald was fleeing an enemy, and stamped on the rock as he leapt across the valley. The enemy, it is said, was his angry wife. She dropped the stones held in her skirt to form the local rock formation The Skirtful of Stones. Ilkley Moor is part of Rombalds Moor, the moorland between Ilkley and Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The moor, which rises to 402 m (1,319 ft) above sea level is famous as the inspiration for the Yorkshire "county anthem" On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at. To the north, where the moor drops steeply towards the village of Ben Rhydding, a satellite of the town of Ilkley, are two millstone grit rock climbing areas: Rocky Valley and Ilkley Quarry.
Size: 6144px × 4096px
Location: Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire
Photo credit: © John Porter LRPS / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: attraction, bronte, brooding, calf, clouds, country, dark, england, famous, formation, giant, grit, hangingstone, heather, ilkley, keighley, kingdom, landmark, landscape, large, menace, menacing, millstone, mood, moods, moody, moor, moorland, moors, north, quarry, rock, rocks, rombald, rombalds, sandstone, scenery, skirtful, stones, stormy, tourism, tourist, travel, uk, united, west, wild, yorkshire
