Civic Day Walk 2026

A lovely small group walk today on Civic Day to celebrate Ilkley’s fresh air, healthy water and open spaces and the various benefactors who helped create Ilkley's little gardens.

We started at Canker Well Gardens and walked along The Grove (stopping to look up at the dragons on top of Acorn Villas) into the dignified War Memorial Gardens then into the delightful Spence Gardens, complete with stream, bridges and an open field behind. After a stop outside the shops in the former grounds of the Spa, we finished in the peaceful area in front of the former Ilkley Hospital, built in 1862, now Abbeyfield Care Home, looking down at the bandstand on The Grove.

Our guide, Alex Cockshott provided the fascinating commentary about each site and the men and women behind Ilkley’s history.