On Shipley Glen

Shipley Glen, where urban development meets the high moors, has been a place of leisure for centuries. In Victorian times, hordes of mill workers and their families came up here to picnic and enjoy the funfair - aerial rides and toboggan runs - that once filled this area. Nowadays it's quiet in comparison but still a spot people enjoy for dog walks, jogging and BMX bike stunts on the rocks. 

I had a walk along the edge of the escarpment, mainly to see how the heather is coming along. There's not a lot here compared to some of our wilder moorland areas but enough to gauge whether it's worth a longer trek to the Haworth or Ilkley moors. Actually it's in full bloom now, but pale and dusty looking, stressed by the hot, dry weather, clearly not its best year. In full splendour it's an unforgettable spectacle, the purple haze visible for miles, but around here it is shrinking in scope for all sorts of reasons, as the moors are managed differently, human activity takes its toll and the bully bracken encroaches. 

Part way along the Glen, Bracken Hall Countryside Centre occupies a solid 1890s farmhouse and is open at weekends and for school groups, staffed by volunteers, with exhibitions about the Glen and surrounding moorland's history, flora and wildlife.