Missed opportunity: Silver Well Cottage (Ilkley)

The Silver Well Cottage, Ilkley Moor.

A few months ago, on a short hike along the Ilkley Moor, we saw a house, with boarded up windows, and partially unvocered roof. Located above Ilkley, with a drive access way, a large ground around it, and a spectacular view above the Wharfedale, I thought this would be a great buy, with some work to fix it up. But there was not any "For Sale" sign on it, nor did I know the name or address of this place. As we walked this past weekend again there, I noticed on the map that this building actually has a name: "Silver Well Cottage". Not to be confused with the "Silver Well Baths" which are just about one mile east.

How was I surprised to see tonight in the BBC local news "Look North" this cottage being announced as being sold today: an aution had taken place, and the selling price was 375,000 pounds. A bit expensive for my own wallet... so I would not have bid for it. But I probably would have shelled out about 200k pounds - provided I would have found a decent mortgage.

Article in Ilkley Gazette, 14. June 2007
Advertisement of the Silver Well Cottage Sale

Hiking in Ilkley Moor

Ilkley is a small town north of Leeds, in the Wharfedale. This valley is the first of the dales, with the river Wharfe flowing from West to East. Coming from Leeds, one has to travel down a hillside to come into this valley. It takes about 35 minutes to drive from our home to Ilkley, and it is the first "recreational" place out of the city borders. Well, even closer is the Chevin Forest right on the edge of where the Leeds plain falls down into the Wharfedale, but it is still quite close to Leeds, and the airport is very close, so it is not as tranquil as when one would drive a bit further away.

Ilkley is a very nice town, with lots of small oldfashioned stores, butchers, and one of the Betty's Cafes. South of Ilkley rises the Ilkley Moor, a very picturesque area for hiking. This Saturday, we used the nice weather to hike up the steep slope from Ilkley, then move on the relatively flat tops to the highest peak of the moor at 402 m. As usual, I took a lot of pictures - collected them on my Flickr site.

View from the moor slope towards the Wells Bath House over Ilkley and the Wharfedale