The Friends of Ilkley Moor (FoIM) volunteers and Bradford Countryside Service staff have been hard at work repairing the steps that lead up from the Rocky Valley to the top of the Moor.

Possibly the most famous footpath on the Moor is the ‘Dick Hudson’s Path’ and these steps (which have been in a deplorable state) mark the start of the path on Ilkley Moor.

The steps were probably first made about 100 years ago, but they had fallen into disrepair, and renewing these steps has been a long term ambition for the Friends of Ilkley Moor. But now the repairs are well under way and FoIM anticipates that the work will be fully completed in two weeks’ time.

In order to repair the steps, it has been necessary to carry timber shuttering, and hard core up the steps. FoIM calculates that so far its volunteers have carried, by hand in buckets, between two and three tonnes of hard core up the steps.

Owen Wells. Chair of FoIM said ‘We are proud that, at last we have been able to achieve one of our long term ambitions, to repair the steps onto the Dick Hudson’s path. Footpath repair and restoration is one of our most important tasks on the Moor. We are lucky to have a team of experienced and hard working volunteers to help us with our work.’