Culture and Attractions
Ilkley town centre is a tourist attraction with a high proliferation of small independent shops. Of particular note is Lishman's of Ilkley, an award-winning butcher shop whose owner, David Lishman, became one of Rick Stein's superheroes in 2003. Ilkley is one of five towns to feature a Bettys tearoom and is home to the Michelin-starred Box Tree restaurant where Marco Pierre White trained. In 1991 Ilkley won the Entente Florale and in 1990 and 2004 the Britain in Bloom contest in the category of 'Town'. In 2006 Ilkley became a Fairtrade Town.
The Manor House, one of the town's oldest buildings, houses a museum and art gallery. The museum contains prehistoric artefacts and documents the Roman fort of Olicana – remains of which are exposed at the back of the building – as well as the rise of Ilkley as a Victorian spa town. Ilkley Toy Museum has a collection of toys dating from 350 BC and a collection of English wooden dolls.
Ilkley's rural surroundings attract walkers and cyclists to the area. The landmark Cow and Calf rocks, which overlook the town on Ilkley Moor, consist of a large outcrop, which allegedly imitates a cow, and a boulder, which imitates a calf. The site is also visited for its rock climbing routes. The Old Bridge just outside the town centre is the official start to the Dales Way, an 84-mile (135 km) walk through the dales to Bowness-on-Windermere in the Lake District.
Darwin Gardens, to the south of the town, is a Millennium Green which commemorates the town's links with English naturalist Charles Darwin. The Green features a maze, whose design was influenced by the Swastika Stone carving, and includes monuments with an evolutionary theme.
Ilkley is home to the largest and oldest literary festival in the north of England, the Ilkley Literature Festival. The 1984 British comedy film A Private Function, written by Alan Bennett, was filmed in Ilkley and Ben Rhydding. The town was also one of the locations used for the 2003 British comedy film Calendar Girls. The Ilkley Gazette is the town's weekly newspaper.
Since 1969 Ilkley has been twinned with Coutances in France.
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