Boulder-strewn areas in Alwoodley Plantation, north Leeds.

The green spaces and places of Leeds
Post Reply
User avatar
Leodian
Posts: 6478
Joined: Thu 10 Jun, 2010 8:03 am

Boulder-strewn areas in Alwoodley Plantation, north Leeds.

Post by Leodian »

There are large areas in Alwoodley Plantation in north Leeds that have lots of boulders. They would be an interesting sight if located in the moors such as Ilkley Moor and Otley Chevin but are probably not really known by many or not given any thought to when walking in the wood. I have attached a photo taken on May 1 2021 showing only a small area with boulders just above the Devil's Rock, along with a photo of the Devil's Rock taken the same day.
BouldersAlwoodleyPlantationLeedsMay012021..jpg
BouldersAlwoodleyPlantationLeedsMay012021..jpg (257.98 KiB) Viewed 8253 times
DevilsRockAlwoodleyPlantationLeedsMay012021..jpg
DevilsRockAlwoodleyPlantationLeedsMay012021..jpg (239.86 KiB) Viewed 8253 times
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

User avatar
buffaloskinner
Posts: 1435
Joined: Sun 01 Apr, 2007 6:02 pm
Location: Nova Scotia

Re: Boulder-strewn areas in Alwoodley Plantation, north Leeds.

Post by buffaloskinner »

Glacial erratics maybe, or an old quarry?
Is this the end of the story ...or the beginning of a legend?

User avatar
Leodian
Posts: 6478
Joined: Thu 10 Jun, 2010 8:03 am

Re: Boulder-strewn areas in Alwoodley Plantation, north Leeds.

Post by Leodian »

buffaloskinner wrote:
Thu 06 May, 2021 9:27 pm
Glacial erratics maybe, or an old quarry?
Hi buffaloskinner :)

Your suggestion that the boulders could be glacial erratics is very interesting.

There is close-by what may or may not have been a tiny quarry but as the boulders are spread over a very large area I think they are probably not from a quarry, though I did not check if they are in situ or not (some at least do look like they are not). As the Alwoodley Plantation has been there for many years (it is on maps going back to at least the 1850s) it may be a still relatively undisturbed area of what perhaps most of the immediate area once looked like.
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

warringtonrhino
Posts: 477
Joined: Sat 18 Feb, 2012 2:31 pm

Re: Boulder-strewn areas in Alwoodley Plantation, north Leeds.

Post by warringtonrhino »

There is/was a Roman road between Ilkley and Tadcaster (Margary No 729).
The route was through Otley, Alwoodley, and Scarcroft.Where possible the Romans built their roads close to sites which had stones on or near the surface. The stones at Alwoodley might have been considered when planning the route?

User avatar
Leodian
Posts: 6478
Joined: Thu 10 Jun, 2010 8:03 am

Re: Boulder-strewn areas in Alwoodley Plantation, north Leeds.

Post by Leodian »

warringtonrhino wrote:
Sat 08 May, 2021 9:48 am
There is/was a Roman road between Ilkley and Tadcaster (Margary No 729).
The route was through Otley, Alwoodley, and Scarcroft.Where possible the Romans built their roads close to sites which had stones on or near the surface. The stones at Alwoodley might have been considered when planning the route?
Hi warringtonrhino :).

It's interesting that you comment on that as what will be fairly close by there is a boulder with a badly eroded carved figure that is thought to be of the Roman god Cocidius. I was shown where it is a couple or so years back but have now forgotten where that boulder is among the many in the area!
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

User avatar
buffaloskinner
Posts: 1435
Joined: Sun 01 Apr, 2007 6:02 pm
Location: Nova Scotia

Re: Boulder-strewn areas in Alwoodley Plantation, north Leeds.

Post by buffaloskinner »

:arrow:
Warrington Rhino: that maybe an explanation as there is a quarry nearby as I suggested earlier. North of the quarry is the old Roman road and also marked on the map is a site where Romans Remains were found.

:arrow:
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by ... =ESRIWorld
Is this the end of the story ...or the beginning of a legend?

User avatar
Leodian
Posts: 6478
Joined: Thu 10 Jun, 2010 8:03 am

Re: Boulder-strewn areas in Alwoodley Plantation, north Leeds.

Post by Leodian »

I have attached 2 photos that I took in the area on May 10 2021. The first shows some large in situ rocks that given enough time might become an Adel Crag like feature! (the smudge is a bit of rain on the lens). The second shows what might have been a very small quarry. The maps I have ready access to are however not large enough scale to record if it was a quarry so perhaps someone will know if it was.

The area is what I know (from several sources) as Alwoodley Plantation but its correct name is Alwoodley Crags Plantation, as also noted on the map in the very interesting old and new comparison provided kindly by buffaloskinner.

Adel Crag itself is however around 400 metres to the left (west) of the boulder-strewn area. I wonder how Adel Crag was formed and how long ago? Perhaps the Romans spent leisure time there during building the not far away road and carving the effigy of their god Cocidius on a nearby rock! :)
RocksInAlwoodleyCragsPlantationNorthLeedsMay102021..jpg
RocksInAlwoodleyCragsPlantationNorthLeedsMay102021..jpg (241.53 KiB) Viewed 7874 times
PossibleOldQuarryAlwoodleyCragsPlantationNorthLeedsMay102021..jpg
PossibleOldQuarryAlwoodleyCragsPlantationNorthLeedsMay102021..jpg (252.49 KiB) Viewed 7874 times
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

Post Reply