This distinctive rock formation is famous to those from Bradford and Leeds, also known as Hangingstone Rocks this outcrop sits high above Wharfedale just above Ben Rhydding and on the edge of Ilkley Moor. The feature consists of an outcrop of millstone grit and a boulder sitting close to it, which is the reason behind the name Cow and Calf. This name has proven a little confusing to those who don’t know it so well, spending quite some time trying to find the cows in the print.

One of the local legends is that the calf was split from the rocks when the giant Rombald (as in Rombald Moor) was fleeing an enemy, his angry wife, and he stamped on the rock as he jumped across the valley. She was said to have dropped stones from her skirt and created The Skirtful of Stones

This is also a favourite spot amongst West Yorkshire climbers and boulderers, but there’s also amazing views across the landscape of the Wharfe Valley.

I went to school not so far away from Ilkley and a lot of my friends were from the area so it’s become one of my personal favourites, along with exploring the moorland above. This is one of the reasons I have revisited this landscape several time in my screen prints and here I wanted to depict a more autumnal colour palette with oranges and pale greens.