Carving no. 88 – a bit of a dry name, isnt it? This is the ‘official’ name for this exceptional rock tucked away in the wilds of Ilkley moor.

There must have been something very special about this 12 ft. long piece of rock in the middle of nowhere, as it contains over 100 ‘cups’, 10 ‘rings’, half a swastika and a dozen or more other carvings. All prehistoric and roughly estimated at about 6000 years old.

There are about 400 stones on these old moors which contain carvings, but this is one of the very best – although many of the marks are feint.

To the locals (and few actually know about this stone) it is called ‘The Badger Stone’ – which may seem a strange name for it as it doesn’t resemble a badger one bit. But digging into it’s history we can conclude that the name ‘Badger’ was another name for ‘a corn dealer, corn miller or miller’s man.’

Continue reading here: Carving no. 88