Extinction Rebellion Ilkley

Extinction Rebellion Ilkley Welcome to Extinction Rebellion Ilkley, a local group for people who are worried about the climate crisis and want to do something to bring about change.

In a beautiful ceremony by the River Wharfe in Ilkley on Sunday people came together to celebrate their love for the Riv...
25/03/2026

In a beautiful ceremony by the River Wharfe in Ilkley on Sunday people came together to celebrate their love for the River Wharfe on World Water Day.

Against a backdrop of music and creativity, flowers were offered to the river, while people shared what the river means to them and pledged to help protect and restore it.

One activist said “We’ve talked to a lot of people as we’ve walked along the riverside over the past few months and we know how important the river is to people. We wanted to give them an opportunity to come together to share their love for the river and to commit to helping it."

The ceremony is part of an international wave of "water weddings" encouraging communities to commit to standing up for our environment, including their local rivers, lakes and seas. Water weddings symbolise people's love for and lifelong commitment to protecting their local water bodies, and are part of a broader movement advocating for the rights of nature and a more balanced partnership between communities and ecosystems.

Our waterways are under threat from sewage, pollution, litter, climate change and biodiversity loss and they desperately need our help.

28/12/2025

Join us on our 8 day, 92-mile walk, following the River Wharfe from its source to where it joins the River Ouse. This is a compilation of our adventures for the campaign.

Poem written and performed by Tim Ellis

14/12/2025

Day 8 of our River Wharfe walk for the World Water Wedding campaign – the final 11 miles from Tadcaster to where the Wharfe joins the River Ouse, just north of Cawood – the impacts of flooding was the main message from this stretch of the walk!

It was a sunny, crisp and frosty start as we set off from Tadcaster on our last day, walking the final 11 miles to where...
14/12/2025

It was a sunny, crisp and frosty start as we set off from Tadcaster on our last day, walking the final 11 miles to where the Wharfe joins the River Ouse.

This final stretch of our walk turned out to be about flooding; all along the route we could see evidence of high-water levels. Stiles were blocked by branches and vegetation brought downriver; footpaths had turned into new streams. Agricultural fields had become lakes and were being used by migrating geese. Vegetation snagged on waist-high fences was a stark reminder of how much the water levels can rise when the river is in spate.

We see the power and force of the river in a storm at the top end of the river where we live, but it was sobering to see what happens further downstream, as the wreckage and debris gets dumped, bridges and infrastructure get damaged, and the surrounding floodplains struggle to cope. Storms are becoming ever more frequent and extreme, fuelled by climate change; these issues will only get worse unless we act now.

Day 7 of our River Wharfe walk was a very wet day! We walked 10 miles from Wetherby to Tadcaster, joined by friends from...
30/11/2025

Day 7 of our River Wharfe walk was a very wet day! We walked 10 miles from Wetherby to Tadcaster, joined by friends from Extinction Rebellion Harrogate who didn’t mind getting wet!

Our route followed the river very closely on this stretch and we passed some fabulous stone bridges along the way, showing the importance of river crossings through history as the river has now grown quite wide.

We passed several areas where flood debris had snagged in the water and it was disappointing to see so much rubbish was mixed within it. We noticed quite a lot of rubbish along the route too, particularly nearer areas of habitation, with plastic water bottles, crisp packets and beer cans being the most frequent.

We want to help people understand that enjoying our rivers also means respecting them and not taking them for granted. Pledge to do something to look after your local river, maybe pick up and bin at least one bit of litter that you see on its banks. Every little helps to make a better world.

Today was Day 6 of our River Wharfe walk for the World Water Wedding campaign. It was our longest day, seeing us walk 14...
22/11/2025

Today was Day 6 of our River Wharfe walk for the World Water Wedding campaign. It was our longest day, seeing us walk 14.5 miles from Pool-in-Wharfedale to Wetherby. It was definitely tiring, but we managed to complete it while it was still light.

The highlight of the day was spotting an otter in the river! It’s a rare treat and we feel so lucky to have seen one today. This, combined with the 6 kingfishers we spotted gave us a boost and reminded us why we are doing this walk, fighting for the health of our rivers and the life they support.

We were also overwhelmed by meeting a lovely lady who had travelled all the way from York to try to catch us as we approached Wetherby. She’s been following our journey and has been so inspired by our story that she felt she had to come to meet us to find out more.

We completed Day 5 of our River Wharfe walk today, walking 10 miles from Ben Rhydding to Pool-in-Wharfedale. This stretc...
12/11/2025

We completed Day 5 of our River Wharfe walk today, walking 10 miles from Ben Rhydding to Pool-in-Wharfedale. This stretch of the walk highlighted the limited access we have to our rivers; there were large stretches of the river where there was no access or footpaths nearby, so we had to do a lot of walking along the roadside.

We continued our water testing and the results showed much better water quality than the end of the last stage, which was good to see. Our group of crocheted turds still joined us in complaining to Yorkshire Water about the sewage pollution in our waterways though!

09/11/2025

Day 4 of our River Wharfe Walk for the campaign

We’ve completed Day 4 of our River Wharfe walk this weekend, walking 12.5 miles from Bolton Abbey to Ben Rhydding as par...
09/11/2025

We’ve completed Day 4 of our River Wharfe walk this weekend, walking 12.5 miles from Bolton Abbey to Ben Rhydding as part of the campaign. We made some new friends and connections along the way and had some wonderful conversations with people we met. Some joined us in writing messages on leaves to the river and others were interested in joining the campaign, boycotting the sewage part of their water bill. All expressed how much the river meant to them on a personal level.

The most striking aspect of the day though was the water testing. We tested the river quality at Bolton Abbey and the quality was good, with low nutrients and no phosphates. We tested again at the end of the walk after Ben Rhydding, having walked past 2 of the worst performing sewage works on the River Wharfe. The results here showed greater than10mg/L of nitrates, and greater than 1mg/L of phosphates, the highest score on the testing chart, showing poor ecological status. The difference in the water quality of the river through just one day’s walking was shocking and so sad to witness.

This weekend saw us off on Day 3 of our River Wharfe walk, walking 13 miles from Grassington to Bolton Bridge as part of...
26/10/2025

This weekend saw us off on Day 3 of our River Wharfe walk, walking 13 miles from Grassington to Bolton Bridge as part of the campaign. It was a glorious autumnal morning and we had company on the way as friends, family and XR family joined us.

It was delightful to see so many people choosing to walk this stretch of the river, showing how important our rivers are for our own health and well-being. We spoke to lots of people along the way, all of whom were aware of, and were horrified by, the poor state of our rivers and the pollution issues caused by our water companies discharging sewage.

We took another water sample for testing near Grassington which happily showed low nutrient levels and good ecological status at this time.

The unfortunate downside of more people out enjoying the riverside was a huge increase in the amount of litter collected. We all have a responsibility to help look after and fight for the places that we enjoy and love.



Thanks to Gerard Liston for photography.

Today was Day 2 of our River Wharfe walk, walking 12 miles from Starbotton to Grassington. It was a beautiful warm and s...
11/10/2025

Today was Day 2 of our River Wharfe walk, walking 12 miles from Starbotton to Grassington. It was a beautiful warm and sunny day so we had our flags flying proud.

We had some great conversations with people we met on the way, talking about the issues facing our rivers. Some were keen to take up the challenge to to register their anger with their water company about sewage pollution.

We are trying to walk as close as we can to the river. This part of the walk involved quite a bit of walking along the road, as the fields next to the river are privately owned, highlighting how little access we actually have to our waterways.

We also took time to enjoy the peace and calm of the river (a marked change from last weekend), having a paddle and watching fish and even a crayfish in the water. It reminded us how little we stop and sit, and how much we see when we take the time.

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