Arnecliff Woods are located half a mile to the east of Glaisdale village, on the North York Moors.
A footbridge across the river Esk leads to a woodland path which runs alongside the river, before winding its way up the hillside through the wood. After 500m or so the path passes a large split boulder, which is known locally as the Wishing Stone (grid reference NZ 78625 04964).
The Wishing Stone is not marked on the OS maps, nor does it seem to have been recorded in any local history books. The little information we do have comes from the local author Peter Walker who grew up in Glaisdale, and briefly mentions the rock in his book Folklore of the North York Moors (Walker, 1990). A Google search produced several old images and postcards of the Wishing Stone dating from the early 1900's, but no real details about it. A couple of brief internet references to the stone mention that people would walk around it three (or 9) times whilst making a wish. The second reference says that young women would stand on top of the stone and wish for a good husband. This climbing up onto the rock and wishing for a husband sounds suspiciously like an old fertility practice, which earlier writers may have been reluctant to record. At the Giant's Lapstone in Baysdale, women would climb on top of that boulder to perform an elaborate fertility ritual to ensure an easy birth and healthy children. While a story about another Wishing Stone on Ingleby Greenhow Moor involved women (witches) standing on top of the rock to perform a ritual which involved babies.