Moorcock Inn

The Moorcock Inn is a public house at the watershed of the Eden, Clough and Ure rivers, in Upper Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, England. It is adjacent to the A684 road where it has a junction with the B6259 road, and near to Garsdale railway station on the Settle–Carlisle line. The history of the inn can be traced back to the 1740s, but it has only been named The Moorcock since 1840. The pub is near to some long-distance paths, and is popular with walkers.

Moorcock Inn
A largely whitewashed building with upland behind, and a road in front
The Moorcock Inn
Former namesThe Guide Post Inn
The Junction Inn
General information
StatusOpen
AddressGarsdale, Yorkshire Dales National Park
CountryEngland
Coordinates54.329°N 2.312°W / 54.329; -2.312
Elevation1,050 feet (320 m)
Website
Website
References
[1]

History

The pub, whose building dates from the 1740s, is located at a remote road junction at the head of Wensleydale and is named on Ordnance Survey mapping.[2][3] Although it has an address listed as Sedbergh in Cumbria, it is actually in North Yorkshire, in the civil parish of Hawes,[2][4] and at the point where the nascent River Ure turns eastwards, some 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west of Hawes, and 1-mile (1.6 km) from Garsdale railway station.[5][6][7] The name of the pub previous to 1840 was listed as The Guide Post Inn.[8] The pub was popular with railway navvies in the 1870s, who were accommodated in a camp near the pub to build the Settle Carlisle and the Wensleydale Line to Hawes.[9] Some of the navvies who drank there whilst building the Settle-Carlisle Line in the 1870s referred to it as The Junction Inn. During this time it was fined for "allowing drunkeness [and] serving outside of permitted hours".[10]

After a train crash at nearby Ais Gill in 1910, twelve bodies were stored in the pub until they were able to be buried at Hawes, and the preliminary inquiry into the crash was held there, as it was "the largest room for miles..".[11][12][13] In 1975, the landlords died in a fire on the day of their retirement party.[14][15]

The pub, which is 1,050 feet (320 m) above sea level, is adjacent to the junction of the B6259 road from the A684, and is on the Pennine Bridleway, also being near the Pennine Journey, and the Dales High Way.[16][17][18][19] Due to its height at the west end of Wensleydale, the Moorcock is known to be the wettest place in Wensleydale, averaging a rainfall of 70 inches (1,800 mm) a year.[20] The route of the B6259 was built in 1825 as an alternative to the through road to Mallerstang from Cotterdale.[21] Between Monday and Friday, four buses per day in each direction connect Garsdale railway station and the Morcock Inn with Hawes.[22]

References
  1. Start, Daniel (8 June 2013). "The Wild Swimming Guide; 20 best places in Britain". The Times. No. 70906. p. 153. ISSN 0140-0460.
  2. Huddleston, Yvette; Swan, Walter (26 April 2008). "Haunting secrets on tap". infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  3. Hallissey, Nick (February 2023). "The Blue Pint Pot". Country Walking. No. 2–2023. Peterborough: Bauer Media. p. 33. ISSN 0953-2757.
  4. Dunford, Jane (17 June 2017). "Remote Pubs". The Guardian. Supplement. p. 15. ISSN 1756-3224.
  5. Leather, A. David (1991). Wensleydale. Otley: Smith Settle. p. 1. ISBN 1870071719.
  6. Scholes, Ron (2008). Yorkshire Dales (3 ed.). Ashbourne: Landmark. p. 37. ISBN 978-1843063889.
  7. Goodwin, Stephen (13 August 2000). "Travel UK: There's an Eden in the north - if you can Adam-and-Eve it Stephen Goodwin follows in some historic footsteps in Cumbria's verdant Mallerstang valley". The Independent. ProQuest 311737949. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  8. "Time Please! 'Lost' Inns, Pubs and Alehouses of the Yorkshire Dales" (PDF). northcravenheritage.org.uk. p. 17. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  9. Hallas, Christine (1986). "The Social and Economic Impact of a Rural Railway: The Wensleydale Line". The Agricultural History Review. British Agricultural History Society. 34 (1): 31. ISSN 0002-1490.
  10. Mitchell, W. R. (1975). The railway shanties. Settle: Settle and District Civic Society, Railway Centenary Committee. p. 27. ISBN 095040750X.
  11. Greenbank, Tony (1 March 2020). "Six of the best pubs now part of The Yorkshire Dales National Park". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  12. "Finding its station in life". The Northern Echo. 30 April 2001. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  13. Buckle, George Earle, ed. (27 December 1910). "The Express Accident". The Times. No. 39466. Column B. p. 8. ISSN 0140-0460.
  14. "New publicans have words with their resident ghosts". The Northern Echo. 3 January 2006. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  15. Lennie, Stuart (2005). The roof of Wensleydale : a portrait of Wensleydale's two thousand foot fells. Kirkby Stephen: Hayloft. p. 76. ISBN 1904524303.
  16. Speight, Harry (1892). The Craven and north-west Yorkshire highlands. Being a complete account of the history, scenery, and antiquities of that romantic district. London: E Stock. p. 21. OCLC 7219082.
  17. "The Moorcock Inn". nationaltrail.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  18. Bradbury, Keith (2012). Cycling the Pennine Bridleway. Milnthorpe, Cumbria: Cicerone. p. 81. ISBN 9781849657013.
  19. Bibby, Andrew (2006). Wensleydale and Swaledale : the Northern Yorkshire Dales. London: Frances Lincoln. p. 160. ISBN 9780711225541.
  20. Leather, A. David (1991). Wensleydale. Otley: Smith Settle. p. 27. ISBN 1870071719.
  21. Wright, Geoffrey Norman (1985). Roads and trackways of the Yorkshire Dales. Ashbourne: Moorland. p. 189. ISBN 0861901231.
  22. "113 - Gayle - Garsdale Station". bustimes.org. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
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