Over Boss Moor

We had been told about the Waste Inn by Margaret B. Dickinson.  Curious name for a pub?  Not really, when you walk through the desolate area of Boss Moor and imagine what it would have been like on a cold autumn day all those years ago…

The area is now a grouse-shooter’s paradise.  In fact there’s even a Shooting Box¹ on top of a hill at 961636 which is not on the route to Waste Inn.  It’s not en route to anywhere, but we managed to lose our way and find it because we misread the signpost.  Of which, more later.  (It made the walk more fun, anyway.)

(A digression on shooting, if I may: I used to think it a fairly harmless sport.  I went on one or two shoots as a beater: no birds were bred especially to be targeted and every bird shot was for the table.  But now I hear bulldozers are brought in to bury the huge number of dead birds that no one can be bothered to pluck and eat.  That would sicken anyone.  What are clay pigeons for?)

The walk that we did - oddly - started at SD 977637, at Skirethorns, due west of Threshfield, near Grassington.  We chose that route because we had already walked the Moor Lane route earlier in the week.  In fact, the beginning of our walk is probably more spectacular because of the double stone walls that History condemns but I seem to dote on (#1).  The drovers were heading east towards Malham and aiming for Lane Head (= Waste Inn) on the western edge of the Moor, at 955832.  

Fork left after 200 yards on to Green Lane, which leads on to the Moor through a gate at 971632 (#2) leading on to the Moor.  All you need now is pictures of that wonderful route (#3-5), with special attention to the last.  The signpost states quite clearly which way to go, but we never saw it.  "Public Bridleway" continues to the left and nothing, absolutely nothing, is signposted straight ahead.


I am keeping a special section for Waste Inn itself because it deserves it.  It’s an utterly smashing, wonderful walk and we met almost no one; just birds, especially a whitethroat busy at the wall of the inn itself.  No grouse, and no grouse!

^{1 A Shooting box was there 150 years ago, according to the NLS map.}