Moorcock Inn, Hawes Explained

Moorcock Inn
Image Alt:A largely whitewashed building with upland behind, and a road in front
Coordinates:54.329°N -2.312°W
Former Names:The Guide Post Inn
The Junction Inn
Status:Open
Address:Garsdale, Yorkshire Dales National Park
Location Country:England
Destruction Date:-->
References:[1]

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

History

The pub, built in the 1740s, is at a remote road junction at the head of Wensleydale and is named on Ordnance Survey mapping.[2] [3] Although its postal address is 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 west of Hawes, and from railway station.[5] [6] [7] The name of the pub before 1840 was listed as The Guide Post Inn.[8] In the 1870s the pub was popular with the railway navvies living in a camp near the pub while building the Settle-Carlisle railway and the Wensleydale Line to Hawes.[9] Some of the navvies who drank there referred to it as The Junction Inn. During that 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 could be buried at Hawes, and the preliminary inquiry into the crash was held there since 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 above sea level, is adjacent to the junction of the B6259 road and the A684. It is also on the Pennine Bridleway and near the Pennine Journey and the Dales High Way.[16] [17] [18] [19] Owing to its height at the west end of Wensleydale the Moorcock is known to be the wettest place in Wensleydale, averaging of rainfall a year.[20] The route of the B6259 was built in 1825 as an alternative to the through road to Mallerstang from Cotterdale.[21] From Monday to Friday four buses per day in each direction connect Garsdale railway station and the Morcock Inn with Hawes.[22]

The pub closed in 2023, and planning documents lodged in 2024 indicate the owners intent to convert the pub into a tearoom and living accommodation.[23]

Notes and References

  1. News: Start . Daniel . The Wild Swimming Guide; 20 best places in Britain . The Times . 70906 . 8 June 2013 . 153. 0140-0460.
  2. News: Huddleston . Yvette . Swan . Walter . Haunting secrets on tap . 21 February 2023 . infoweb.newsbank.com . 26 April 2008.
  3. Hallissey . Nick. The Blue Pint Pot. Country Walking . February 2023. 2–2023 . Bauer Media . Peterborough . 0953-2757. 33.
  4. News: Dunford . Jane . Remote Pubs . The Guardian . 17 June 2017 . Supplement . 15. 1756-3224.
  5. Book: Leather . A. David . Wensleydale . 1991 . Smith Settle . Otley . 1870071719 . 1.
  6. Book: Scholes . Ron . Yorkshire Dales. . 2008 . Landmark . Ashbourne . 978-1843063889 . 37 . 3.
  7. News: 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. 22 February 2023. .
  8. Web site: Time Please! 'Lost' Inns, Pubs and Alehouses of the Yorkshire Dales . northcravenheritage.org.uk . 25 February 2023 . 17.
  9. Hallas . Christine . The Social and Economic Impact of a Rural Railway: The Wensleydale Line . The Agricultural History Review . 1986 . 34 . 1 . 31 . British Agricultural History Society . 0002-1490.
  10. Book: Mitchell . W. R. . The railway shanties . 1975 . Settle and District Civic Society, Railway Centenary Committee . Settle . 095040750X . 27.
  11. News: Greenbank . Tony . Six of the best pubs now part of The Yorkshire Dales National Park . 20 February 2023 . Yorkshire Post . 1 March 2020.
  12. News: Finding its station in life . 21 February 2023 . The Northern Echo . 30 April 2001.
  13. News: Buckle . George Earle . George Earle Buckle. The Express Accident . The Times . 39466 . 27 December 1910 . Column B . 8. 0140-0460.
  14. News: New publicans have words with their resident ghosts . 21 February 2023 . The Northern Echo . 3 January 2006.
  15. Book: Lennie . Stuart . The roof of Wensleydale : a portrait of Wensleydale's two thousand foot fells . 2005 . Hayloft . Kirkby Stephen . 1904524303 . 76.
  16. Book: Speight . Harry . The Craven and north-west Yorkshire highlands. Being a complete account of the history, scenery, and antiquities of that romantic district . 1892 . E Stock . London . 21. 7219082.
  17. Web site: The Moorcock Inn . nationaltrail.co.uk . 21 February 2023.
  18. Book: Bradbury . Keith . Cycling the Pennine Bridleway . 2012 . Cicerone . Milnthorpe, Cumbria . 9781849657013 . 81.
  19. Book: Bibby . Andrew . Wensleydale and Swaledale : the Northern Yorkshire Dales . 2006 . Frances Lincoln . London . 9780711225541 . 160.
  20. Book: Leather . A. David . Wensleydale . 1991 . Smith Settle . Otley . 1870071719 . 27.
  21. Book: Wright . Geoffrey Norman . Roads and trackways of the Yorkshire Dales . 1985 . Moorland . Ashbourne . 0861901231 . 189.
  22. Web site: 113 - Gayle - Garsdale Station . bustimes.org . 21 February 2023.
  23. News: Newton . Grace . Probe into change of use of Dales pub . The Yorkshire Post . 30 March 2024 . 21. 0963-1496.

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