Yarnbury to Mossdale Circular Walk
This is a real tough walk mostly over open moorland and unless you're very experienced
is for good weather only. Open moors can be disorienting so a compass is essential,
particularly as the tracks on the moors do not correspond with the tracks marked
on the map. You have been warned! Allow about five hours.
The walk starts at Yarnbury. From Grassington go up the main street until the metalled
road becomes a track and that's Yarnbury. Park up and make sure not to miss seeing
the lovely drainage adit by the roadside.
Take the track that goes to the right across the moors through the old mine workings.
It's all labelled up as a trail nowadays, so there's no need to hurry. As you breast
the ridge, you'll see the chimney in the distance, that's our next port of call.
Make your way to the chimney exploring the ruins as you go. The walk then starts
to change in character, and we start to enter open moorland. Go to the reservoir
a few yards behind and to the left of the chimney, then across to the track you
can see. There are three main tracks at this point. Be sure to take the middle one
which runs to the top of Blea Beck. This is good easy walking until the track eventually
runs out. Once it does, follow the watercourse upstream in a North Westerly direction
aiming for Priest's Tarn. There are a lot of watercourses here and it's easy to
get the wrong one, so use a compass bearing to get the right direction.
This is tough walking, and in bad weather it's extremely boggy so be careful. As
you reach the top of the hill you'll see a cairn. It's the only cairn for miles
around so you can't miss it. Pause at the cairn, and if you look carefully you'll
see a small plaque at the bottom. Pause a while and say a quiet prayer, for this
is the memorial cairn to the
Mossdale Caverns tragedy , Britain's worst caving tragedy where six young
cavers from Leeds University lost their lives in 1967.
In front of you is a wire fence running across the moor in a North East direction.
Turn right and follow it, heading north east until you hit another fence running at right
angles to it. (grid 034701) Turn left along the new fence heading NNW towards Sandy
Gate (030712). Keep your eyes open here, as I saw deer while walking up here, and
that's the first time I've ever seen one on a Dales moor top. The walking here is
hard going, but eventually you come to a stile crossing the fence. This is Sandy
Gate, and from here on it's easy walking all the way home.
Follow the footpath all the way down into Mossdale, and you're then on a fine broad
track down the dale. On your left pass Mossdale Scar and the entrance to the cavern, but
if you go to visit, tread with care because just for once the warning signs about
unmarked shafts are for real!
Continuing down the dale, as it widens there's an unmetalled road going off to the
left. Like most things on this walk it's not marked on the map but don't
worry about it. Take the track as it climbs steeply up the valley side, and then follow it all
the way to come back out next to the chimney on Grassington moor. Job done, leaving
time for a
well deserved pint of Black Sheep at the
Black Horse in Grassington. They do excellent really big food too, or for
a cheaper option the chippy next door is excellent.
Pictures of the Walk