| Janet's
Foss
Janet's Foss YD04 |
|
||
|
|
||
Janet's Foss - Image from "Around Malham" |
Janet's
Foss is a rather attractive little waterfall on Goredale Beck close to
Malham
in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales valley of Malhamdale. It is a popular
walk from Malham, involving no great distance and next to no climbing,
and you can go on from there to more severe things such as Goredale,
Malham Cove, and Malham Tarn. You can find details of three walks which
involve Janet's Foss on the "Around
Malham" CD-ROM.
The
name is believed to derive from (literally) a fairy story about Janet (or
Jennet), the local fairy queen who is said to have lived in fairly damp
conditions in a cave close to or behind the fall. The "Foss" part derives
either from Old Norse "foss" or Old Norwegian "fors", both meaning "waterfall"
- see "The
Place Names of North Craven". According to the Malhamdale
website the cave was also lived in by smelters working the copper mines
at Pikedaw to the west.
|
| The
pool below the waterfall was once used to wash sheep (a sheep dip without
the chemicals) by local shepherds, who apparently got just as wet and cold
as the sheep by having to work in the pool with them.
The waterfall is in beautiful woodland which is full of Wild Garlic (Ramsons) in late springtime. |
 |
There is another local website with details of Janet's Foss at http://www.malhamdale.com/janetsfoss.htm
