Our Wayne’s world is … beating this squeeze with ease!
It’s said to be the tightest squeeze in Yorkshire … but our ice-cool bus driver Wayne Moody proves you CAN drive a bus through it!
The Bolton Abbey stone arch measures just 9 feet 5 inches wide, with a headroom of only 10 feet 9 inches – and photos of Wayne calmly guiding his bus through the gap are now a viral sensation online, with over 6,000 likes and counting on Facebook.
The Bolton Abbey arch is part of our Dalesbus 74 route, which runs on Saturdays all year round from York, Harrogate, Otley and Ilkley to Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales.
As the route nears Bolton Abbey, it passes through the largest of three arches in an 18th century stone aqueduct wall, a grade II listed structure built in 1720 and one of the most photographed landmarks in the Yorkshire Dales.
York & Country driver Wayne takes it all in his stride – even nonchalantly leaning an elbow out of his cab window moments before passing through the gap with millimetres to spare – earning a round of applause from his passengers!
Wayne says:
“We drive through the Bolton Abbey arch six times every Saturday, and it certainly isn’t for the faint hearted.
“I know the area and that the arch is tight, but the first time driving a bus through there really was an experience. You have to take the right line, especially heading towards Grassington as the arch comes straight after a sharp bend in the road.
“You have to pull the driver mirror in to make sure you can get through, watching the mirror arm as you head through, then you push it back out and carefully drive through with an ice-cool elbow on show. If you scrape your elbow, you’re too close!”
All single journeys on the 74 route cost no more than £3, while West Yorkshire MCards loaded with weekly or longer season tickets are valid throughout.
More information on the 74 and other Dalesbus services, including our Sunday and Bank Holiday routes 825 from York and Harrogate to Brimham Rocks, Fountains Abbey, Leyburn and Richmond, and the 875 from York and Leeds and Ilkley to Hawes, is available online.