National Trust's silliest walks

The National Trust has published a list of the top ten ‘silly walks’ in Britain including Kiss me Arse Steps, Cock-Up Bridge and Scrubby Bottoms. The list, released on April Fool’s Day, sounds like a joke with names like Scratch Arse Ware, Slapper’s Rock and Pisser Clough. But all the walks are real, having been given the rather unusual names in less squeamish times or before the words became rude. For example Booby’s Bay in Cornwall is named after a seabird found in the area that is closely related to the gannet.

Kiss me Arse Steps also in Cornwall is believed to have been coined from the steep steps which on ascending would result in the person in front you having their posterior close to your face, though there is no such clear explanation for Scratch Arse Ware in Dorset. The nostrils on the Isle of Wight look like a dragon’s nose, Srubby Bottoms in Pembrokeshire is at the bottom of a valley and Windy Gap in Surrey is well, a windy gap between the hills where walkers can see for miles.



Paul Cavill, a former researcher at the English Place-Name Society, said the names of walks can still tell people a lot about the landscape. Although he warned that Snoring in Norfolk is not necessarily a sleepy place and Nasty in Hertfordshire is not a comment on the living conditions.

The ten walks are:

Booby’s Bay, Cornwall
Windy Gap, Leith Hill, Surrey
Great Wood, Walla Crag, Cumbria
Slapper's Rock, North Helford, Cornwall
Kiss me Arse Steps, Lansallos, Cornwall
Scratch Arse Ware, Dancing Ledge, Dorset
Cock-Up Bridge, Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire
Pisser Clough, Hardcastle Crags, Yorkshire
The Nostrils, Isle of Wight
Scrubby Bottoms, Pembrokeshire