Game: Name that road!

[ColinJ]

Somebody should from those cobbles !!!

There are still a lot of cobbles oop north if you know where to look!

The ultra-steep Buttress climb in Hebden Bridge is a classic example...

I thought this rider was going to die before the top!

 

[shnjmsn]

That's completely insane Colin, I've never seen anything like it !!!!!!!!

 

[snorri]

Here is my next one.

The Devils Elbow.


I jest.

 

[Venod]

Is that the path up to Hepstenstall ? it's hard enough walking.
The graveyard at the finish was a bit cruel.

 

[ColinJ]

Is that the path up to Hepstenstall ? it's hard enough walking.
The graveyard at the finish was a bit cruel.

The Buttress - yes! It only goes halfway up to the village (Heptonstall), then you have to join the road.

Believe it or not. I encountered an idiot trying to drive his 4x4 up there once. He managed to get it as far as the graveyard but couldn't do the last narrow bit. He sat there looking baffled! I'm not sure if it was caused by engaging his Satnav or just disengaging his brain...

 

[figbat]

There's a tempting-looking hill called Gramp's Hill dropping down to Letcombe Bassett, and one day I varied things by plunging down that without touching the brakes. I survived all these adventures.

Sorry to interject but I was passing there today - memory lane for you (Gramp’s Hill looking north from the Ridgeway crossing). I’ve done it myself - one time in the dark a badger ran out from the left and passed between me and the guy following me... at speed. Lucky miss that night.

Sorry, as you were...

 

[ColinJ]

That's completely insane Colin, I've never seen anything like it !!!!!!!!

Believe it or not, Sustrans decided that it was suitable to be part of NCN 68... I have never tried to ride up it, but did try riding DOWN once and almost broke my neck - I chickened out, braked, and went over the front of the bike! (Fortunately, I managed to grab the handrail as I fell, so I escaped injury...)

Anyway, does anybody have any ideas about the ID of my last road?

I'll post a clue tomorrow if nobody gets it before then.

 

[shnjmsn]

Clues needed at this stage I think Col !

 

[Aravis]

Anyway, does anybody have any ideas about the ID of my last road?

I'll post a clue tomorrow if nobody gets it before then.

I don't know it; I think anyone who'd been there would probably recognise it.

It looks as though there may be a more major road above the wall on the left, which the road in the foreground is about to join. The shadows are very short so it's probably close to the middle of the day and therefore we're looking approximately south-west. It looks like millstone grit rather than limestone, so probably southern Dales, local to you perhaps?

If these inferences are accurate there's enough to start hunting on a map, but there are other things I should be doing today first!

 

[ColinJ]

Yes, looking SW!

The road above is a continuation of the same one. It has a double hairpin s-bend. It is shown as 2 right-angled bends on the OS Landranger map, but correctly on the Explorer map.

My hint was going to be that the climb had been used for the National Hill Climb championship but I just checked and discovered that it was actually an even more severe climb up from the same village. The road in the photo IS used for a hill climb race every year and I am fairly sure that has been won by the then current national champion.

The exciting news is that I just realised that the other climb is one that I have never tackled! I think I will delay giving it a go until I am much fitter though. I have a triple chainset on my best bike so I am sure I could get up the climb but it would involve some serious grovelling - it averages 16% for the first 300 metres, has a maximum gradient of 20%, and averages nearly 12% for 1.6 km.

 

[ColinJ]

Oh, and yes.. It is between Halifax and Todmorden!

 

[Aravis]

OK, I'd've been struggling without all the clues. That is Stocks Lane, north of Luddenden.

I've found another in my archives, completely different to anything I've posted before, but I'll observe protocol and wait to be asked.

 

[ColinJ]

OK, I'd've been struggling without all the clues. That is Stocks Lane, north of Luddenden.

I've found another in my archives, completely different to anything I've posted before, but I'll observe protocol and wait to be asked.

Correct!

It is a tough climb, but not stupidly tough. The other one I mentioned is Halifax Lane. I used Streetview to do a virtual climb of it and it looks very hard, but worth the effort. I'll give it a go in the autumn, all being well.

Over to you for the next one...

 

[ColinJ]

I found this video of the hill climb, mainly shot on that bend. The cobbles have been covered over since the Streetview car went up in 2009. It is humbling to see how fast the riders go up there - it is steeper than it looks and reduces me to a crawl!



PS I think the rider at 2:22 could have done with more warning about the car coming down!

 

[Aravis]

This is from a UK cycle tour some 35 years ago:

The hill was very steep and my bottom gear would've been something like 36/30 - so there was an "opportunity" to stop and look at the view! It'll probably be useful if I say I was looking approximately north-west.