N/A - Scary Roads in UK

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Thu 6 Jul 2023 20:55
N/A - Scary Roads in UK - brambobb

We were visiting Reeth in the Yorkshire Dales this week and noticed a minor road signposted to the village of High Fremingtpn which looked as if it had just been resurfaced. As I enjoy seeking out these byways I decided to go up it, particularly as I had always noticed a single house perched two thirds of the way up the fell which I was curious to see at close hand..

It turned out to be quite an experience even though it was only just over a mile before the road petered out it a hill track over the top of the moor.

First of all it was extremely steep but it was also very narrow with a couple of sharp bends between stone walls. As we got up on the moor there was a gate with a warning sign against proceeding beyond the surfaced part of the road. The strangest part of all however was that there were three steep humps which made the road ahead completely blind as you climbed them, with only the sky being visible. Eventually at the end of the surfaced part we were actually above the house referred to earlier. Finally there was a very small turning area at the end, with a very rough track ascending to the top of and over the hill.

A very unusual experience but I will walk it next time?

Does anyone have a similar experience on a road on which they have travelled?

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Thu 6 Jul 2023 22:08
N/A - Scary Roads in UK - Bromptonaut

Odd bits on the Hebrides like beyond the Bridge to Nowhere.

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Fri 7 Jul 2023 08:03
N/A - Scary Roads in UK - Steveieb

Holm Moss near Huddersfield.

After a long journey back fro St Andrews my father took the short cut over the hills near the TV transmitter.

Thick fog and crumbling edges on the mountain roads in a Ford Popular E93 with one vacuum powered wiper and three gears and no syncro on first !

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Fri 7 Jul 2023 09:28
N/A - Scary Roads in UK - Andrew-T

Back probably in 1965, driving my Morris 1100 on a back road in the Rockies foothills (not in the UK !) covered in plenty of loose gravel. Car began to snake a bit, so I took foot off with result that I was driving in my own dust cloud. Ended up going down a 6-foot bank, luckily without any damage or rolling.

Five minutes later a tow truck came along and hauled us out for nothing. If that hadn't happened we might have been there for hours, in bear country .....

Edited by Andrew-T on 07/07/2023 at 09:30

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Fri 7 Jul 2023 09:59
N/A - Scary Roads in UK - daveyjp

Once you get off the main tourist routes Scotland offers many opportunities to think you have made the wrong decision!

The road to Ardnamurchan, the trip to the American Monument on Islay and the eastern route on Mull of Kintyre are three which spring to mind. Driving on most of Mull is also a lottery as despite its size the vast majority of roads are single track.

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Fri 7 Jul 2023 10:30
N/A - Scary Roads in UK - movilogo

For me, definition of scary road is where it is single track and there is a tractor coming from opposite direction and you have no idea how far you have to reverse.

Outside of UK (even inside Europe) there are many scary roads one notable being Sa Calobra in Majorca.

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Fri 7 Jul 2023 12:12
N/A - Scary Roads in UK - bathtub tom

notable being Sa Calobra in Majorca.

That used to be my favourite before the hoards of cyclists discovered it. Coaches negotiate it well.

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Fri 7 Jul 2023 15:26
N/A - Scary Roads in UK - Sparrow

I'd second the road out to the end of Mull of Kintyre. We stayed overnight at the end and there was thick fog in the morning. The drive back to civilisation was one of the trickier I remember. The steep up and down of the Pass of the Cattle to Applecross was relatively easy in comparison, tho that was murky at the top.

There were a few interesting deviations off The Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland, but that's another story

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Fri 7 Jul 2023 18:37
N/A - Scary Roads in UK - ExA35Owner

Hard KNott in the Lake District (without a handbrake....) Those were the days!

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Fri 7 Jul 2023 19:46
N/A - Scary Roads in UK - sammy1

Their must be a hill in the UK that holds the record for burnt out clutches, now that is a nightmare. Porlock Hill in Somerset takes some beating but there are plenty of others. I can remember having to help push a mini bus up a steep hill here in Wales, it drove fine everywhere else but could not manage this one! Scary when you are the driver and even more nerve racking having to stop half way with a handbrake on its last notch. Old cars eh!

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Fri 7 Jul 2023 19:57
N/A - Scary Roads in UK - John F

Scariest roads for me are congested English motorways on dark rainy mornings/evenings. Hardknott (and Wrynose) passes are a funseeker's doddle by comparison.

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Fri 7 Jul 2023 20:48
N/A - Scary Roads in UK - brambobb

Thanks for the replies. No new ones in the North of England that I haven't attempted before unfortunately. I agree about the roads around the Mull of Kintyre but the scenery there is just fantastic.

I mentioned Reeth in the Yorkshire Dales in my previous post and there are some pretty hairy roads in general around there, particularly the hill road to Askrigg and especially the old drovers road from Newbiggin (near Askrigg) which joins the "main road" just to the east of Muker.

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Sun 9 Jul 2023 08:07
N/A - Scary Roads in UK - barney100

Anywhere on Malta, I asked which side of the road they drove..answer, they drive in the shade.

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