‘You whack the car into first gear, put your foot down and hope nobody is coming down’: Neighbours on England’s steepest street have to tie their vehicles to lampposts to stop them rolling down the 22-degree slope
- Bristol’s Vale Street named England’s steepest street with 22-degree slope
- Top five are in Bristol, Worcestershire, Sheffield, Lincoln and Dorset
- A 22-degree slope is the same as the average advanced intermediate ski run
England’s steepest street has such a dramatic incline that in icy weather cars have to be tied to lampposts to stop them rolling away.
Mapping organisation Ordnance Survey has named England’s top five steepest streets with Vale Street in Bristol claiming the top spot.
With a 22 degree slope the residential road is at the same angle as the average advanced intermediate ski run.
Easter Sunday Easter egg roll on Vale Street Totterdown, Bristol. Totterdown’s annual Easter egg roll, sees Bristolians go head-to-head on Easter Sunday to try to roll an egg down the street the furthest before it breaks
Mapping organisation Ordnance Survey has named England’s top five steepest streets with Vale Street in Bristol claiming the top spot
Cars park horizontally across the road to ensure the vehicles don’t roll. The street is so steep the cars cannot be parked along the pavement in case the handbrake fails
While those who have to walk up and down the slope daily complain of sore legs the road has become a popular challenge for cyclists.
And there is even an annual egg rolling challenge down the hill – with the speediest egg crowned the winner.
While those who have to walk up and down the slope daily complain of sore legs the road has become a popular challenge for cyclists
With a 22 degree slope the residential road is at the same angle as the average advanced intermediate ski run
It has been featured on the dangerous roads website which displays spectacular streets around the world as residents say they ‘whack the car in to first gear and hope nobody is coming down’ in order to drive up the slope.
Julie Wheat has lived on the street and driven up it for more than two decades – and has even seen men trying to ski down.
She said: ‘You whack in to first gear, put your foot down and hope nobody is coming down because once you have started, you just have to keep going.
The second steepest road, Old Wyche Road, Worcestershire, is four degrees less steep than Vale Street in Bristol at 16
Blake Street in Sheffield is 16.6 degrees steep, third steepest, and featured in the 1997 film The Full Monty, where the striptease act members walk up the hill in search of a choreographer
Steep Hill in Lincoln leads through the centre of the city and up 16.12 degrees towards the castle and cathedral which sit at the top of the hill. It was built by the Romans to connect the city. It is fourth steepest
Gold Hill in Dorset, fifth steepest, features picturesque cottages and a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside as the street winds up 16.09 degrees towards Shaftesbury High Street
If anyone is coming down the road, they will normally pull in and let you carry on, because trying to do a hill start on that is really difficult.’
Matt Gorensaid moved to England’s steepest street from the Netherlands and described the experience as ‘quite a novelty’.
He said: ‘I’m Dutch, so for me it was quite a novelty to come and live on England’s steepest street.’
‘I walk up just like a mountaineer, with a slow pace – that’s the only way to do it really.’
The Bristol hill is four degrees steeper than Olde Wyche Road in Worcestershire and followed by roads in Sheffield, Lincoln and Dorset.