18 WHERE TO DRIVE Snake Pass


The Snake Pass


In the first of a new series, Driving highlights one of the UK’s most challenging – and most rewarding – driving roads, the A57 from Sheffield to Glossop.


Glossop


Peak District National Park


A57 Sheffield


between Sheffield and Manchester to be closed because of heavy snow. There are also areas where the road surface has very poor skid resistance and a number of the bends have adverse camber (where the road tilts on the same side that a vehicle leans to on a road – i.e. on a right hand bend, instead of the road sloping down from the left to right, it’s the other way around). It’s a fascinating road to drive but, like


Although the term ‘driving road’ harks back to the early days of motoring, the concept is equally valid today. A driving road is one that challenges


the driver, forces you to sit up and take notice, feel at one with the car, quickens the heart rate and makes you realise what cars are built for. With increasingly congested roads, we need to appreciate these roads for what they are – the last bastion of driving pleasure. The Snake Pass in the Peak District is


one such road. A 25-mile section of the A57 running through the Peak District, the Snake Pass links the Steel City of Sheffield with Glossop in Derbyshire. At its highest point, the road reaches an elevation of 512m (1,680 ft) above sea level and from much of the road there are spectacular views of one of the UK’s most striking areas of outstanding natural beauty. As you’d expect from the nomenclature, the road does tend to take on a winding form: however, the name actually derives from the emblem of the Snake Inn, one of the few buildings on the high stretch of road. The pub’s name


and sign was taken from the serpent on the coat of arms of the Cavendish family that holds the title of the Duke of Devonshire. (The family seat is Chatsworth House, just under 10 miles south of the A57, immortalised in the famous BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, when Colin Firth emerged dripping wet from the lake.) The road was first built as a toll road in


1820 as the most direct route between Sheffield and Manchester – a role that has now been superseded by the more northerly (and less interesting) route of the Woodhead Pass, which isn’t as steep and runs at a lower altitude. The really interesting section of the


Snake Pass is between Glossop and the Ladybower reservoir, where the road passes over the high ground between the moorland plateaux of Kinder Scout and Bleaklow. In common with more challenging driving roads, it has a tendency to punish drivers who lose their heads and allow their ambition to get the better of their talent – which means that it has a poor accident record. It is particularly treacherous in winter, when it is often the first of the available routes


many of the routes we’ll look at in the future, drivers will get more out of it if they avoid times when the road is likely to be busy: there’s nothing more frustrating than having a great road to drive, then getting stuck behind a slow-moving articulated lorry or tractor. However, given the chance of a clear


run at dawn on a summer’s morning, the Snake Pass has almost every kind of feature that you could wish to experience: there are variations in elevation across its length, so it rises and falls at various stages; sweeping left- and right-handed bends test your car’s handling; and cambers that vary in angle to keep you on your toes. Throw in the stunning landscape of the Peak District and you’ll be in driving clover. A word of caution, though: the speed


limit is restricted to 50mph along its length and it’s easy to get wrapped up in the technical challenges of the road and forget to check your speed. The good thing is that you don’t have


to exceed the limit to get something out of the Snake Pass: indeed, unless you know the road like the back of your hand and have a highly accomplished car, if you go any faster you’re likely to come a cropper. And if you go too fast, all that wonderful scenery goes by in too much of a blur. Which is a real waste.


driving | April / May 2011


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