Many learners can become nervous when it comes to undertaking hill starts. The fear of rolling back and hitting into another car is one that people struggle to overcome even if they have been driving for several years. Some roads are worse than your standard hill in town.
Here are the steepest roads in the UK that would make for a horrible yet incredibly skilled hill start.
Shaftesbury, Dorset
Gold Hill in Dorset is one of the steeper hills in the UK at 16.09º and is a cobbled road located in the quaint town. The road is steeped in nostalgia and is even featured in a Hovis TV advert. To try and do a hill start on this road would be incredibly intense, and you would need to be a master of clutch control to stop yourself from rolling back.
Lincoln
Steep Hill in Lincoln has a gradient of 16.12º gradient and is located in Lincoln’s Medieval Centre. Even walking up this hill is a tricky feat, with many people having to stop halfway up just to catch their breath. Performing a hill start on Steep Hill would be a challenging task, but it can be done. Whilst driving or walking up the hill is a struggle, getting down is much easier thanks to the 100m waterslides that they have installed there. Don’t worry though – we won’t make you drive up this hill if you are taking driving lessons in Lincoln!
Sheffield
Sheffield has several steep hills, but its steepest has a whopping 16.6° gradient – Blake Street. Another steep hill road in Sheffield is Jenkins Road with an 11.02° gradient. When having your driving lessons in Sheffield, you’ll need to master clutch control as you would not want to roll back on one of these hills. Blake Street has also featured on-screen in The Full Monty, where the character walks up the hill to find a choreographer.
Great Malvern, Worcestershire
In Great Malvern, there is an impressive hill road with a huge 17.54º gradient. This Worcestershire town overlooks the seaside also sits alongside the Malvern Hills. The Old Wyche Road may provide great views, but due to the steepness of the slope, you need to make sure you have a working handbrake and a good ability to control the clutch when encountering traffic on the hill.
Bristol
Bristol tops the list for the steepest hill start in England with a near 22º gradient. This should not be taken lightly on Vale street, even for the most experienced driver. Residents have even had to abandon their cars in the past when there has been heavy snowfall, as it is too dangerous to drive in the snow on this hill.
Whilst you are unlikely to face any hills of this magnitude on your driving test, you may encounter it at some point in your driving life. As a result, it is always best to practise a hill start to make sure you don’t panic if you are put in the situation. For more information on the steepest hills in England and how they calculate the gradients, you can visit the BBC’s article here.
