On Location at Ffordd Pen Llech – The Steepest Street in the World

Introduction:

Four years ago I was introduced to Gwyn Headley at a book launch in London.  I was there, along with John Barnard representing a survey team.  The book is entitled Dull Men of Great Britain and within its covers are all manner of weird and wonderful people celebrating the odd, unusual and darn right peculiar aspect of their hobbies and passions.  We appeared through our interest in surveying hills, whilst Gwyn appeared through his interest in follies.

About a year ago I was contacted by Sarah Badham via Facebook and also Gwyn via email.  Both asked if I could survey a street in Harlech.  The name of the street is Ffordd Pen Llech and it is one of the streets that connect the lower part of Harlech with the upper part which gives access to the World Heritage Site of Harlech Castle.

It was Gwyn who whilst driving down Ffordd Pen Llech, wondered how steep the street is and whether it is the steepest street in Britain, as it has a 40% gradient sign at the top that locals presumed had been rounded up by the County Council.  Online research led Gwyn to believe that Ffordd Pen Llech is in fact the steepest street in Britain, but what about further afield, as in, the world?    

The sign at the top of Ffordd Pen Llech

The organisation that documents and resides over such things is Guinness World Records (GWR) and they have recognised Baldwin Street in Dunedin in New Zealand with a 35% gradient as the steepest street in the world.  A quick look on Wikipedia and Gwyn realised that Ffordd Pen Llech is documented as being steeper.  He contacted Guinness World Records and this started a year long process of gathering all necessary documentation to submit a bid recognising Ffordd Pen Llech as the steepest street in the world.

Gwyn Headley and Sarah Badham are Co-Administrator’s behind this bid, with Gwyn an author of numerous books and a world expert on follies, whilst Sarah runs the Grwp Cymuned Harlech web page and the Ffordd Pen Llech Facebook page.  Both are residents of Harlech.

When I was contacted I jumped at the chance to be a part of this project and to survey Ffordd Pen Llech, and it has proved one of the best things I have been associated with; with the tranquil surrounds of my usual hill surveying being replaced by an extremely steep street that involved a whole community.

Prior to the 1^st survey of Ffordd Pen Llech:

Prior to the first survey of Ffordd Pen Llech I’d suggested to Gwyn this project may interest Ordnance Survey (OS).  Gwyn thought this a wonderful idea and therefore I contacted OS who informed me that they held data on the street.

Subsequently OS sent a detailed analysis of the street using road geometry from OSMM Highways January 2019 data.  The height data produced was from Terrain 05 ASCII data (tile SH53SE) dated 12 / 2016.  The OSMM Highways data was saved as a shapefile and loaded along with the Terrain 05 ASCII grid file into ArcMap 10.5.

The profile of the road was looked at via 3D Alanyst within ArcMap and digitised in a north / south direction.  It was then dissolved to create a single line which was split into 5 metre and 10 metre distance increments.

Interpolate Shape was used to attach the ASCII grid values to the individual 5 metre and 10 metre segments of the road line.  A Slope column was added and Python script used to populate this column with the percentage slope calculated for the particular segment.

Using this software resulted in Ffordd Pen Llech having a greater percentage gradient than the 35% of Baldwin Street in Dunedin in New Zealand, and thanks are given to Keegan and Eddie from OS for producing these data and sending them to us. 

Guinness World Records – Rules for Steepest Street

Through correspondence with GWR, Gwyn was in receipt of the rules that had to be met for a steepest street in the world bid to succeed; these rules are:

The street must be completed and open to the public.

The street must contain buildings running alongside the thoroughfare.

This record is open exclusively to permanent roads.  Temporary constructions erected for ad-hoc events or that have not been granted permission by the relevant planning authorities will therefore not be considered.

The record is measured by the highest gradient obtained over a 10 metre section of the street.

The measurement must be carried out by a qualified professional of a local road works department.  The department must supply a level surveyor report which includes the total gradient of the overall street length, the change in height / rise along the entire road, the rate at which it rises and any other facts (the number of houses, buildings, material used etc.) about the street.

Blueprints of the entire street must be submitted with an official statement from a relevant planning permission office verifying all blueprints submitted to Guinness World Records are accurate to the final build and have been granted permission.

High resolution images of the street from different elevations must be provided.

1^st survey of Ffordd Pen Llech:

With the nations mapping agency; Ordnance Survey, having produced detailed analysis of Ffordd Pen Llech and confirming its gradient as being steeper than that of Baldwin Street we were confident that the impending GNSS survey would confirm the OS’s findings.

Having driven to Gwyn’s house we continued to the top of Ffordd Pen Llech, arriving in the early hours of a chilled January morning for interviews with Chris Dearden from BBC Radio Wales before the first data set of the day was taken.  As part of the stipulation given by GWR is that the entire street should be surveyed, the Trimble GeoXH 6000 was set up on a tripod with its 2m pole at the uppermost central junction where Ffordd Pen Llech insects with Ffordd Isaf / Stryd Fawr which is the B4573.  Before the second data set was taken we retired to Gwyn’s house for a cup of tea as a media frenzy had been arranged for the official start of the survey at 11.00am.

(L-R) Chris Dearden and Gwyn Headley with the Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering its first data set at the top of Ffordd Pen Llech

By 11.00am a number of media outlets were waiting for proceedings to commence and as the Trimble beeped away gathering its all-important individual datum points at the bottom of Ffordd Pen Llech where it intersects with Hwylfar Nant, Gwyn and a number of volunteers continued up the road with a long tape measure, measuring the whole length of the street and marking with chalk important increments where it was hoped the Trimble could then be set-up beside.

The Trimble GeoXH 6000 gathering data at the bottom of Ffordd Pen Llech

One by one the Trimble data sets were gathered and stored and I continued toward the steepest section of the street, this has a dog-leg corner with a vertical vegetated cliff above it.  It also has a number of trees overhanging it, this when coupled with how steep the street is, as in; even set-up on a 2m pole the continuation of the road was above the antenna dish, meant that satellite reception may be compromised.  The cliff and tree coverage had been noted when in the preceding autumn I drove down Ffordd Pen Llech with my brother; the street was so steep that my car bottomed out twice.

Gathering data around the dog-leg corner

During the day I was conscious of the data produced by the OS and did not want to prompt any wild celebrations during any interviews that took place, therefore I had not told Gwyn of the result produced from OS analysis.  However, as the day progressed into late afternoon and the remainder of Ffordd Pen Llech was surveyed, the volunteers started to head home leaving just Gwyn and I to make our way back down the street to its steepest section to gather more Trimble data sets.

During this I sat with Gwyn on a near wall and told him the result produced by OS analysis.  He was overjoyed, as was I.

  

2^nd day on Ffordd Pen Llech:

Once home data were processed and although results from all data sets were obtained the sheer cliff, tree coverage and the steepness of the road had compromised data in the most important section; the steepest around the dog-leg corner.

A Survey Report was written and sent to Gwyn but as data were compromised on the steepest section, the results for this part of the street were not submitted.  However, data produced by the Trimble GeoXH 6000 survey substantiated that produced by OS, and with these two lots of results we were confident that the endorsement required by GWR from Gwynedd County Council would be forthcoming.  However, I wanted to revisit Ffordd Pen Llech and concentrate on the section of road leading up to and beyond the dog-leg corner and take readings with a basic levelling staff and compare these to OS data.

During the second day on Ffordd Pen Llech

Therefore, four days later we gathered again and spent a few hours taking readings and marking our measurements on the road with chalk.  During this a car pulled up, it was a journalist and camera man from Sky News.

We arranged to meet back on the street in an hour or so, had a quick cup of tea at Gwyn’s and headed back in to Harlech to meet up with Tom Parmenter and Andy Wilson from Sky News.

With the Sky News team, (L-R) Tom Parmenter reporter, Andy Wilson camera and Gwyn Headley Co-Administrator for the GWR bid

The publicity being generated by Gwyn’s initial enquiry to GWR and everything afterward was proving rather fun to say the least, and this proved unabated as the project progressed ever onward.

2^nd survey of Ffordd Pen Llech:

As the data for the steepest section of Ffordd Pen Llech had not been generated by an on-site survey Gwynedd County Council did not endorse the result.  Without Council endorsement Gwyn could not submit the bid to GWR. 

By this stage we were also aware of another stipulation laid down by GWR; that the surveyor should have the required qualifications, and as I am self-taught my role in this could now only be from the periphery.

The local Council then contacted a surveyor who they have dealt with in the past.  Wayne Evans is a self-employed surveyor who operates Trimble equipment and importantly met the qualification standard required, and we arranged to meet in Harlech for the second day of two that Wayne spent surveying Ffordd Pen Llech.

Wayne Evans gathering data during the second survey of Ffordd Pen Llech

Wayne set a total station in place and proceeded to take further measurements on Ffordd Pen Llech.  These progressed down the street and for the steepest section relative measurements against data produced by the total station were taken.

This was the first time I’d been present during this form of survey, and I joined Wayne in the morning on a wet and wind-blown day in early June; leaving our cars we were both donned in full wet proof gear and headed down the street to where Wayne had marked his last survey point from the previous day with a surveyors nail embedded in the tarmac of the road.  These positions were spray painted and marked in numerical order.

Wayne Evans gathering data during the second day of the second survey of Ffordd Pen Llech

As the equipment was re-positioned I chatted with Wayne and took a series of photographs as data were taken from numerous positions on the road.  We continued down to where the last surveyors nail was embedded in the tarmac below the steepest section where the road levels off.  All that remained was the plod back up the road to our awaiting cars and for Wayne to process all accumulated data.

The Result:

The data Wayne gathered was duly processed and the result produced gave Ffordd Pen Llech a gradient of 37.45% over its steepest 10 metre section.  This is steeper than the 35% gradient recognised by GWL for Baldwin Street in New Zealand.  It looked as if a new world record was in the making. 

Guinness World Records verification:

The result Wayne Evans and his Trimble produced was duly endorsed by Gwynedd County Council, and with this important last bit of documentation Gwyn gathered all necessary information and submitted the bid to GWR.

A few days later and GWR contacted Gwyn informing him that Ffordd Pen Llech with a 37.45% gradient over its steepest 10 metre section was now recognised as the steepest street in the world.  Gwyn then informed Sarah and me and we all kept our lips sealed until the embargoed date of Tuesday 16^th July that GWR stipulated.

Guinness World Records videography:

GWR wanted film and photos taken on Ffordd Pen Llech with Gwyn and Sarah, I was invited to be present and we met in Harlech in mid-July. 

The weather forecast for the day was good and as I sat on a seat waiting in the morning sunshine all seemed good in this part of the world.  Harlech Castle looked positively wonderful, the sea and mountains were beckoning, the blue sky welcoming and Andrew Davies’ (the videographer employed by GWR) drone was flying high in the sky taking footage of this beautiful part of Wales, and Ffordd Pen Llech had done it; it was now recognised as the steepest street in the world by GWR, although it couldn’t be announced just yet.

I sat with Harlech Castle as backdrop close to Ffordd Pen Llech as it wound its way through the upper part of Harlech.  Gwyn soon arrived, closely followed by Sarah who had a large framed certificate just received from GWR and still in its padded envelope.

Gwyn and Sarah with the Guinness World Records certificate recognising Ffordd Pen Llech as the steepest street in the world

Before meeting Andrew we all gathered and a large banner was unveiled and the customary photos were taken with this and the framed GWR certificate.

(L-R) Gerry Brookes (Seasons & Reasons [S&R]), Glyn Roberts (Castle Cottage Restaurant), Janice Brookes (S&R), Julie Brookes (S&R), Myrddyn Phillips (Surveyor), Sarah Badham (Co-Administrator for GWR bid), Myfanwy Jones (Ffordd Pen Llech resident) and Gwyn Headley (Co-Administrator for the GWR bid)

The next few hours were spent with Andrew as he filmed and interviewed various people, with Gwyn and Sarah taking centre stage.

Guinness World Records announcement:

The announcement that Ffordd Pen Llech is now recognised as the steepest street in the world was made on the Guinness World Records website at midnight on Tuesday 16^th July. 

The publicity this generated was incredible with Gwyn and Sarah spending much of the following day being interviewed by international, national and local radio, television and newspapers; with coverage further afield including mainland Europe and America through the Associated Press.

The Guinness World Records certificate

But what of Baldwin Street in Dunedin in New Zealand, this street is exceptional with its design similar to that of a ski jump rather than a street.  It held the accolade of the steepest street in the world for a number of years, and it remains exceptional and hopefully the tourists that this accolade had attracted will keep visiting it, as it remains as it always has, other than an unassuming 1,000 year old street in Harlech in north Wales is now recognised as being a little bit steeper.

The day after the announcement the BBC contacted Gwyn with the news that the story of Ffordd Pen Llech had been the most viewed on their website during the day and by 3.30pm had received 1,500,000 page views; not bad for a narrow little street in Harlech! 


The official video produced for Guinness Word Records appears below: 

My thanks to Gwyn Headley and Sarah Badham for inviting me to originally survey Ffordd Pen Llech., it’s been a privilege being a part of this and I’ve enjoyed every minute.

Myrddyn Phillips (July 2019)