Highest Tarmac

Every Christmas the club I ride with rides to the highest local road. This is the private road to
the surge pool of the Marchlyn Mawr Pump Storage Scheme on Elidir Fawr in Gwynedd. It is a bit over
2000 feet. I have been trying to track down the highest tarmac in Britain. My candidate is the road
to the radar mast on Great Dunn Fell. I cannot find out how high the tarmac goes on this road. Can
anyone help? If it goes to the top it must be at about 2780 feet. (848 metres) Mike Sales

 

"Mike Sales" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Every Christmas the club I ride with rides to the highest local road. This is the private road
> to the surge pool of the Marchlyn Mawr Pump Storage Scheme on Elidir Fawr in Gwynedd. It is a
> bit over 2000 feet. I have been trying to track down the highest tarmac in Britain. My
> candidate is the
road
> to the radar mast on Great Dunn Fell. I cannot find out how high the
tarmac
> goes on this road. Can anyone help? If it goes to the top it must be at about 2780 feet. (848
> metres) Mike Sales
>
>

Pro-Cycling had an article on the road to Applecross in Scotland, the writer said it was the
highest road in the UK. The following week a reader wrote in and said he was wrong and I think
it was stated that the road up to "The Lecht" in the Grampians was the highest. Can anyone
confirm this ?

Graham

 

"Graham" wrote in message > Pro-Cycling had an article on the road to Applecross in Scotland, the
> writer said it was the highest road in the UK. The following week a reader wrote in and said he
> was wrong and I think it was stated that the road up
to
> "The Lecht" in the Grampians was the highest. Can anyone confirm this ?
>
I was distinguishing between highest public road and highest road. I think that the Marchlyn Mawr
road is higher than the Applecross road. Is the Lecht road a private road? Mike Sales

 

In the Guinness Book of Records (1997) it says the highest road is a private lane leading to the
summit of Great Dun Fell, Cumbria, at 847m. The highest classified road is the A93 at the
Cairnwell Pass.

--
Pauline

 

"Alan" wrote in message "Mike Sales" wrote in message

> > Every Christmas the club I ride with rides to the highest local road.
This
> > is the private road to the surge pool of the Marchlyn Mawr Pump Storage Scheme on Elidir Fawr in
> > Gwynedd. It is a bit over 2000 feet. I have
been
> > trying to track down the highest tarmac in Britain. My candidate is the
> road
> > to the radar mast on Great Dunn Fell. I cannot find out how high the
> tarmac
> > goes on this road. Can anyone help? If it goes to the top it must be at about 2780 feet. (848
> > metres) Mike Sales
>
>
> Having consulted my Memory Map software and the relevant OS maps within it
> ( Iknew there was a reason I bought it!) here's some information to throw into the debate, along
> with relevant grid references.
>
> Lecht Ski Centre NJ 25190 11920 2117ft
>
> Elidir Fawr SH 61330 61965 2100ft
>
> Great Dunn NY 68535 28805 992 ft (where road changes from
"C"
> to track) NY 71030 32160 2768ft (track ends at mast)
>
> Bwlch Y Groes SH 91310 23260 1786ft ( A tiddler)
>
> I been past the Lecht Ski centre on the main road in June and it was
pretty
> remote even then - I would hate to try it on a bike in January!
>
> Cheers
>
> Alan
Thanks for your help. Your GR for Elidir Fawr seems to be for the road by the dam of the top lake.
This christmas we went to the surge pond instead, as it seems to be a bit higher, GR SH 601 609. It
seems that if the Great Dunn Fell road is tarmaced, it is the highest. But is it tarmaced? If not,
probably there are other very high unmetalled roads. To make the quest easier and the definition
clearer, I am sticking to tarmac as a qualification for roadhood. The annual ride up to Elidir Fawr
is not always successful. One year we had to walk up hard icy snow to reach the gate onto the
private road. Since we did not have axes and crampons we went no further. Mike Sales

 

The message <[email protected]> from "Mike Sales"
<[email protected]> contains these words:

> "Graham" wrote in message > Pro-Cycling had an article on the road to Applecross in Scotland, the
> > writer said it was the highest road in the UK. The following week a reader wrote in and said he
> > was wrong and I think it was stated that the road up
> to
> > "The Lecht" in the Grampians was the highest. Can anyone confirm this ?
> >
> I was distinguishing between highest public road and highest road. I think that the Marchlyn Mawr
> road is higher than the Applecross road. Is the Lecht road a private road?

The Lecht (Cockbridge - Tomintoul) is very much a public road (the A939 no less).

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email protected] Edgware.

 

I did three high roads on my summer tour of Scotland this year.

The first was the Bealach Na Ba on Applecross, which goes above 620m. I've heard that it is the
highest pass in the UK . I went east from Applecross village, which meant going down the steepest
side. It was a hot day and I got a flat coming down when my front rim-tape melted.

The second was as far up Cairngorm as the road went. This is about 640m, but you have to come down
the same way so it doesn't count as a pass. There is a track marked on the map going higher up, but
I couldn't access it.

The last was the Lecht, which comes down from the Cairngorms into the Don valley. This goes to
around 620m (as far as I can tell from the map). At the top I went for a trip on the chairlift. It's
very steep going down to Cock Bridge, and the cafe and woolmill shop at the bottom sells nice cakes
and cold beers.

Applecross was by far the hardest climb because I started around sea level. The Bealach Na Ba isn't
particularly pretty, and there was quite a lot of traffic. The road round the North of the peninsula
is fantastic, though. It's a quiet singletrack with amazing views and beaches and it's so hilly that
I hardly used my middle chainring. Watch out for the big cows on the road though.

None of these are near 800m though.

Happy climbing, Bruce

Applecross: http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?X=170000&Y=845000&width=700&height=400&client=pu-
blic&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=gb&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&scale=100000&advanced=&multimap.x=62-
9&multimap.y=286

Cairngorm: http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?X=305000&Y=805000&width=700&height=410&client=pub-
lic&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=gb&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&scale=100000&advanced=&multimap.x=116-
&multimap.y=166

The Lecht: http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?X=325000&Y=810000&width=700&height=400&client=pub-
lic&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=gb&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&scale=100000&advanced=&multimap.x=335-
&multimap.y=71

"Mike Sales" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Every Christmas the club I ride with rides to the highest local road. This is the private road to
> the surge pool of the Marchlyn Mawr Pump Storage Scheme on Elidir Fawr in Gwynedd. It is a bit
> over 2000 feet. I have been trying to track down the highest tarmac in Britain. My candidate is
> the road to the radar mast on Great Dunn Fell. I cannot find out how high the tarmac goes on this
> road. Can anyone help? If it goes to the top it must be at about 2780 feet. (848 metres)

 

"Mike Sales" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Every Christmas the club I ride with rides to the highest local road. This is the private road
> to the surge pool of the Marchlyn Mawr Pump Storage Scheme on Elidir Fawr in Gwynedd. It is a
> bit over 2000 feet. I have been trying to track down the highest tarmac in Britain. My
> candidate is the
road
> to the radar mast on Great Dunn Fell. I cannot find out how high the
tarmac
> goes on this road. Can anyone help? If it goes to the top it must be at about 2780 feet. (848
> metres) Mike Sales

Having consulted my Memory Map software and the relevant OS maps within it
( Iknew there was a reason I bought it!) here's some information to throw into the debate, along
with relevant grid references.

Lecht Ski Centre NJ 25190 11920 2117ft

Elidir Fawr SH 61330 61965 2100ft

Great Dunn NY 68535 28805 992 ft (where road changes from "C" to track) NY 71030 32160 2768ft (track
ends at mast)

Bwlch Y Groes SH 91310 23260 1786ft ( A tiddler)

I been past the Lecht Ski centre on the main road in June and it was pretty remote even then - I
would hate to try it on a bike in January!

Cheers

Alan

 

"Bruce McAdam" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I did three high roads on my summer tour of Scotland this year.
>
> The first was the Bealach Na Ba on Applecross, which goes above 620m. I've heard that it is the
> highest pass in the UK . I went east from Applecross village, which meant going down the steepest
> side. It was a hot day and I got a flat coming down when my front rim-tape melted.

Rim tape melted !!!! You mean you were not using "Velox" cloth tape ?

Graham
>
> The second was as far up Cairngorm as the road went. This is about 640m, but you have to come down
> the same way so it doesn't count as a pass. There is a track marked on the map going higher up,
> but I couldn't access it.
>
> The last was the Lecht, which comes down from the Cairngorms into the Don valley. This goes to
> around 620m (as far as I can tell from the map). At the top I went for a trip on the chairlift.
> It's very steep going down to Cock Bridge, and the cafe and woolmill shop at the bottom sells nice
> cakes and cold beers.
>
> Applecross was by far the hardest climb because I started around sea level. The Bealach Na Ba
> isn't particularly pretty, and there was quite a lot of traffic. The road round the North of the
> peninsula is fantastic, though. It's a quiet singletrack with amazing views and beaches and it's
> so hilly that I hardly used my middle chainring. Watch out for the big cows on the road though.
>
> None of these are near 800m though.
>
>
> Happy climbing, Bruce
>
>
> Applecross:
>
http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?X=170000&Y=845000&width=700&height=40
&client=public&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=gb&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&sc
ale=100000&advanced=&multimap.x=629&multimap.y=286
>
> Cairngorm:
>
http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?X=305000&Y=805000&width=700&height=41
&client=public&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=gb&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&sc
ale=100000&advanced=&multimap.x=116&multimap.y=166
>
> The Lecht:
>
http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?X=325000&Y=810000&width=700&height=40
&client=public&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=gb&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&sc
ale=100000&advanced=&multimap.x=335&multimap.y=71
>
> "Mike Sales" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > Every Christmas the club I ride with rides to the highest local road.
This
> > is the private road to the surge pool of the Marchlyn Mawr Pump Storage Scheme on Elidir Fawr in
> > Gwynedd. It is a bit over 2000 feet. I have
been
> > trying to track down the highest tarmac in Britain. My candidate is the
road
> > to the radar mast on Great Dunn Fell. I cannot find out how high the
tarmac
> > goes on this road. Can anyone help? If it goes to the top it must be at about 2780 feet. (848
> > metres)

 

"Just zis Guy, you know?"wrote in message
>is the private road to the surge pool of the Marchlyn Mawr Pump Storage
> >Scheme on Elidir Fawr in Gwynedd.
>
> I didn't know you could ride up there - I've only been up there on the tour with the family. Have
> you been inside the power station itself? Incredible! But I am an electrical engineer, so maybe
> slightly biased
>
>
> Guy
You can, but you may not. You have to lift your bike over a locked gate. Mike Sales.

 

"Pauline Dennis" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In the Guinness Book of Records (1997) it says the highest road is a
private
> lane leading to the summit of Great Dun Fell, Cumbria, at 847m. The highest classified road is the
> A93 at the Cairnwell Pass.

Cairnwell Pass (if Devil's elbow) shows at 2237 ft here NO 14100 77490

Alan

 

You can view a pro-shot, quicktime movie of the Hill Climb organised by Energy Cycles, Llanberis on
29th June 2002. The course was from the shores of Llyn Padarn to the Surge Pond via the steep minor
road through Fachwen.

The event was won by the Clwb Rasio Mona boys in something like 29 min, i think i crawled up at
arround 39 min. Look for a yellow bike getting passed - thats me Other highlights include good
views of the whole route and nice scenery. It will give you a good idea of what this rather nice
piece of tarmac is like (in summer)

The event was filmed by Local adventure cameraman Alun Hughes, and can be viewed on his site
http://www.snowdoniatv.com (look in the 'events' section) lots of other goodies there, mostly hard
rock climbing, paragliding but also a short bit about Mountain Biking. A Broadband connection is
usefull to view these, it took about 30 mins to download the clip on my poor modem.

Also, the Surge Pond has its very own web cam. You can see what the weather is like anytime by
looking at http://www.fhc.co.uk/weather/live/ The views of Snowdon and Moel Eilio from Elidir Fach
are taken from the Surge Pond which is where the road terminates.

I have also ridden the Lecht, clocked 100kph coming down towards Tomintoul thanks to a fully laden
tandem and baby smooth tarmac. My favourite is the Bealach Na Ba. It was quiet and spectacular and
we had a close up view of a Golden Eagle as he flew alongside for a few magic moments,
unforgettable. This was about halfway along the northern road out of Applecross.

Not been to Great Dunn Fell, but its on my list. Where would the group suggest as a base for
ridding the GDF?

 

You can view a pro-shot, quicktime movie of the Hill Climb organised by Energy Cycles, Llanberis on
29th June 2002. The course was from the shores of Llyn Padarn to the Surge Pond via the steep minor
road through Fachwen.

The event was won by the Clwb Rasio Mona boys in something like 29 min, i think i crawled up at
arround 39 min. Look for a yellow bike getting passed - thats me Other highlights include good
views of the whole route and nice scenery. It will give you a good idea of what this rather nice
piece of tarmac is like (in summer)

The event was filmed by Local adventure cameraman Alun Hughes, and can be viewed on his site
http://www.snowdoniatv.com (look in the 'events' section) lots of other goodies there, mostly hard
rock climbing, paragliding but also a short bit about Mountain Biking. A Broadband connection is
usefull to view these, it took about 30 mins to download the clip on my poor modem.

Also, the Surge Pond has its very own web cam. You can see what the weather is like anytime by
looking at http://www.fhc.co.uk/weather/live/ The views of Snowdon and Moel Eilio from Elidir Fach
are taken from the Surge Pond which is where the road terminates.

I have also ridden the Lecht, clocked 100kph coming down towards Tomintoul thanks to a fully laden
tandem and baby smooth tarmac. My favourite is the Bealach Na Ba. It was quiet and spectacular and
we had a close up view of a Golden Eagle as he flew alongside for a few magic moments,
unforgettable. This was about halfway along the northern road out of Applecross.

Not been to Great Dunn Fell, but its on my list. Where would the group suggest as a base for
ridding the GDF?

 

On 27 Jan 2003 02:23:45 -0800, [email protected] (Gwyn) blathered:

>Not been to Great Dunn Fell, but its on my list. Where would the group suggest as a base for
>ridding the GDF?

The tarmac goes pretty much to the top on GDF; the offroad downhill the other side to Garrigill is
also good if it's dry/frozen. Possible loops include back over Cross Fell / Hartside to the north,
or via High Cup Nick to the south. A there-and-back would not be very satisfying, but much of the
GDF access road is straight so you'd be able to hit warp speed on a descent.

Appleby has a good Thai restaurant/inn on the slip road that enters the town from the A66 (heading
north/west).

Pete
----
http://www.btinternet.com/~peteajones/

 

On 27 Jan 2003 02:23:45 -0800, [email protected] (Gwyn) blathered:

>Not been to Great Dunn Fell, but its on my list. Where would the group suggest as a base for
>ridding the GDF?

The tarmac goes pretty much to the top on GDF; the offroad downhill the other side to Garrigill is
also good if it's dry/frozen. Possible loops include back over Cross Fell / Hartside to the north,
or via High Cup Nick to the south. A there-and-back would not be very satisfying, but much of the
GDF access road is straight so you'd be able to hit warp speed on a descent.

Appleby has a good Thai restaurant/inn on the slip road that enters the town from the A66 (heading
north/west).

Pete
----
http://www.btinternet.com/~peteajones/

 

Gwyn wrote:
> http://www.snowdoniatv.com (look in the 'events' section)

Cool!

> http://www.fhc.co.uk/weather/live/

Even cooler! It's what WAP is for, surely - check the weather, and if it's good get the
boots out :-D

--
Guy
===
I wonder if you wouldn't mind piecing out our imperfections with your thoughts; and while you're
about it perhaps you could think when we talk of bicycles, that you see them printing their proud
wheels i' the receiving earth; thanks awfully.

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.shtml#103 http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.shtml#104

 

Gwyn wrote:
> http://www.snowdoniatv.com (look in the 'events' section)

Cool!

> http://www.fhc.co.uk/weather/live/

Even cooler! It's what WAP is for, surely - check the weather, and if it's good get the
boots out :-D

--
Guy
===
I wonder if you wouldn't mind piecing out our imperfections with your thoughts; and while you're
about it perhaps you could think when we talk of bicycles, that you see them printing their proud
wheels i' the receiving earth; thanks awfully.

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.shtml#103 http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.shtml#104

 

Just zis Guy, you know? <[email protected]> wrote:

> > http://www.fhc.co.uk/weather/live/
>
> Even cooler! It's what WAP is for, surely - check the weather, and if it's good get the
> boots out :-D

Looks pretty black up there now (22:05)

 

Andrew Templeman wrote:

>>> http://www.fhc.co.uk/weather/live/

> Looks pretty black up there now (22:05)

Can't see any rain, though, so it's on with the boots :-D

--
Guy
===
I wonder if you wouldn't mind piecing out our imperfections with your thoughts; and while you're
about it perhaps you could think when we talk of bicycles, that you see them printing their proud
wheels i' the receiving earth; thanks awfully.

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.shtml#103 http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.shtml#104