Snake Pass driving road map

by Sidney van den Boogaard

On 23 August 1821 a new turnpike opened across the wild moors of the Dark Peak, at the time the highest turnpike road in England. The name has nothing to do with the bends, plentiful as they are: it comes from the Snake Inn, itself named after the serpent in the Cavendish family arms. From Glossop the A57 climbs to 512 metres over bare peat moorland where the weather can turn in minutes, then winds down through the forest to Ladybower Reservoir, crossed on the Ashopton Viaduct. In winter, snow and landslips close it regularly. For anyone who loves northern England's wet tarmac and big skies.

This work is part of the Petrolhead Roads collection: the world's finest driving and riding roads, from coastal routes and mountain roads to legendary ribbons of curves. Each road is drawn from the real route and finished in the same calm, graphic style, with the elevation profile and, along the bottom, the length, the road number and the facts that made the road famous.

The road is drawn from OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors) and the profile from Copernicus elevation data. A great gift for anyone who would rather drive a great road than the motorway.