Town still claims the world’s steepest street
SIGN STILL UP DESPITE LOSING GUINNESS WORLD RECORD
HARLECH is perhaps best known for the giant medieval castle that dominates the town’s landscape.
But there is another, lesser known, landmark - one that has been at the centre of a worldwide controversy.
Ffordd Pen Llech at the top of town was given the Guinness World Record for being the world’s steepest street back in 2019. Until then the record was held by Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand.
The news at the time did not go down well with the representatives of its antipodean counterpart and the decision was challenged almost immediately.
An envoy was sent to Harlech, measurements were made, and by April 2020 Ffordd Pen Llech was officially known as the world’s second steepest street.
But the sign that was placed at its summit remains. People still have their picture taken next to it and its status as a local landmark continues to grow with events such as ‘The World’s Steepest Street Run’ still being held.
The street descends the rock spur to the north of the castle and has a gradient of 28.6%.
It had previously been measured as 36.63% and there is a warning sign of a 40% slope at the bottom.
But in April 2020 the figure was lowered as part of a review by Guinness that found the best practice to calculate a street gradient is to take the measurement from the centreline - Baldwin Street has a gradient of 34.8%.
Ffordd Pen Llech is also popular with cyclists and bikers. The road is mostly one way, so upward journeys can only be done during events, otherwise the adjacent road, Twtil, which has a shallower gradient of 25% is used.
Myfanwy Jones has lived on Ffordd Pen Llech for over 40 years. She said: “The sign at the top of the street went up a few years ago but then the people from Dunedin in New Zealand came over to measure it for themselves and the title went back to them. Now, it’s probably the steepest street in the Northern Hemisphere.
“The sign itself seems to attract people to the street. Before it went up, it wasn’t particularly well-known. Locals were aware because of how steep it is but that was it really. It’s still pretty quiet for much of the year, apart from the summer when people come to stay in their holiday homes.
“Living here definitely keeps me fit. I sometimes walk up and down the street to the shop a few times a day. It’s popular with marathon runners and I can see why, bikers like to ride down it as well.
“The scenery is obviously stunning - I’ve lived here for over 40 years now and I wouldn’t live anywhere else.”