PLAS PENTRE

CROESAU BACH, SHROPSHIRE

This little corner of England between Oswestry and the Welsh border is a maze of tiny twisting roads, and most of them are steep. From Blodwell Bank rising out of Porth-y-waen to the climb up Baker’s Hill out of Rhydycroesau, you’ll find a host of testing gradients, and lying in the middle is this nasty climb. Even though it’s less than a kilometre long, the slope averages over 12%, which more than makes up for its diminutive length. Cross the River Morda and ahead you see a sign that says unsuitable for motor vehicles, but as you hit the initial punishing 15% ramp, it might just as well read unsuitable for tired legs. There is a slight cessation in the savagery as you pass between some farmhouses, and then it kicks up once more – the narrow, dirty and rough road seemingly gripping your tyres. Gradually the slope begins to recede, but there’s one final push to the left before you make the junction at the top.