ABDON BURF

DITTON PRIORS, SHROPSHIRE

The masts on top of Brown Clee Hill are visible for many miles in all directions; they dominate the skyline and the climb to reach them redefines suffering. The road is closed to traffic so you have to open the gate first, and then lined out ahead are 800 metres of the most horrendous climbing anywhere in Britain. This road broke my mind before it broke my body; it forced me to dismount and walk not once, but three times. So savage is its slope, so utterly unforgiving, I simply could not face the pain. There isn’t a degree of variation in pitch, and not an inch of waver from its line until a cattle grid appears ahead. Try and muster the speed to cross it and you’ll enter rolling grassland nestled high above the surrounding agricultural land. Pick your way through the twists and turns to finish at the base of the twin towers and soak up what is arguably the finest 360-degree view in the whole of England.