I went up to Howarth, to see the Bronte Museum mainly and do some hiking, but the driving experience was a bonus. I was driving a Nissan Quashqai with all the bells and whistles
Thank you glad you enjoyed it .. the roads in and out are great and a few nice places for lunch too. need to fuel the body as well as the car lol ... hope you've subscribed haha
So here's how to make Buttertubs a *real* challenge - Stay on your own side of the road ! And Hawes to Sedbergh in heavy rain is actually the better driving experience.
Driven it a fair few times .. and yes will likely be doing that at some stage. I spend a lot of time on the west coast of Scotland during winter. One of my favourite parts of the world.
Absolutely one of the worst roads I've ever driven, like you say in your intro its short, also the road is too narrow with a poor surface, and impossible to drive fast. Drove it once after Clarkson's recommendation but I wont be going back up there anytime soon and I pass it very regularly.
Can't agree with you on the impossible to drive fast though that's relative to what you are in and confidence. It's a fair old drop. If you have a Rally background you end up driving on far worse surfaces and are used to it being unsettled ... But I fully agree about the length. There's a lot of great scenery around Swaledale though so for a mix of faster roads and great scenery I think it fairs pretty well. There are better driving roads but distance from home often makes them a pain in the backside to get to 🤔
I was disappointed to when I went but as the road starts to go downhill and into Glossop it becomes a lot more fun. Then from there go drive down Woodhead Road and you definitely will not be disappointed. Even the A57 is an amazing road to drive down.