Zig Zag Hill - England's Most Twisty and Curved Road - Shaftesbury Dorset 

My Grandparents lived local to Shaftesbury and would take us up and down Zig Zag hill as a treat! Still enjoy the occasional visit even now. Great vid!

I saw this video when it came out. Today I went on road trip to Dorset, looked up at the upcoming road on the sat nav and thought what the hell !! As I hit the first hairpin........I remembered the video - lol

In Yorkshire there is a road so steep that at the bottom there is a sign barring all trailers, caravans and artics. Took my grandson to Beamish from Scarborough and on the way back he fell off the rear seat on which he was asleep.

Flipping love the B3081 and The Zig Zag is a highlight. If I need to go to Bristol from home on the Isle of Wight, this is the route I use. On Zig Zags, please do give me a shout if you would like to film the unfeasibly steep Zig Zag Hill in Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight (or any of the other roads down here). I run a campsite and can organise discounted ferry tickets for you.

17yr old me in [my mother's] MG Metro learned all about under-steer on that hill back in the 80's - surface looks a lot better these days 😅. A loop past Compton Abbas and back down Spread Eagle Hill would really test the (not very good) brakes... good times!

Can't wait for the Devil's Staircase on the Tregaron to Abergwesyn road in Wales, or a trip over the Hardknot ad Wrynose passes in Cumbria.

Great road on 2 wheels with lunch stop after at Compton Abbas airfield.

There's the one at Box Hill in Surrey called the Zig Zag Road thats now infamous with cyclists since the 2012 Olympics. Has road humps on which kind of takes some of the fun out of ripping up it :-)

Buxton to Macclesfield is one of the most challenging roads to drive and quite a few tight turns on that as well, worth a visit

Great fun in a rigid lorry!😄

Driven up and down that zig-zag. Hairy going up and meeting something coming down.

Been up and down zigzag hill quite a few times in the 1970's when at Shaftesbury Grammer school on a Susuki TS100 motorbike

I've been up and down Zig-Zag Hill more times than I care to remember.

There’s another similar road. Just outside Nailsworth called the Ladder or the Nailsworth W. It’s blooming fab to drive, especially going up.

Scotland's Bealach na Bà says, "Hold my Irn Bru."

I throw my Clio RS around this on a regular basis. Top fun!

I was about to get all huffy and upbraid you sir for not mentioning the second best thing about Zig Zag Hill. This being of course the prize of the breath taking views from the top of the ridge. Just about saved it with the outro.

Secrets of the B3081. The old Royal Obsever Post at the the junction of the B3081 and Donhead Hollow plus Compton Abbas Airfield.

This man could make a 5 minute video about an old oak tree with no significance whatsoever and I’d watch it twice just for the puns 10/10 John

You should try Zig Zag Road on Box Hill, Surrey.

Finally a road in your vids that I've driven that isn't a motorway!

Great video. Have you been up Sutton Bank in Yorkshire or how about Hard Knott Pass in the Lake District?

Another brilliant and informative video as always Jon. Love the look of concentration on your face driving Zig Zag Hill

Ah the joys of Zig Zag. The amount of times I drove up and down that stretch feeling like a rally driver. Living in the area it was always one of the joys of going to Win Green for Summer meet ups, kite flying and picnics.

Oh brilliant!!!! I drove this road during an advanced driving course I was doing in a Honda Civic Type R EP3. I was so focused on the driving I could not remember where it was. You’ve just helped me out. Cheers from the guy that said hello to you when you were filming your M27 episode of Secrets of the motorway by the graffiti subway!

Brings back great memories as a kid in dad's Austin Allegro, bellowing "zig" as we took the first bend and then "zag", as we tightened our seatbelts going round the next bend. Happy days!

Is a regular route for too....many years ago I also lived near to Box Hill with its Zig Zag road too.

I wondered if we would see "Secrets Of The A & B Roads" (or similar)... Pleased to see that the answer is yes!

I drove up this hill the other day on my way back from a trip to Dorset. Was pretty scary but once you get to the top the stretch of road you get is absolutely stunning

Uh oh, Eurobeat start to play in my mind even when I just seeing these zip zag road

I thought this was going to be The Zig Zag at Box Hill in Surrey. I drove Zig Zag Hill in my campervan last year while leaving a music festival at nearby Larmer Tree Gardens. It's pretty twisty!

Enjoyed that, thanks. If you're looking at doing a 'weird B/unclassified but metalled roads' series, then take a gander at the Burway in Shropshire, across the Long Mynd. It has steep inclines, sheer drops of one side (no barriers, natch) and for fun is single carriageway so if you meet someone coming the other way one of you has to reverse with certain death off to one side. Oh, it also has amazing views if it's not foggy or raining. Being where it is it's often foggy and/or raining.

Didn’t know it existed until I followed the satnav home one winter night, and driving it in a classic BMW, even without a welded diff, certainly keeps you alert… 😂

Also check out 'The W' in Nailsworth. Similar to Zig Zag, with a high speed down lane called "The ladder".

I have been watching your videos for quite some time and I can't believe you came to my local town just after I moved away 😮

Two roads with similar bends I know about and would be worth investigating 1/ Cat and Fiddle road A537 from Macclesfield to Buxton. Infamous for Motorcycle accidents until they put speed cameras on it. There are several bends that have to be taken at less than 30MPH even in a small car. Some follow a straight fast section which can catch unwary motorists. 2/ Holme moss road A6024 from Woodhead to Holmfirth. Again there are some very sharp bends including some zig zags

One of my favourite half mile stretches of asphalt!

Enjoyed this thanks. Some of the roads in Ireland used donkey tracks so mad to drive!

This is the best video I've ever seen about anything

Jon you need to have a drive up to Hartside, which used to be the site of Hartside cafe before it burned down. Its off the A69 in cumbria and you pass through Alston on the way, features lots of straights and zigzags like this, before getting to Penrith. Another one worth a visit is also the Hard Knott pass in the Lake District which I'm sure is the steepest road in England, (1/30 30% gradient). Lots of history and worth a visit. Albeit a bit of a treck for you I'm sure!

No way you came down this way 😮, such an awesome road, so is the top road

I am very drawn to the idea of all that fancy grass and stuff. I shall put it on the bike bucket list. Cheers 👍

Purchased a 911 a coupe of years back from Gillingham which is just past Shaftesbury and had to take the Zig Zag Hill home back to Verwood, anyway gunned it up the hill in record time, great fun.

There's a great hairpin bend on the A259 near Winchelsea in East Sussex.

yep been down there ! first time i was like FML!

You need to try the corkscrew road into Inverfarigaig on the east side of Loch Ness - that's a proper twisty road.

Another stylish production, thanks

I've frequented this road since I was a kid on family trips and never thought much of it! didn't realize it was actually remarkable beyond just being a local tricky hill. It's a beautiful drive throughout the B3081 :)

Great video Jon. I love driving on roads like that - the twistier the better. Others to try if you’re up north…Hartside Pass (A686) east of Penrith towards Alston and Buttertubs Pass just north of Hawes in North Yorkshire 👍🏼😉

Seen in a few films that exact shot from above. I always wondered where it was so thank's for this 🙂

Love the new subject matter and this has to be the best closing theme music yet.

I love this. Totally the opposite of a motorway, yet still a significant route.

The A4136 between Monmouth and Staunton is pretty good too, especially downhill. Since I last used it, they've probably put a 30mph limit on it.

The views of the landscape when you come out the top of the hill are pretty amazing on a sunny day

My parents used to have a 2CV at one point… it was definitely fun going up/down zig zag in that as a kid - rural rollercoaster 😂

I love that road, its not too far from me in Bournemouth, its a really great drive.

I discovered this fun little road driving an HGV, I've been back many times in my Sierra ☺☺ its a lot better since resurfacing

I live not far away from this hill and always enjoy driving down and up it. Occasionally, see a car in the trees after one of the corners!

we usually take the id3 to visit my parents in Dorset, but next weekend you've inspired me to take the up! GTI :-)

Love to drive this great bit of road with Rose Royce blaring out of the speakers. 'Zig Zag' from the Car wash soundtrack would hit the spot

Have a look at Fish Hill, Broadway, John. Near the Broadway Nuclear Monitoring Post, with a lovely straight from the roundabout at the bottom up to the Fish Hill Picnic Area at the top. Fairly sure there's no dogging there...

Goyt Valley from Buxton to Whaley Bridge is a lovely twisty drive too and very scenic

I like how at 1:54 the luton van has to swing right out into the other lane but, fortunately, gets back where he belongs before the car coming in the other direction reaches him!

This is the western end of the Old Shaftesbury Drove which runs across the tops of all the higher hills to it's eastern end near Harnham just north of Salisbury, formerly the main coaching road (Before the A30 was built) it is still very popular as a recreational route for hikers, cyclists, horse riders and off road motorcyclists.

Nice. Love a good wiggly road

I highly recommend the hardknott pass, that will be a winner for you, including a roman fort enroute

It’s good fun! Driven it on a club drive and saw a lot of other very nice cars doing the same

I knew this in 1972 as we holidayed in gillingham with friends and our dad used to drive us in a commer campervan with a trailer on the back to the new forest.

Oh Jon, you should do Sutton Bank on the A170! You'll have fun trying to gun it up the hill, but going down is scary!

Very responsible driving there fella. 👏👌

That looks like a fantastic drive, will have to visit that one. Great video thanks Bob

This reminded me of driving through (the former) Jugoslavia where the mountain roads are made even more exciting for the driver if you are in a right hand drive car with a view over the edge and down the mountainside (and if you meet a lorry coming in the opposite direction you are expected to reverse back to the passing place- even if it means you are reversing uphill and round a hairpin bend)

Drove this last month in my Alfa, was excellent! I always use this drive to travel to B'mouth, even if it's longer than others.

First came across Zig Zag Hill in the mid 80s. I was out on an exploration trip of the area on my first and only motorbike. Pre car days, this was a find. Not many know of this place as its off the beaten track. beaten

I have great love for this road - but on a motorbike I’ve never quite got this bit right - maybe in the second 30 years of riding I’ll get it together 😂

Back in the late 80s I lived in Bridgwater parents lived in new forest so most weekends I did the B3081 and zig zag from shaftesbury to verwood The whole road was a driver's delight in those days not too many people knew of it so no traffic and no speed limits In those days I could regularly do the 80 miles in 90 minutes only getting pulled over once ironically on the a303 dual carriageway Today it's over 2hrs to do the same journey

Another fantastic video ⚓️🧲👍

The ending was like the beginning of the Italian job. well done another great video

It's on my commute to a client and it's a brilliant drive

Winchelsea - Tanyard Lane into Ferry Hill (A259) has a cracking hair pin turn into an incline, not to mention the rest of the surrounding roads being nice for a drive

I really enjoyed the footage at the end with the actual drive of this road. 👍

I remember getting sideways round that with my mr2. I miss that car so much

My first experience of zig zag hill was on a dark, foggy, wet night in a corsa ‘c’, how I didn’t wipe it out I don’t know but there is a ‘pinch’ mark in the centre of the drivers seat to this day 😎

There is another Zig Zag Down in Michelham Dorking off the A24.

Love the Calypso music Jon, felt like getting my maracas out and giving then a good old shake 🥸

I'm glad the English have got imagination. The road up Box Hill in Surrey is also called Zig Zag Hill... (Edit: It's Zig Zag Road, apologies. Used to live nearby as well. Doh)

One of my favourite bit of road. As I live local to it I have driven it many times. I would love the road to be closed a few times and be used for a Hillclimb event. Whether driving up or down it would make an awsome event. I believe many years ago it was used for the British stage of the Tour de France.

Another great video. I know this area very well. I've used this road for almost 40 years when I worked as a delivery driver and often used to park up in the layby to take my tachograph breaks on the right just past the top of Zig Zag hill heading towards Tollard Royal. Some stunning views along that road down back towards Sixpenny Handley. Now that I'm retired I often think about taking another trip down that way in the car just for old times sake. Shaftesbury is a lovely little town with the beautiful view from the top of Gold hill from the old Hovis advert. Like all of your videos I really enjoyed this one.

Fun video. I think you'd enjoy driving the B5055 at Crowedote, in the Peak District. A short but lovely bit of serpentine road.

I used to drive that bit of road in my LWB transit as a detour on my way from Bristol to swanage. Was well worth adding the mile or two to my journey 😁

if your ever going to have a scottish holiday and do the Nort Coast 500 Would love to see a video on the history of the A9 wich is quite extensive!

I'd watch a selection of "Britain's Best Drives" by Jon

One of the most fun roads to drive is in Scotland. A821 near Callander. The road is like a roller coaster in sections.😂

Such a brilliant road in the right car! Bit hairy driving down past the first bend - no barriers and no trees😳 Glad you enjoyed your drive! Great video 👍👍🚘

Hi, if you haven't already done it, can you do the Coventry inner ring road which is the craziest piece of tarmac I've driven on.

One of my favorite roads. The road all the way to Tollard Royale is superb too.

There’s a music festival not far away and one of our guys just followed his sat nav. Ended up getting directed up zig zag hill in an artic, he said it wasn’t fun.

When I used to be a flying instructor, I flew into Compton Abbas airfield on top of this hill regularly . Was my favourite small airfield. I would fly over Zig Zag but never drove there. Madonna and her then husband ‘Guy’ owned a house just north of the runway and didn’t like us aviators. Lovely country side around there.

Awesome video, don't know if it's in that boom that you are using for the new Great British road Journies series but the A379 Kingsbridge to Dartmouth road would make a cool video as well as it's very B road for an A road. Also thinking the road featured today would be a good hillclimb or rally stage.

You should do a video on "The Corkscrew" in Inverfarigaig on the shores of Loch Ness. No less than six hairpins in a row, all single track with very few passing places😮