Rosedale Chimney Bank Top

In Britain the road which is famously claimed to be the steepest motor road in the country is the Hardknott Pass in  Cumbria (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hardknott-roman-fort)    but the locals in North Yorkshire claim that honour for Chimney Bank near Pickering between Rosedale Abbey and Hutton-le-Hole. With slopes of 33% both roads might  have the right to the claim and the winner would probably depend on the specific method of measurement.  Whist one of these two roads can make the claim for England, within Great Britain there is a road in Wales which is claimed to be steeper, at 40%, but the measurement  method is disputed. Whatever the truth, an ascent of Chimney Bank is an experience to savour whether by car or motorbike, although  on a pedal cycle the climb is brutal and the descent is dangerous. The hill is commonly used for hill climb races on four wheels and two wheels  (both with and without power). When used for vintage vehicles (for example in the first weekend in September) the ones with low power sometimes  struggle even in the lowest gear. 

The view from the summit are amazing sometimes said to be the best in Yorkshie (a very ambitious claim). The hill is named for a very tall chimney which stood at the summit  until demolished in the 1970s. This was the boiler chimney for a static steam engine which dragged iron ore wagons up and down an inclined plane railway using a continuous rope system.  The inclined plane used to pull ore wagons from mines further down the hill up to 19th century calcining kils at  Bank Top. Remains  of the kilns (one of three sets of kilns in the general  area) can still be seen (and explored) as can the track beds of both the inclined plane and the Rosedale Railway which carried calcined ore across the moor to  blast furnaces in Teeside (now a marked footway). Lots of useful  information boards and a cast iron diorama of the old workings and rail infrastructure are provided. There is also the remains of a, cold war period, nuclear monitoring bunker (previously  operated  by the Royal  Observer Corps) and, about 200 yards from the summit parking lot, is a bronze age, round barrow, burial chamber topped by a tall, 19th century, gritstone cross called Ana Cross .