Detour #247: A Twiddle on the Cat and Fiddle, Derbyshire-Cheshire, UK
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Now home to the highest distillery in england the cat and fiddle has a sobering reputation.
Named after the old coaching inn which sits at its summit the Cat and Fiddle gained notoriety for being the most dangerous road in Britain. Back in 1813 when merchant John Ryle built the inn the main hazard may well have been highwaymen, but in more recent times it’s been the mix of blind bends and unpredictable weather that made this journey fraught with jeopardy.
In a 2008 survey the Cat and Fiddle was named the most hazardous highway in the UK and a 2016 report tallied almost 80 fatalities from 2002 to 2011. No wonder the speed limit was reduced to 50mph (and 40 in some places). It’s rigidly enforced, but by travelling at a reduced pace you’ll get to enjoy the visual perfection of the Peak District – a view that, thankfully has changed little since Charles Rolls and Henry Royce would test their cars on the road in the early 1900s.
The makers of the finest car in the world would often stop at the Cat and Fiddle for refreshment, and, although it closed as a pub in 2014, it was reopened in 2019 as a whisky and gin distillery. The Forest Distillery offers tours, a shop and a small bar to sample its single malts, matured at 1,609 feet above sea level.
If you’re beginning your Cat and Fiddle twiddle at Buxton, you’ll take the A53 west, then the A54 at Ladmanlow, rising gently through the moorland through a series of bends. This part of the road is generally pretty open, with good sightlines and only the occasional crest to be cautious of. Stay your course at you’ll join the A537 which offers more of the same until you reach the distillery.
It’s the descent to Macclesfield where things begin to get a little more treacherous, with tighter turns and the prospect of precipitous drops should you get it wrong. The road is kept in good order and armco barriers offer a degree of protection, but as you dive further down they’re replaced by unforgiving dry stone walls.
Throughout its 11 miles the road is a single-carriageway, which has always made it more appealing to motorcyclists, although sadly it’s two wheelers who have suffered the most casualties.
Our advice: slow down, savour the experience and don’t add to the sobering statistics.
Words Nik Berg Twitter/X | Instagram
Photography Shutterstock