Cat and Fiddle Road

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cat And Fiddle is a road in England between Buxton, Derbyshire and Macclesfield, Cheshire, named after a pub at its summit. Formed by parts of the A537, A54 and A53 it is famous for its scenic views across the Peak District National Park and the Cheshire Plain and for its many bends. It is extremely popular with motorcyclists, and is regularly classed as one of the most dangerous roads in the UK.

1 Route
2 Usage
3 Road safety initiatives
4 External links

[edit] Route

The road can be considered to start in Buxton at the junction of the A53 and A5004 Long Hill road just north of the Buxton Opera House. It follows the A53 through the western outskirts of Buxton until a right turn onto the A54 at Ladmanlow. It then climbs out of Buxton in a series of sharp bends onto the flat moorland of Goyt’s Moss, where it runs along the A537 in a fairly straight line until reaching the Cat and Fiddle Inn at an altitude of 515m (1690 feet).

From the Cat And Fiddle Inn it descends to Macclesfield via a continuous series of sharp, and often blind, bends.

[edit] Usage

It is one of the only two roads into Macclesfield from the east, and as such carries long distance as well as local traffic, including heavy goods vehicles. It is also carries tourist traffic into the Peak District National Park including bicycles and walkers. It also forms part of the well-known ‘Cat And Fiddle – Long Hill – Highwayman’ triangle, which is particularly attractive to motorcyclists because of the frequency and severity of the bends. Given this mixture of usage, the number and sharpness of the bends and the fact that it is not uncommon to encounter straying livestock on the road it is necessary to employ a great deal of caution. Bad winter weather can make the road very hazardous.

[edit] Road safety initiatives

Motorcyclist warning sign, Cat and Fiddle Road.

As a result of the high number of injuries and fatalities (33 major crashes from 1999 to 2001) the speed limit on the section between Macclesfield and the Cat and Fiddle Inn has been reduced to 50mph from the national 60mph limit. The road is regularly patrolled by unmarked police cars and motor cycles. A police plane is often used in conjunction with these to enforce the speed limit.