With its wide, varied landscape, the UK can be a nightmare to travel by car. While built up cities often enjoy simpler routes, you don't have to spend long in the countryside before coming across more rugged terrain. Even if you select a well-maintained route, you best hope not to come across a lot of traffic on winding, isolated roads.
One woman who knows this only too well has slammed a rural road as the "worst in Britain" after facing a traffic delay. Forced to turn around on the route, "where dreams go to die", she had to return home and miss a work event, as the Manchester Evening News reports.
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But to make matters worse, she says she then struggled to contact anyone, as the road is in the "middle of nowhere." And when she took to TikTok to share a furious rant about her experience, she was met by a chorus of replies agreeing with her evaluation.
Posting as @miwallbank, the driver, named Em, explained why she believes Woodhead Pass is the worst road in Britain. The performer was travelling along the road - one of the main routes between South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester - on her way to a gig in North Wales. But to her dismay, she faced a three-hour delay.
She recalled: "I'm on Woodhead Pass, my ETA jumps up by two hours, and I go, oh no, this is starting to look bleak.
"It then jumps up by another hour and I start to panic because that's an hour after I'm supposed to go on stage.
"I can't let anybody know either because the other fun fact about Woodhead Pass is it is in the middle of nowhere and you cannot contact a soul other than by carrier pigeon.
"There's a workman in the road and he's like your best chance is turning round love, so I turned around and I drove for about forty minutes before I could get some reception."
Enraged, Em added: "I hope you're happy Woodhead Pass, because I've just lost a night's work and its all your fault!
"Hate is a strong word, but I hate you, Woodhead Pass. Never in my life have I felt a hatred so strong for something that isn't even a person."
And she issued a warning for fellow drivers, claiming: "If you need to go somewhere and Woodhead Pass is on your map, you need to be afraid."
Well, several commenters agreed with the performer, sharing their hatred of the road.
One person wrote: "Woodhead Pass is evil! We broke down on it, no phone service, nothing. Pure panic in the dark."
Another said: "Darling!! I myself also hate that road it's the artist dream of nightmares." And someone wrote: "Good old Woodhead Pass strikes again."
However, other commenters defended the route, with one person even saying it is one of their favourite roads. People were quick to point out the highway enjoys "beautiful views", and another added: "But it is lovely scenery."
A spokesperson for National Highways told The Mirror that Em was likely stuck in traffic following an accident on the road earlier that day.
They said: "Unfortunately, the driver appears to have been inconvenienced by a road traffic incident that closed part of the road and required emergency repairs to be carried out before we could safely reopen the carriageway.
"We always advise road users to plan their journeys in advance, allow extra time and check traffic conditions before setting off via www.trafficengland.com "
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