Dunedin's Baldwin St clings to world steepest street title - for now

Tuesday, 11 September 2018

Video of Dunedin’s Baldwin St when it looked as though it might lose its title of World’s Steepest Street.

Dunedin's claim to having the world's steepest street is up in the air, with a Welsh village eyeing up the lofty title.

Both Dunedin's Baldwin St and Ffordd Pen Llech in the Welsh village of Harlech have a sign warning motorists and pedestrians the street was steep.

But only one has an official sign saying World's Steepest Street, a title awarded to Baldwin St by Guinness World Records.

Now that claim to fame is under threat.

**READ MORE:

Students from Melbourne, Australia, pose for a photograph on Baldwin St, which is still the world's steepest street.

* Ups and downs of living on world's steepest street

* 11-year-old pogo's up Baldwin St

* Illusion craze on steepest street

* Drift-triking down Baldwin St

Thousands of jaffas are released from the top of Baldwin St in Dunedin for the Cadbury Jaffa Race, which ended in 2017.

* Roller-skating effort recognised**

While Baldwin St has a gradient of 35 per cent at its steepest section, residents of Ffordd Pen Llech claim their street is steeper, at 36 per cent – which is rounded to 40 per cent on a sign at the start of the street.

Harry Willis, 11, went up Dunedin's Baldwin St - the world's steepest - on his pogo stick to raise money for charity.

Sarah Badhan, who runs a Harlech community page on Facebook, told the BBC the steep street keeps her fit.

'It's quite a challenge getting up, you're quite exhausted by the time you get to the top.'

She was hopeful Guinness World Records would review their submission and assess the street.

'It would be nice if they'd come and check it out,' she said.

Ffordd Pen Llech is one of two roads surrounding Harlech Castle World Heritage Site.

Australian tourists in Dunedin told Stuff on Tuesday they did not want Baldwin St to lose the title, partly because they had just walked all the way to the top.

The street was one of the attractions of Dunedin which appealed to them, as it was free, fun and challenging, they said.

Baldwin St was listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's steepest street – the 161.2 metres of its upper-most section climbed a vertical height of 47.22m, an average gradient of 1 in 3.41.

On its steepest section the gradient was 1 in 2.86.