Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged: Steepest Street: Low-Down

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Steepest Street: Low-Down

OK, my new hobby (namely, discovering Cape Town's steepest street) is fast running out of steam. I don't know if I have any more streets to explore. I've put paid to a few myths anyway: the myth-makers have had Bellevue Street, Gallows Hill, Head Road, and Longmarket Street down as the steepest in the city. The first two of these are easily ruled out (a mere 10½° and 11½° steep). Head Road has a section that is 17° steep, while Longmarket Street has a "sustained slope" of 17° (thus matching the steepest of San Francisco). The only other "sustained slopes" that come close to Longmarket Street are Fontaine Bleu Street (16½°) and Upper Deane Road (16°). However, Top Road has a section that is 17½° steep, and Clifford Road has a section that is 19° steep. OBSERVATION: Yet what is a "sustained slope"? Even the official world record holder, Baldwin Street, Dunedin, is 19° steep only "at its maximum". The photo shows my three-wheeler parked in Longmarket Street (click on it for VGA).

8 comments:

Stephen said...: Just curious: Were these inclines assessed by the angle of depression of the exhilarator pedal.; February 7, 2012 at 3:06 AM
Thomas O. Scarborough said...: Or by the whiteness of the driver's knuckles. Someone asked me, do you have to MURDER your poor vehicle so? Interestingly, it has one pedal, six levers, and a throttle.; February 12, 2012 at 1:15 PM
Anonymous said...: What about Bloem? Capri in Kalk Bay is pretty crazy too...; April 17, 2014 at 11:04 PM
Anonymous said...: Yes! Please check out Capri St in St James? It's crazy! Altitude difference based on a topographic map is around 70m, attained in around 200m horizontally.; September 3, 2015 at 10:17 AM
Thomas O. Scarborough said...: This would need to be confirmed. If you are correct, this is (if my calculations are correct) a new world record of 19.5° sustained slope.; September 3, 2015 at 11:26 AM
Unknown said...: Can I suggest Marais Rd in Hout Bay; September 4, 2015 at 1:10 PM
Thomas O. Scarborough said...: If you get a chance, take a photo of a vertical wall with the street level. It's easy to get some idea then of the angle and if it's worth taking a closer look. Some streets are not what they seem. A few people suggested Bellevue Street as Cape Town's steepest, but that was (I think) only 10°. A few people suggested Top Road, but only a small section of that was 17½° ...; September 6, 2015 at 11:33 AM
Agi Orfanos said...: Ffordd Pen Leich in WALES today On BBC
37° gradient is steepest in world.
Can you investigate; July 16, 2019 at 8:39 PM

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About This Blog

I have spent ten years in suburban ministry, twenty-two years (total) in urban ministry, and seven years in country ministry. My involvements in ministry continue, now reduced.

There are a few reasons for this blog: 1. To help people form a picture of what ministry is about -- in particular urban ministry -- not least seminary students who may be destined for urban ministry. I have found that the image and the reality may be far apart in academia. 2. My experience in ministry may be (and, in fact, often has been) an encouragement to other ministers -- alternatively, a cautionary tale, as the case may be! Many notes of thanks have been recorded on this blog. And 3. Friends have simply told me how interesting reports of ministry are.

This is not a "parochial" blog. Only a tenth or so of readers are local (in South Africa). Outside of my home country, this blog is most read in Europe and North America. Russia is no. 4 on the list, and there is some interest in Muslim nations. At one point, this was the most authoritative Religion blog in Southern Africa (I now do not know how it is ranked).

With all of the above in mind, the purpose of this blog is simply to record urban ministry "live and unplugged", in the form of accounts. This blog is not a "church blog", but a "ministry blog". For the most part, I don't intend to share my views. The emphasis is the experience of ministry and the various events that surround it.

A definition of “live” is “actually being performed at the time of viewing”. A definition of “unplugged” is “without amplification or modification”. However, see my Posting Policy below.

Posting Policy

This blog may be unique with regard to its degree of transparency about urban ministry. Many people have written to me to say how they cherish the help they have received through this. However, this means that special attention needs to be given to confidentiality in particular. I use the following guidelines for posting on this blog:

I apply the following questions to posts: Are they posted in good faith? Are they balanced? Are they compassionate? Are they informative about ministry? Do they help one better understand a problem or issue?

I consider a post to be unproblematic if a person's identity is unknowable in the post, if the facts are public knowledge, or if a change of particulars (name, place, date, and so on) will truly protect privacy. If I consider that anyone who was not involved in an incident would recognise those who were, then I do not post. If a post could compromise the safety of those I blog about, then I make a post safe, or I do not post.

I believe that these measures should enable me to continue to be "open" about urban ministry while not compromising privacy.

In 2013, ninety percent of the posts on this blog were removed. I then put the question of the freedom of the blog to the South African Human Rights Commission. The position is this: if a post is legal, it is legal. Essentially, all of my posts were OK. There is freedom of expression in South Africa.

Having said this, if any post should even cause discomfort, it will be removed from this blog immediately. This has always been the position. One does need to contact me for that, best through an e-mail or a blog comment, and I prefer to see a name on it. The post will be put back up only if there would seem to be compelling reason for it. It is hoped that there will be the assumption that I wish to address any discomfort satisfactorily, compassionately, and efficiently.