The big read: The winding history of the Snake Pass, the road loved or hated by Sheffielders

Opened on August 23, 1821, Snake Road was designed to be a toll road connecting Sheffield to Manchester, speeding the pace of trade from Sheffield to the world.

The optimism and fanfare of that first August dissipated mere months later when it was clear the road was not ideally suited to winter weather – 200 years later the route is still closed for an average of 70 days out of the year.

Sheffield historian and expert Howard Smith, told the Sheffield Telegraph: “It’s a famous road - everybody in Sheffield has been over it at least once or twice. It’s an exciting road but in bad weather it’s a dreadful road. It’s always the first road in the country to be closed at the first sign of snow.

“When the road was first opened there was terrific excitement and great optimism. Once people travelled in winter it changed.

“It operated as a toll road until 1875 but it always lost money. Royal Mail sometimes had to send post to Sheffield via Leeds because they couldn’t get over Snake Road."

The idea for a new road connecting Sheffield to Manchester first came about when the War of 1812 ended and Americans resumed business with Britain.

Roughly one third of Sheffield’s workforce was connected to American trade at that time and when orders started coming in again, a road that could get goods to the ports in Liverpool faster was sought.

Howard, who has written a book about the road - called The Story of the Snake Road and the Sheffield to Glossop Turnpike Trail - added: “There was a move in 1970 to close Snake Road from Snake Inn to Glossop.

"One of the other routes was through Hope Valley - they built a bypass but it collapsed because the whole side was unstable. Snake Road was reprieved. It is a very expensive road to maintain. It’s not just the surface that needs work, parts of the road are on unstable ground. Whole sections of the road shift position. But there is no alternative.”

While the Snake Pass has many stories to tell, the one most will be familiar with is that of the Bleaklow Bomber.