Approaching from the top, it seems like a road leading straight into the abyss. From the bottom - an almost insurmountable climb that's not for the faint of heart.
Greater Manchester Manchester is, by-and-large, pretty flat. So for a city where hills are a rarity, the sheer and cobbled Jutland Street in Ancoats stands out as an intriguing oddity.
Hidden in the shadow of Piccadilly Station, it often comes as a shock to those who stumble upon what's thought to be Manchester's steepest street for the first time. Known as Junction Street until it was renamed in 1939, others have known it as Stony Brow (or Brew) partly thanks to cobbles that remain to this day.
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Serving as a meeting spot for fitness enthusiasts, a challenge for truck drivers, and even immortalised in a Lowry painting - the street's 33 per cent gradient is woven into the fabric of the city's rich history. Mark Whalley, who lives halfway up Jutland Street on Wharf Close, affectionately refers to Jutland Street as "Heart Attack Hill".
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News in 2022, the 70-year old said: "You want to see it just after work is out. You see them all huffing up the hill. Loads of people use it for running training because there aren't many hills round here."
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Having moved into his flat 15 years ago, Mr Whalley has witnessed the rapid transformation of the city centre. Despite the skyscrapers rising around his abode, the street outside has remained largely unchanged.
"People who haven't been down before can be a bit cautious. We've had taxis drivers park up because they don't know whether they can go down."
Following the M.E.N story on Jutland Street in 2022, many people took to our Facebook page to post their own memories. Beverley Walker, said: "Do you want to drive off the end of the world? My Dad used to take us here in the car when we were kids - we loved it."
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It seems the sheer street has also been something of a rite-of-passage for anyone taking driving lessons in Manchester. Nikki Ashton, remembered: "When my dad was teaching me to drive, I told him I'd mastered hill starts. So he took me to Jutland Street and made me do three on the way up, then turn around and do another three on the way down!"
Pat Haughton, posted: "My driving instructor made me go down it on my first lesson! He said, 'well at least you didn’t panic.' I gave him a mouthful and lesson two never materialised."
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While Maria Mcgarry, said: "Gosh, I took one of my driving lessons going up this street. I was absolutely terrified."
But for others, the street's perilous slope has been a great source of entertainment. Recalling her own youth, Karen Taylor remembered: "My stepdad used to drive us down there when [we were] kids. First ever taste of a roller coaster for me... and bloody loved it." Simone Adele agreed, saying: "This street was like a roller coaster as kids, literally."
Paul Rivers, posted: "Tried going down it in a Ford Capri in the '70s when there was snow and ice. I came off the end like Eddie the Eagle. Never again. Won't even touch it now on a dry day."
Roger Lumley, said: "When I worked cabs and picked up a cab full of screaming women I used to silence them by racing down Jutland Street."
While David Kasidayy, recalled: "My wife that grew up on the cardroom estate in Ancoats used too sledge down it as kids whenever it snowed, and used too roller skate down it. She said it felt like it was 90 miles an hour going down that hill."
One person who didn't much take to Jutland Street's uniqueness was the driver of a car transporter back in 2015. Chancing his luck travelling from Ducie Street down Jutland Street - he came a cropper when the bottom of the truck hit concrete, leaving him wedged over the crest.
Whether you love it or would do anything you can to avoid it - Jutland Street is one of the city's most unique and famous streets thanks to its steep incline and cobbled surface which still survives to this day.
Do you know of any other uniquely interesting streets in Greater Manchester? If so, email the M.E.N's nostalgia writer lee.grimsditch@reachplc.com or let us know in the comments section below.
