Fed up, villagers turned potholes into attraction

BBC A large hand-painted wooden sign with sunlit hills behind it. It reads Wrexham Council proudly presents Pothole Land, featuring two kilometers of award-winning potholes and very little actual road to spoil your fun. Guaranteed to be the deepest, longest and widest pothole in Wales. The darkest, longest and widest words read, spread across the orange and yellow star shapes. An arrow with the words, like this, points in the direction to the left. — Fed up villagers in Pontfadog hope repairing their potholes will get the council’s attention

In a small picturesque community on the edge of Wrexham County, a new so-called “tourist-attraction” has emerged.

Pothole Land, just above Pontfadog in the Ceiriog Valley, is a scathing response by one resident to “years of concerted council inaction” in maintaining its roads.

Another, Russell Kirk, who lives at the top of a street with “the widest, deepest and longest” potholes in Wales, described it as “treacherous” and “progressively worse”.

Wrexham Council declined to comment.

“People won’t come here anymore,” Mr. Kirk said, “and that sometimes includes the Bin Men.

“We are cut off from life, forgotten.”

He said he and his neighbors regularly reported potholes to Wrexham County Borough Council, but “nothing was done”.

The creation of Pothole Land is a “beautiful” response of the community to their plight, he said.

“It’s better not to be angry… let’s bring humor and raise its profile so something can be done.”

Russell Kirk says potholes are getting “progressively worse”

A man with short brown hair and a short white beard stands in a large pothole on a country road with his hands in his pockets. She is wearing a brown jacket over a blue cardigan and a blue and white checked shirt and white T-shirt, blue jeans and black, dusty shoes. — Russell Kirk says potholes are getting “progressively worse”

Ed Reiner, who lives near Mr. Kirk, said every trip was “an expedition.”

“It’s a small unclassified road, we expect it to be bumpy and bumpy, there will be a few potholes here and there, that’s OK.

“But, they’re not potholes, they’re bomb craters. It took years of concerted council inaction to get to where we are now.”

According to residents, Pothole Land is a humorous way of getting the council’s attention

From behind, a red pick-up truck points down a lane with a banner hanging above it that reads Pothole Land. There is a sign on the back of the truck that reads Pothole Tour Bus. In the back of the pick-up is a hay bale and an orange toy tractor. There are sheep in a sunny field by the side of the road. — According to residents, Pothole Land is a humorous way of getting the council’s attention

Another resident of Nantir, near Glyn Ceriog further up the valley, said their road was so “terrible” that no one visited them and they could not get deliveries.

Jan Gilchrist said she understood the council’s budget was stretched but the road had not been repaired “for years”.

“The cost of our cars is unprecedented,” he said.

“We have to leave home early to go to work. What should only take five minutes to reach the village takes 15.”

“We pay our taxes… what are we getting?”

The road where John Gilchrist lives in Nantir is also in bad shape, which means no one will come to visit

Jan Gilchrist Photograph of a country lane with a long and narrow ditch and loose stones, a field gate and a footpath sign visible in the background — The road where John Gilchrist lives in Nantir is also in bad shape, which means no one will come to visit

Residents of the Seiriog Valley may feel isolated as a result of their pothole problem, but they are certainly not alone.

An annual survey conducted by the Asphalt Industry Coalition revealed that local road conditions were at an all-time low in 2024 due to a “decade of deterioration”.

It was estimated that it would cost more than £16 billion to deal with the backlog of repairs in England and Wales.

But due to tight finances, local authorities are having to prioritise.

Next to Wrexham, in Flintshire, Councilor Glyn Banks, the lead member of Streetscene which looks after road maintenance, said its £1.7m budget was less than half of what was needed to maintain a “steady state” of the road network. Was.

“It’s a never-ending cycle, there are budget shortfalls everywhere and we have to fight our way.

“It’s a front-facing service that everyone from recycling centers to the road network sees every day.”

They also made a £170,000 purchase of a machine which speeds up the process and efficiency of pothole repair, helping to stay on top of the problem.

Flintshire Council has invested in a “Pothole Pro” which it says will make the job of filling potholes quicker and easier.

A yellow and black JCB machine on the side of a suburban A road with parked cars and houses in the background. The area where it is working is separated by traffic cones. The machine plans the tarmac with a cutter at the front. The driver is seen sitting in the cab wearing a yellow colored hi-vis jacket. — Flintshire Council has invested in a “Pothole Pro” which it says will make the job of filling potholes quicker and easier.

But while money is spent on building potholes, help is also being provided in building them.

The total cost of repairing vehicles damaged by poor road surfaces in the UK in 2024 was £579 million, the AA said.

The organization’s Vince Crane said there were more than 600,000 pothole-related incidents last year, causing damage to wheels, tires, body work and suspension.

In Pontfadog, Andy Jones of Ceiriog Valley Service Center said he is becoming “busier and busier” with jobs related to pothole damage, with five jobs coming in in the last week.