A Staffordshire Stroll

We prepared for the walk by retiring out of the rain to partake of tea and coffee (honestly!) at the Wincle Brewery.  Suitably refreshed, we took a narrow footpath out of Danebridge and walked uphill towards the Hanging Stone, a prominent feature on the skyline ahead of us.  The footpath led to the road highpoint at Roach End and after a short discussion we decided to follow the road under the Five Clouds before arriving to Rockhall, the Don Whillans Memorial Hut owned by the BMC and built around a cave, where we took advantage of the benches outside the hut to stop for lunch.

We continued the walk along the bottom of the Lower Tier of the Roaches, picking out routes climbed or aspired to, particularly the classic “Valkyrie”, before taking the steep steps up to the Upper Tier.  The broad ridge now took us to the legendary Doxey Pool before arriving at the trig point, having put on and taken off waterproofs as the rain decided its own intermittency.  This highpoint of the day was in mist but we soon dropped out into clearer air as we reached Roach End again.

The Roaches summit

descending Lud's Church

Descending into Forest Wood led us through the trees to the top of Lud’s Church, a famous landmark chasm cutting deeply through the gritstone.  Instead of losing height and following the Dane Valley Way back to Danebridge, we took the contouring path back to Hangingstone Farm and followed a slightly different route to that taken outbound, back to the cars.

Of course, as is customary, if there is a nearby pub then it will be visited.  The Ship Inn in Wincle and its fire warmly welcomed us and I tried a new beer that I hadn’t come across before – JW Lees Cosmic Ale.