Grand Day for a Walk

There was barely a cloud in the sky as we set off for our walk. As it was meant to be good weather and we were heading for a local beauty spot we decided it would need an early start to avoid the crowds. 

We were off to The Roaches and Lud's Church in the Peak District just outside the town of Leek. The Roaches is a very popular spot for climbers and walkers. We had much of the ridge to ourselves and fantastic views across The Cheshire Plain towards Bosley Cloud and Jodrell Bank. You could even see The Wrekin and Caer Caradoc in Shropshire in the distance. 

This is a view from the start of the walk, looking back towards Leek, with the Hen Cloud on the left and Tittesworth Reservoir just peeping out on the right.

Once along the ridge you come down to Roach End where you have a choice of paths. We continued down into the Black Forest to visit Lud's Church. This is a huge natural cleft in the rock formed by a landslip. It's about 100 metres long, 15 metres high but only a couple of metres wide in places. 

The whole place is steeped in myth and legend from a hideaway for Robin Hood, the Lollards using it as a place of worship and connections with the medieval poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". I've added a couple of shots of this. I should have got my other half to model just for a bit of scale!

No calls from dad or the carers today. It sounds like things are settling down again.  Phew!