HOME » WALKS & PHOTOGRAPHY ARCHIVE » STAFFORDSHIRE WALKS & PHOTOGRAPHY » THE ROACHES PG.1

THE ROACHES - PAGE 1 - (09/10/04)

This is the first of two pages showing our visit to The Roaches, Staffordshire. The Roaches are located to the north east of Leek and can be accessed off the A53 Leek to Buxton road, through the small village of Upper Hulme. To see a map of the area click here. The weather today was dry with long sunny spells and temperatures reaching about 12˚C.

Upper Hulme is featured in the photo on the left before we reach our destination for the morning, The Roaches. Centre photo shows Rockhall Cottage among the rocks, the small cottage used to be a gamekeepers lodge but is in use today as a climbing hut.
The area is popular with walkers enjoying the varied landscape and stunning views, and climbers facing the challenges of the gritstone rock faces. The image in the centre above looks towards Tittesworth Reservoir and beyond that the town of Leek.
The story behind The Roaches and it's gritstone rocks began some 300 million years ago, the rocks were formed by river deltas which deposited sediments of mud, sand and grit which were then compressed to form 'millstone grit', (it is often called millstone grit due to it's use in Corn Mills). Add in an ice age, tropical seas, upward rock movement and erosion and the result is The Roaches, 2004. More photos and information can be seen in page two, click here to view.