I will start by saying this walk starts off with the most challenging part first, so if you don’t enjoy the first 20 minutes, don’t give up – it’s well worth the effort.
We didn’t pick the best day to attempt this and the drive over from Nottingham was very foggy as we left the main roads and headed out towards the town of Leek in Staffordshire. We had downloaded the All Trails app for this route which roughly follows a figure of eight. For a shorter walk you can just do the Roaches part or park in a different area and just do the Lud’s Church part.
Parking is free along Roach Road (Postcode ST13 8TY) with marked bays down one side of the road. There is clear signage warning motorists not to park on the grass verge areas, so make sure you keep to the road spaces. We arrived at 9.30am on a Sunday with relatively poor weather and there were not that many spaces available so you would most like need to be a little earlier in better conditions. Along this road you will also find Roaches Tea Rooms and Restaurant which offers refreshments and toilets. There is often additional parking here for a small fee, which must be paid in cash.
After a change of shoes, a short walk back along the road took us to the entrance and what looked to me like a very steep cliff face. I had initially thought these were the Roaches but the map informed us this area was Hens Cloud. There is an option to follow the path around to the right and walk up a less steep path but we chose the direct route. Study shoes and layers of clothing including waterproof are a must.
The walk to the top was not as steep as it initially looked but did include some scrambling which was mostly me clinging onto bits of scrub for dear life and claiming that I’d never make it.
Amateur dramatics over, once we were on higher but more even ground we were met with a thick layer of fog. On a clear day the views over Staffordshire are stunning but unfortunately, we had no such sights. We took a few photos and tried to get our bearings as to where we were headed.
We made our across the flatter top area of granite rock. The fog started to clear as we progressed and we got some great photos at this point. There were lots of other people around who were happy to help with photos and route advice.
The weather made the ground pretty slippery so we really did have to concentrate on where we were putting our feet. This is the first walk I have done where I have seriously considered that walking poles might be useful!
The next part of the walk took us seemingly slightly downhill but just above a stunning woodland area filled with gorgeous autumnal colours. Just before the Roaches we reached Doxey Pool, a small area of water that legend has it contains the spirit of a rogue mermaid called Jenny Greenteeth who reportedly lures ramblers to their death! I think she was sheltering from the cold on our visit as all appeared calm.
When we reached the Roaches themselves and the nearby Ordnance Point we had been walking for around 2 hours. On a clear day one can see much of Cheshire and even as far as Snowdon but our day was far from clear. Roaches, literally translates from French as ‘rocks’. Hen’s Cloud, the Roaches and Ramshaw Rocks are the most prominent (and huge) rocks of this gritstone escarpment. It is possible to climb up and sit on some of the larger rocks, to take a break whilst taking in the surroundings.
From the Ordnance Point we headed downhill towards a road where an ice cream van was parked. This marked the crossing point of the figure of eight. Our next stop would be Lud’s Church. We were slightly concerned that we were only a quarter of the way around the route after 2 hours plus but we needn’t have worried, the terrain from then on was much easier to navigate.
We headed up onto a ridge like pathway which offered some fabulous views over the surrounding countryside since the fog had cleared. This part of the walk is quite exposed and felt much colder and quite windy. There are flat top rocks that you can walk on but I was a little scared to go too close to the edge incase a sudden gust swept me off!
We followed the ridge path around a bend and were then on the main path towards Lud’s Church. Once the path starts to go slightly downhill it opens out into a beautiful woodland walk.
The Lud’s Church area is off to the right of the path – we almost missed it, but could see people walking through from the opposite direction. The area is a 100 metre crack in the gritstone which was caused by earth movement. The rocks are covered in moss of all colours making the area look almost magical. It is referred to as a church because it was used as a secret place of worship in the 15th Century by the Lollards who were supporters of John Wycliffe. At this time, if caught, they would have been prosecuted as heretics for having different beliefs to the mainstream system that was in place. Legend also has it that Robin Hood and his men used the church as a hiding place whilst on the run from the authorities.
If you want to do just the Lud’s Church part of the walk you can park at Gradbach Car Park to access this part of the pathway without including the Roaches.
This was the busiest part of the walk with lots of people wanting photographs against the stunning scenery. There was also a log with coins pressed into it in various places. These are known as wishing trees – you can add your own coin and make a wish, but you will need a hammer or rock to get the coin into the wood!
We walked a couple of minutes away from this area and were able to find a great spot for lunch. Having previously not encountered any benches or seating areas we were pleased to see a handful of tree stumps that served as table and chairs for our packed lunch. My daughter even had the privilege of hand feeding a Robin that took a shine to her!
Aside from the ice cream van there is nowhere to eat so definitely make provision for food, water and possibly a wild wee!
The pleasant woodland path meandered back towards the ice cream van with a bit of an uneven uphill part just before the gate.
From there the remaining mile or so was a normal road so a nice even surface, which was very welcome as I had started to tire by this point, and the black clouds were moving in fast! Take care on here as there were cars coming by in both directions, some of them at quite a speed. The road offered some pleasant views over the countryside including Tittesworth Reservoir, a landmark that seemed to have been visible for most parts of the walk.
All in all a reasonably challenging walk on varied terrain. We will need to repeat it as we definitely didn’t get the best of the views that day. I had expected parts of it to be perilous due to the rain and wet ground but I felt very safe all the way around once the initial scrambling part was over.
We reached the car just as it started to rain and headed home well before the darkness set in. From start to finish including a stop for lunch the walk took us just under five hours, including a half a hour lunch stop and a lot of photo stops. On a warmer, lighter day I would definitely head to Leek or Buxton for something to eat and a wander around afterwards.
compass and coaster 
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