Want to know the weather on the Roaches? click here This weather station is about 2.5miles from the Roaches
Want to know what you are looking at from the Roaches? From Long Mynd to Shuttlingslowe. check this website. click here You'll need to click the magnifying glass to get good images.
HEADLINES -updated 01 JuL 09
Visit the flower festival in Meerbrook Church 03 - 07 July 2009. Many people do much work to provide the exhibits and it is well worth a visit.
There is still a wallaby around! Andy Burton from Sheffield spotted one between Gradbach and Lud Church on 29th Mar 2009. See photo at bottom of this page and others on Wallabies page
Just received an email from Tony Williams see memories page. He says he remembers a male wallaby being released in this area about 1980 and thought it was a story in a national newspaper. Does anyone else remember? contact webmaster
The peregrine chick raised on Hen Cloud is now flying! So that is now 3 chicks raised successfully on the Roaches.
All restrictions have now been removed and you can move freely around Hen Cloud. Evidently if you get too close to the nest the birds kick up a racket but there is no harm done.
See new gallery of beautiful photos from Paul Shaw. See example below and Paul's gallery via menu
The Roaches where Buzzards fly and Wallabies still roam. The Roaches (or Roches) is a wind-carved outcrop of gritstone rocks straddling the parishes of Leekfrith and Heathylee in the Peak District National Park about 4 miles north of Leek, Staffordshire and 8 miles south of Buxton, Derbyshire. See Google Earth image
The name Roaches has evolved recently from 'Roches' as the area used to be known only 100 years (or less) ago. 'Roches' is the french word for rocks.
To get to the Roaches take the A53 road from Leek, Staffordshire towards Buxton. After about 4 miles and about half a mile past the Three Horseshoes pub take a left turn signposted Upper Hulme. After a hundred metres take the left fork. Follow this road for about one and a half miles. Park in the lay-byes - you can not miss the Roaches! To avoid a ticket make sure you park as signed!
The only two centres of a sparse population are the Villages of Meerbrook and Upper Hulme. Facilities include a tea room, a village hall, garden centre, holiday cottages, furniture maker, vehicle repair and a visitor centre.
The Roaches are particularly popular with climbers because of the diversity of the climbing routes there. Also there are many miles of paths to satisfy the most seasoned rambler. see the Walks page
The Roaches area includes Hen Cloud, so named because with a little imagination it looks like a roosting hen. The name could also have been derived from the Anglo -Saxon 'Henge Clud' meaning steep cliff. Also Ramshaw Rocks which includes the weird rock formation called the Winking Man.
For many years, from the 1930's to the early 2000s, a fairly large group of Wallabies roamed the Roaches. We believe only one is left now. They had been released from a private zoo. 3 Yaks were also released at the same time but they died out in the 1950's. I am trying to build up a library of memories of the Wallabies and Yaks. See the Wallabies page.
