At the top of Ramshaw Rocks

Rising to a height of 1,666ft (505m) on the Staffordshire borders, the prominent gritstone ridge known as the Roaches (from the French les roches – rocks) has long been a favourite with walkers and climbers, not the least with East Cheshire Ramblers who made one of their regular visits there recently led by Frank Gay.

The curving escarpment, which extends for some 3.5miles from Back Forest in the north west to Hen Cloud in the south, once belonged to the Swythamley family but was bought by the Peak District National Park in 1980 order to protect its unique character and safeguard public access when the estate was broken up. Last year it was taken over by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.

Before tackling the ridge the walk took in other, less well-known outcrops, such as Ramshaw Rocks which formed a striking sight from the start point on the A53 and was the first big challenge.

Although first Frank explained that although the route was rocky in places and there was no serious scrambling, others were not convinced. However, they were soon compensated with magnificent views over the Cheshire Plain and the Staffordshire Moors.

“After heading across the moorland which was very boggy in places, we came to the Bald Stones – a popular area with those into the branch of climbing known as bouldering,” he said. “Our path now took us across Black Brook Nature Reserve, the habitat of curlew, short-eared owls and important moorland plants, before passing the rocky outcrop of Gib Tor.

“After lunch we had to negotiate our most challenging bog so far. Indeed, some of the party thought that flippers would have been a good idea,“ he added. “After this, the paths improved and we were soon at Roach End where, after a welcome ice cream from the van, we climbed up onto the ridge for more great views, including the Wrekin in Shropshire.“

The party gathered around their objective – indicating the exact spot with their poles

Ralph Atherton led 15 members of East Cheshire Ramblers on an 11 mile “noughty” walk from Padfield on Saturday 3 September. We are sorry to disappoint some readers, but this is not a spelling mistake and the ramblers did not walk in fetching combinations of boots, stockings and suspenders! No, this was a walk to discover the place on the moors north-west of Tintwhistle where four Ordnance Survey 100 km squares all meet and the grid reference locating the spot to the nearest metre is SE 00000 00000. It is not easy to locate this exact spot as it is not marked by a cairn or tracks through the heather, and a GPS is only accurate to about 5 metres so a ten zero reading has a short lifetime.

Looking at the fountain below Bottoms Reservoir at Tintwistle

The group set off from the car park at Padfield (very near to Sean Wood’s unique Laughing Badger gallery and bistro – but that is another story), near the start of the Longdendale Trail, just as the rain stopped at 10 am. Heading north we passed over the dam of Bottoms Reservoir, puzzled over the functions of the ornate reservoir waterworks before walking past Arnfield Reservoir into Swallow’s Wood nature Reserve with its picturesque lake and woodland. We continued north on the Pennine Bridleway and on reaching the moorland we were dazzled by the bright heather flowers with their beautiful perfume. Passing over the dam of Higher Swineshaw Reservoir we followed the leader’s GPS “GO TO” indicator and reached the “noughty” spot where one of the party actually managed to get all the noughts on his GPS and we celebrated with a group photo.

After lunch in the heather, we did an anticlockwise circuit of Harridge Pike returning to Higher Swineshaw via Walkerwood, Brushes and Lower Swineshaw Reservoirs. Thence to the ford at Ogden Clough where we enjoyed another sunny picnic alongside the rushing waters filled with overnight rain. Continuing through Arnfield Farm and Tintwhistle to Bottoms Reservoir we were delighted to see that the puzzling waterworks were spouting a 40 foot fountain, spectacular with the sun shining through it. We completed the walk with a clockwise circuit of Bottoms Reservoir, crossing over the dam of Valehouse Reservoir, and arriving back at the car park at 4 pm. Here we had an unexpected treat. One of our number announced it was his 65th birthday and he would treat us all to tea and cake at the Old House near Torside.

A good walk full of interest, good weather and conviviality – and if you were counting – seven reservoirs.

Brian indicates a likely spot to dig for coal as Roger and Melanie look on

A coach load of 57 of us set off for Ilkley on 31st May, on what proved to be an ideal day for walking. The 27 short walkers, led by John Irwin, were dropped off near Silsden and walked along the moor edge to The Cow and Calf Rocks, en route taking in the Swastika Stone and White Wells.
The 14 medium walkers, led by Roger Norton, set off from Ilkley along the Dalesway before climbing southwards onto Ilkley Moor, while the 14 long walkers, led by me, climbed straight up to the Cow and Calf Rocks before following the Dales High Way westwards, also taking in White Wells and the Swastika Stone, and then dropping down to Addingham, up to Beamish and along to Middleton Woods.
The Swastika Stone is an early bronze age carving, meaning unknown, and also found in Sweden. White Wells was built in the 18th century, and has a plunge pool for visitors, including one Charles Darwin, to take the waters. (Your editor tried hard but failed to persuade Brian to take the plunge.)

Brian indulges in a spot of rock climbing

As the long walkers dropped down into Addingham the footpath went through the local cricket ground. Just as we arrived a batsman was clean bowled, meaning we could continue walking without disturbing play. However, we hadn’t allowed for three laggards who arrived just as the new batsman took the crease. Ambling along, oblivious to the cricketers, it took a loud cry from the wicket keeper of “COME ON YOU WALKERS” to get them to get a spurt on. One can only imagine what he was muttering under his breath. Then blow me if the three of them didn’t stop for an ice cream as we were crossing the footbridge over the River Wharfe! I couldn’t possibly name the ringleader, but he did complain several times that I was going too fast to allow him time to collect beetles from under the moor’s stones.
Totally unplanned, all three groups coincidentally met up at the Swastika Stone at midday.