Gradbach Hill

Rising above the River Dane in the Staffordshire Moorlands, this gritstone-capped hill offers a quieter alternative to the nearby Roaches. Its heather-clad slopes provide a sweeping vantage point over the wooded valley of Gradbach, looking directly across to the jagged edges of Hen Cloud and the hidden gritstone cleft of Lud’s Church.

• •The name 'Gradbach' is derived from the Old English words 'grād' and 'bece', meaning a sloping stream or valley with steps, referring to the steep descent of the landscape toward the River Dane.
• •To the south, the hill is inextricably linked to the Back Forest and Lud’s Church, a natural 15-metre deep fissure in the gritstone bedrock that remains famously cool and mossy even in the height of summer.
• •The summit offers an unobstructed view of Shutlingsloe to the north-west, a hill whose sharp, pyramidal profile has earned it the enduring local nickname 'The Matterhorn of Cheshire'.
• •The hill overlooks Gradbach Mill, an 18th-century former silk mill nestled in the valley that once used the River Dane to power its machinery and now serves as a popular trailhead for walkers.
• •Gradbach Hill serves as an excellent vantage point for watching hikers in the valley below rotating their maps while searching for the narrow, well-hidden entrance to the Green Knight's legendary haunt.