The Roaches

About The Roaches

Stretching above the Staffordshire Moorlands, this gritstone escarpment offers dramatic, weather-worn rock formations and expansive views over Tittesworth Reservoir. The plateau’s rugged, wind-swept terrain provides a classic gritstone experience, with the jagged skyline of Hen Cloud nearby providing a striking accompaniment to this popular Hump.

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Did You Know?

• •The name is derived from the French word 'roches', meaning rocks, which arrived via Middle English. It perfectly describes the tiered gritstone battlements that form the ridge, sculpted by millennia of wind and ice into their current twisted forms.
• •For over sixty years, the ridge was home to a wild colony of Bennett’s Wallabies. Originally escapees from a private zoo at Swythamley during World War II, the population survived the harsh Staffordshire winters until the late 20th century, with the final confirmed sighting occurring around 2000.
• •Perched on the plateau is Doxey Pool, a dark body of water that local legend claims is bottomless. It is said to be the home of a malevolent water spirit named Jenny Greenteeth, who waits just below the surface to drag unwary travellers into the depths.
• •The summit offers an exceptional vantage point for the Staffordshire Moorlands. Looking west, the view stretches across Tittesworth Reservoir and the Cheshire Plain to the Clwydian Hills of Wales, while the sharp, pointed profile of Shutlingsloe is unmistakable to the north.
• •The Lower Tier of the escarpment is home to the Don Whillans Memorial Hut, a climbing hut built directly into the gritstone rock. It commemorates one of Britain’s most legendary mountaineers, for whom these edges served as a vital training ground.
• •On a bank holiday weekend, the most technical part of the ascent is often navigating the single-track road at the base, where the density of parked cars frequently exceeds the density of the gritstone itself.