Ramshaw Rocks and The Roaches

This walk was done on 13 June 2011
Distance: 8.3 recorded but more like 9 miles Approx.
Time 4 hours
Weather: Overcast  with a little wind but warm.


View 13-06-2011 Ramshaw ridge,Roaches in a larger map
If you click on the link you can see more details. I walked it in an Anticlockwise direction.

I started out a little later in the day today, so I cut the journey time down and kept it closer to home. I have walked and Run the Roaches a few dozen times but I had not Ramshaw Ridge which runs very close and I had often thought of doing it so oday was the day.

As you can see from the route plot above my track did not start until I got to Dains mill for some reason, my best guest is a slow GPS lock so next time I must make sure it's running right. The app. I use is my tracks which updated itself recently and I just get the feeling that its not a good update and it's a little unstable(=crap).

So to fill in the gap,I parked at the bottom of Hen Cloud and I walked down the road a few yards then turned left onto a track which drops down to join the small stream where my GPS track starts. For such a short lived stream it was very full and lively. I came across a small mill I did not know was there.

 
The hillsides here are steep and you could hide a Zeppelin in the valley here(more on this in a minute). I wandered around Dains mill and found it to be recently renovated which struck me as odd as it was not open or showed any life. To put all that money into it in a hidden location was odd. It made more sense once I got home and googled it, see link above.
 

looks fully functional

From here I headed up the valley knowing that a right turn was needed. I made my move up a steep slope only to get my bearing at the top to find out I had been a bit premature by 300metres (see map)

This was fine except for the fact that the field contained longhorn cattle with calf's, which made me a little weary off worrying them and I gave them a wide berth. Forgot to take picture as well. 
The route then took me down a small but well kept track and dumped me straight into a well kept farm garden, I expected at any  moment to be met by the owner and their shotgun.When I got back I reviewed why I had deviated it does appear that the track is through the garden. After this is was a sort climb up to the ridge

Once I got onto the Ramshaw Rocks. I spied a large rock with a photo opportunity from the top so I took it.

looking towards Leek

Towards Buxton

Further along the ridge

I now know why they are not as popular for walkers, TBH it's a boring walk, they sit with higher hills around them, because of the formation of the rocks the path is below the ridge line so not a lot to see.
I can imagine that for rock climbers and bouldering it's a great place to go.
The evidence of the recent  moor fire is still strong in the nostrils even after the rains we recently had but it was good to see green growth poking though.

Leaving the ridge line I then dropped down to the Black brook nature reserve Now you may call me an old cynic but reserve area looked no different then anywhere else around but I'm sure there is a very good reason this area was picked. 

The reserve, excluding the conifer plantation, lies almost entirely within the Leek Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest. The whole SSSI covers an area of 9000 acres. Most of the reserve is also notified within a Special Conservation Area (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA). These designations highlight the European importance of the area for moorland vegetation and associated birds

Large tracts of land like this are essential for wildlife if we are to sustain viable populations of key moorland species and allow species space to move and adapt in the face of current pressures including loss of habitat, climate change and greater land use pressures. Many of our upland birds require large open spaces and this part of the Leek Moors is becoming a hot-spot for species like snipe, which are nationally declining, and lapwing.

 Reading the sign as I entered the area, it stated it's "upland habitat restoration project" while walking through this area it made me think about the hight of the area.
To me it's just somewhere I've always been for a bimble or run around and never considered it to be that high but the Trig point on the Roaches is only 95metres short of been a mountain and Flash village which is the highest in Britian is only a ridgeline and a mile away.
It gave my next few miles some interesting musing.
 I followed the stream down towards black brook which it joined

All together now - aarrrh

It is obvious why it is so called, must be all the peat water running into it. A short walk up out of the valley brought me to roach end. There is a converted farm here which I always though was a well to do place as it always had cars parked and was well kept. I have never passed on this side of the build ing before, I now saw a banner stating it was an Ofsed outstanding school. Ofcourse I looked it up when I got home ( I do this a lot ) and realised it was accually a school. What a great place to learn.

This just left a walk along the Roaches back to the car, I took so many photos off here I did try this time for some different views but they came out pretty much the same.

  I would call today a big sky day. The views went on and on, I think the lower cloud make it.

The colours in the rock came out nice

One thing I did notice was the water level in Tittesworth Reservoir was low already. The top end is all mud where it should be full of water.

 Even though Ramshaw ridge was a disappointment I enjoyed the walk, the rains over the last few days had wet it all up which is what it needed. Across the Roaches was like an old friend again. The walk gave me an idea as to the next walk. You will just have to wait in anticipation as to what next weeks exciting episode will bring