The Roaches
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From the road, follow the track up towards the Don Whillan hut, nestled in the cliff-face. Go past the garden, into a woodland of Scots Pine, and follow a path below the crags for about 250m before turning right and climbing up through a cleft in the cliff onto the ridge.
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Turn left to follow the flagstone path along the ridge. Views spill out for miles. You’ll pass the Doxey Pool, where a deceptive water spirit named Jenny Greenteeth is said to beckon people to their doom, and the often blustery 505m trig point before descending to a junction at a single-track road.
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Cross the road to continue along the now broad ridge to the right of a wall. After about 850m a path branches downhill. Keep ahead on a rougher path to stay high and make the most of the views. At a 330m spot height, turn left downhill following a sign for Swythamley.
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Keep west, passing through a couple of gates along a farm track running parallel to the ridge. At Hangingstone Farm, leave the track to cross a stile and follow a faint path across a paddock and into a larger field. The path heads past a standing stone, through woods and downhill to meet the road to Danebridge. Turn right to follow it over the river and uphill to the pub.
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Duly fortified, retrace your steps to the other side of the bridge and turn immediately north along the riverbank. Follow a path up through a small gate and into the shade of the woods, keeping the river on your left. Cross a stile out of the woods into grassland dotted with gorse bushes and continue to Back Dane cottage, following fingerposts ahead. Past Back Forest Farm it drops to run close to the river. At a footbridge where the river flows away north-east, turn up and right on a rising traverse to a junction just past a huge boulder. Turn left here to shortly meet the entrance to Lud’s Church.
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After exploring this mossy chasm once used as a secret place of worship, climb out into the trees. Make sure you’re heading southeast. The path is rough and slippery but clear, and leads out to the path/ road junction at point 3. Here you can retrace your steps
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along the ridge or take the road on the north-eastern side of the hill until you reach Shawtop Farm. Turn off to follow a footpath right, leading past buildings and through several gates.
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At a crossroads, take a gravelled farm track south, which passes through gates, becoming a muddier, but still clear track through moorland. Between Rockall and Hen Cloud, you’ll reach a clear junction with a little gate leading through a wall and straight towards the prominent hill.
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Tackle it head on, following the path up and along the obvious crest, making time to explore the boulders that jut out along the west-facing edge, a nesting site for peregrines in 2008. The summit is a blocky, bouldery reward with views in all directions.
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Continue to start descending the nose, along a path threaded between boulders. Aim north-east down to a beech woodland, turning downhill south-west to meet a track outside Roaches House. Follow it briefly before taking a sheep-trod up beneath the crags, traversing to the field you crossed at point 8. Retrace your steps taking the broad track left, back down to the start.