Mention the Peak District, and many people will think of the ‘High Peak’ around Kinder and Bleaklow. But it’s a huge area, stretching into 6 counties, with the Roaches, a prominent gritstone escarpment with interesting rock formations that cram it with character, sitting on its south-western edge.

Approaching from Leek, I headed as most people do for the Roaches Tea Room (postcode ST13 8TY) – there’s free roadside parking in marked bays, plus parking in a farmer’s field with a £2 honesty box. At weekends the area can get very busy. I visited on a Friday in the school holidays, on a day when the weather forecast predicted heavy rain. Only half the parking spaces were occupied, and I was heading home again before the worst of the rain came in, bang on time in fairness to the forecasters.

There’s a number of different public footpaths marked on OS maps that’ll take you onto the tops, but there’s also unmarked ‘desire paths’, and it’s mainly open access land, so you can legally walk anywhere, responsibly. It’s one of those areas where you can choose your own route based on sight, and how steep or gentle you want the ascent to be. And whether you want to include Hen Cloud – an outlying lump at the end of the ridge. I did, and chose the steep direct route, which turns into a short but fun scramble, where you’ll need to put hands on rock, but if you don’t fancy that it can be avoided by continuing along the farm track, and approaching round the ‘back’.

The main ridge from the Tea Room end to the col at Roach End, and then a return along the road would make a total of 4 miles. But this can be extended by including Hen Cloud, or by visiting Lud’s Church, a gorge which sits in a wooded area a mile beyond Roach End. Whichever way you do it, a return to the Tea Rooms for a generous portion of their carrot cake is recommended!