22 walkers met on Danebridge on Wednesday 11th August 2021, for the 6 mile walk led by John Sherratt.. The route would take us to Wincle, Roche End, Buxton Brow, Turners Pool, Hilly Lees and Snipe. From the bridge over the River Dane we walked to the path by the side of the cottage, which then took us sharply uphill. Just on this initial stretch we had far reaching views to our left. After climbing even higher over the gritstone, we arrived at the distinctive Hanging Stone rock, overlooking Swythamley Hall, home to the Brocklehurst family, who owned the Roaches Estate until 1978. The rock contains two memorials, one to Lt. Col. Henry Courtney-Brocklehurst, killed on active service in Burma June 1942, and the other to a dog buried in 1874, who was owned by a previous squire at the hall.

After a short drinks break here we carried on upwards, and just as we approached a stile we met some runners from Nepal, heading downhill at a fast pace. We didn't get chance to find out more, but it is likely that they were Gurkhas , as they have been known to take part in adventure training in the Peak District

Proving how popular the Roaches are, I think we met more walkers here than in any other area we have recently visited, taking advantage of the good weather and the impressive scenery.

The walk continued along paths and fields towards our lunch break at Turners Pool. We sat overlooking this popular carp fishing spot for a while before starting our return to the cars. We had some short stretches of lane walking to do at times, going past the lodges relating to Swythamley Hall, and the chapel, now converted into residential use.

We returned to Danebridge via the steps we had climbed at the start. This is a very popular area for our group, with many different paths to walk and enjoy

Gillian Gibbons