The Roaches is a prominent rocky ridge above Leek and Tittesworth Reservoir in the PeakDistrict of England. The ridge with its rock formations rises steeply to. Along with Ramshaw Rocks and Hen Cloud they form a gritstoneescarpment, which is popular with hikers, rock climbers and freerunners. It is often very busy especially at weekends. The Roaches Estate which includes Hen Cloud was purchased by the Peak District National Park Authority in the 1980s to safeguard the area from adverse development. From May 2013 took on the management of the Roaches Estate. In clear conditions, it is possible to see much of Cheshire and views stretching as far as Snowdon in Wales and Winter Hill in Lancashire. The Roaches are the most prominent part of a curving ridge which extends for several miles from Hen Cloud in the south to Back Forest and Hangingstone in the northwest. At the top there is a small pool called Doxey Pool that is, according to legend, inhabited by a water spirit. Nearby are the broad hills of Gun and Morridge.
Geology
The Roaches, Hen Cloud and Ramshaw Rocks are formed from a thick bed of coarse sandstone of Namurian age, a subdivision of the NW European Carboniferous system from ca 315 to 326.4 Ma, which occurs widely across the Peak District and takes its name, the Roaches Grit, from this location. The nearby Five Clouds are formed from a thinner bed of similar sandstone known as the Five Clouds Sandstone. These sandstones originated as delta sands dropped by major rivers draining a mountainous landmass to the north. The sandstone beds of both The Roaches and Hen Cloud dip moderately steeply to the east into the north–south-aligned syncline known as the Goyt Trough. The same beds at Ramshaw Rocks dip steeply to the northwest into the syncline. The southern end of the Roaches is defined by the presence of an east–west fault that runs through the col separating the Roaches from Hen Cloud.
Doxey Pool is a small pond, measuring about, by the top path of The Roaches at grid reference. Legend has it that this pool is inhabited by a mermaid called Jenny Greenteeth known as the blue nymph. The legend says that she fell in the pool on a foggy day whilst walking along the top of the Roaches, and ever since has been enticing unsuspecting victims down to the pool and to their watery grave.
The Winking Man
The Winking Man Rock formation is part of the Ramshaw Rocks section of The Roaches. 'Winky' as it is also known can be seen from the Leek–Buxton road about 5 miles outside Leek. It looks like a face sticking out of the hillside, and as you travel past in a car towards Buxton the 'eye' appears to wink, as a pinnacle of rock passes behind the face as a consequence of parallax.
