The Roaches and Lud’s Church
First day hiking, the beginning of new adventures
We wanted to go hiking for some time but we always found excuses like ‘‘I don’t have hiking boots‘‘ or ‘‘it’s raining outside‘‘ until one day when some friends invited us to go with them hiking. That was a good incentive to get us from our comfort zone so we went to Sports Direct and bought hiking boots and some overtrousers for rain.
The route we did was The Roaches and Lud’s Church. For our first hike it wasn’t too hard but it was a good exercise.
We started from the Roaches car park which is free but with limited spaces on the side of the road.
After around one mile we felt in love with hiking, with being outside in the nature, with the views and we just wanted to carry on and discover more places.
The Roaches and the views from there are even more spectacular. Looking from the top of a hill or a mountain makes you feel confident and powerful that nothing you want for your future is beyond your reach.
By the time we entered in Lud’s Church it started to rain a little bit and it acted like a shelter for few minutes.
Lud's Church is a deep chasm penetrating the Millstone Grit bedrock created by a massive landslip on the hillside above Gradbach, Staffordshire. For a small person like me it felt like I entered in a great cathedral with massive and spectacular walls.
The Roaches and Lud’s church was an initiation into hiking and outdoors activities and thanks to our friends it was a great start for new adventures.
We went back to The Roaches and Lud’s Church when was frosty outside and a little bit of snow. Everything looked different being covered by a white ‘‘blanket‘‘ of snow. We parked at The Roaches car park on the side of the road but be aware if it’s snowing it’s not very good for certain rear-wheel-drive cars.
When everything is hibernating, a beautiful wild yellow thorny flower enlighten our day.
How can an amazing flower like this one survive in a harsh environment? Are we driven by survival, love and belonging, freedom?
‘‘To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.’’
If you ever fancy a hike in the snow I would recommend to have proper boots. Gloves and warm drinks are a given and if you have hand warmer gel it’s a plus in case you need to warm up your hand quickly.
We have multiple layers as it’s easy to carry and to control body temperature.
We have finished the 11 miles route after sunset, in about 7 hours as it takes longer when you walk in the snow.
We look forward to going back in the summer and enjoy the vibrant scenery.
