Upper Hulme
Upper Hulme is a small hamlet between Leek and Buxton which is tucked away in the Staffordshire Moorlands area of the Peak District National Park, famed for its rocky escarpment and dramatic landscape. The Roaches, Hen Cloud and Ramshaw Rocks on the outskirts of Upper Hulme provide inspiration for photographers, a playground for climbers as well as some of the best walking and far reaching views for miles around.
Upper Hulme was at one time a thriving community situated around a central mill which harnessed energy from the infant River Churnet. Silk dyeing in Upper Hulme ceased in the early 1970’s but much of the mill complex has been taken over by other light industries which have utilised the commercial buildings located just a short distance from the nearby A53 trunk road. This bypasses the hamlet leaving Upper Hulme as a rural retreat comprising of former mill worker’s cottages, traditional farms and smallholdings.
Many of the properties in and around Upper Hulme are constructed using local sandstone which is unusually pink in appearance, giving them what could be described as a rosy glow.
Apart from the mill and a selection of cottages mainly clustered around a ford where water cascades over a stepped weir, Upper Hulme has a local pub named appropriately The Rock as well as The Roaches Tea-Room which can be found a short distance away at Paddock Farm.
Upstream from the large mill complex is Dains Mill, a recently restored former corn mill which is believed to date back to the 16th century. A mill was constructed here by a Thomas Gent of Upper Hulme in 1560. However, in 1599 there was a dispute when the owner of Upper Hulme Mill downstream claimed that it was stealing their water. Gent’s Mill as it was known then was subsequently demolished. However, only a couple of years later another mill was built on the same site by John Hind and his brother William who later let the property to a tenant named Robert Deane. Over the years the new mill became known as Deans, then Danes and finally Dains Mill. Although it ceased operating in 1946, the buildings have recently been restored and a fabulous waterwheel can be seen behind a strong metal grill.
After passing through Upper Hulme heading north-east you will ascend a fabulous hollowed section of lane before suddenly emerging onto high ground with a spectacular and dramatic landscape and far reaching views. To your right is the wonderful conical shaped hill of Hen Cloud, followed by an escarpment of high gritstone rocks and boulders known as The Roaches, its name reputedly originating from Les Roches being French for The Rocks. Down to your left is Tittesworth Reservoir, contained like a giant puddle in a basin of low-lying fields and pastureland. Away in the distance are the salt plains of Cheshire, whilst on a clear day it is said that you can see the mountains of North Wales as distant peaks.
Much of this wild wilderness of moors and rocks around Upper Hulme were out of bounds until the latter part of the 20th century. A reference in Baddeleys ‘The Peak District’ dated 1939 states “The Roaches are private and walkers are liable to be stopped by keepers! Fifty years later and visitors could happily follow public footpaths around Upper Hulme and The Roaches, whilst following the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000; it has now become possible to walk over many areas that have been designated as Access Land.
The divide between The Roaches and Hen Cloud is known as Windygates Gap. This was actually the route of the old Buxton to Leek road that was shown on an early map dated 1749. It passed through Windygates Farm below, which has a datestone of 1634, and from there to Meerbrook and Leek.
To the rear of The Roaches and north-east of Upper Hulme are Ramshaw Rocks which contain the famous Winking Man rock formation – as you drive up the A53 heading from Leek to Buxton there appears to be a face with an open eye which winks as you pass by!
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