Lud's Church - Walks in the Peak District.

Getting outdoors right now should be a priority on your self-care list because a recent trip to the Peak District was exactly what the doctor ordered for me. The Peak District is a vast place to explore so finding a walk/hike that is suitable for you needs research and can be easy. We decided to use a good weather day to get on our walking shoes and head to the Staffordshire area of the Peak District to explore Lud's Church. 

With a 80-minute pleasant drive from our base in Leicestershire, we headed towards the Gradbach area in Staffordshire. Parking here was a bit tricky as it seemed that everyone had this spot on their agenda that day, it meant we parked on the main road around 15 minutes further along to where we were hoping to park in the end. There is a car park by the River Dane, it's about a quarter of a mile from the old mill at Gradbach. There is also The Roaches Gradbach Car Park which is aligned with the walk towards Lud's Church. So there are plenty of options there for when you arrive by car.

If you do fancy another walk whilst you are at Lud's Church you can access The Roaches whilst here, we didn't but we'll definitely be giving it a go next time. The Roaches is an impressive rugged and steep gritstone ridge. Up here you can see panoramic views of Cheshire, Winter Hill in Lancashire and even Snowdown in Wales on a clear day. 

Lud's Church is a unique Peak District landmark that definitely has the wow factor enclosed within it. It's an 18 metre deep, moss-covered chasm full of history, myths and dark green wherever you look. It was created in the Roaches' gritstone after a giant landslip, which over time has been covered from top to bottom in vibrant moss. 

Walking towards this area was very uphill but there's fantastic spots on your way up to enjoy a spot of lunch before seeking Lud's Church. We definitely grabbed the opportunity to have a rest and dig into our prepared picnic whilst admiring the great British woodland and everything it has to offer here. Once we were up at the Lud's Church the views were incredible and as it's only 100 metres long, it doesn't really take long to explore it. We would have loved to have really taken our time but due to the volume of people here we decided to walk through at their pace. Once we came through at the other side we walked through beautiful woodland to navigate our way back to where we started. 

I'm not going to lie this was difficult as our source of navigation didn't play ball so we had to endure quite a vertical drop (aided by the fact we followed another family) back to a familiar path. 

The area in which Lud's Church resides is beautiful and gave us a great experience of the British countryside under our feet. 

Lud's Church is a great place in the Peak District to explore as an individual or with your family. We saw loads of families here enjoying the different areas they could climb or explore at their heart's content.

There are some great things to do nearby to including the Leak and Rudyard Railway, the Peak District Alpaca Experience, Poole's Cavern and Country Park and the Buxton Museum and Art Gallery. You can also explore the Peak District through bike hire and riding and trekking opportunities!

If you want to find out more about Lud's Church or see what is happening nearby, visit the Peak District Travel Information site to find out more.