The Roaches

I am currently chasing inspiration for three short stories I have to produce for a story book called "Shadows". So last weekend Grace and I braved a windy and wet day to spend an hour or so at a local hilly outcrop near Leek called The Roaches. Only when I got back and was doing a little research did I realise that in fact this is the site of more than one local legend. I always wondered why there was a pub in the middle of nowhere, surrounding by miles and miles of bleak moorland called 'The Mermaid" - well now I know!

There are two local ghost stories attached to the Doxy pool on the top of the Roaches. 1) A local highwayman and his family lived nearby, his daughter had a beautiful singing voice, and she was found one day and carried off by 'strange men' never to be seen again. Local legend says that the restless spirit of the young woman still haunts the pool and the rocks nearby to this day. 2) A malevolent water spirit lives in the Doxy pool. Local folk history reports that in 1949 two young women went for a swim in the Doxy Pool and as they were about to get in they were chased off by the sight of a terrifying water demon. There are also legends of 'Jenny green teeth' (Peg Powler or Ginny green teeth or wicked peg - depends where you live) is supposed to drag unsuspecting passers by into the murky waters of the Doxy Pool to meet a watery end.

So now we are a little more aware of the local legend - guess what? Yep - we are heading back to check out the dark and bottomless water at Doxy Pool...cool! However the moral of the story is ...research first and save yourself the need for a second visit!