UKC

Driving up to the Peak District from London tomorrow. Plan was to hit the Roaches (specifically for Valkyrie, The Sloth and Saul’s Crack), but with the rain today I’m wondering if we should go somewhere else. I’ve heard Stanage for example dries especially quickly, as well as being in the rain shadow of more westerly edges…

The weather is quite changable at the moment so you might be lucky (saturday is likely to be better than Sunday) however unless you are stying in the Peak parking is likely to be a problem at the Roaches as it fills up quickly these days. Stanage would give you more options

Damn. Are there not other parking options for those willing to walk a bit? I don’t mind a healthy walk-in to warm up after a long drive. Should arrive by around 10am. 

Forecast looks dry tomorrow - so you've little chance of being able to park at 10 unless you chance it on the mud at the parking field by the tearooms. 

There is generally more parking further down the road, well past the end of the crag. It's a bit of a trek but a nice one.

Go to Ramshaw for the day, then head over to The Roaches at 3ish to do your routes. That would be a great day. 

I think that the cafe might be doing paid parking. Can anyone confirm this?

I’m not quite at the roaches but in Manchester we’ve had barely any rain at all today. 

The field next to the cafe is open for paid parking (cheap) It adds about 10 minutes to the walk in. Free parking is usually full soon after 9.00 on weekends and don't be tempted to park on the verge as ticketing is heavily policed.

BBC forecast looks OK for Saturday but might be midgy with cloud and light wind

Oh, shit. Have the midges come out in force now? I didn’t encounter any last Sunday at Millstone despite the still, warm, cloudy day. But they were devouring my flesh the previous night at the Eric Byne campsite. 

I arrived around 9:30 Sat and took one of the last couple of spots. Plenty of space a few mins down by Hen Cloud.