Lud's Church in the Black Forest

Our task was to photograph Lud's Church in the Peak District National Park close to Gradbach. We needed to document this place using panoramic photography. But what was Lud's Church? A religious place of worship? how wrong could we be!

At Gradbach we found a Youth hostel in what used to be an old mill on the river Dane. As we trekked to Lud's Church along a well signposted route, we discussed the ethos of the YHA and decided that it was time this organistion was brought into the 21st Century-our arguments can be read in a seperate brief.

We found several other routes on our trail, all impeccably signposted. Whoever is responsible for this should be congratulated as this is not always the case as we have learnt from painful experience, mostly in the feet department. we left the flow of the River Dane and headed into Forest Wood. At a junction on the footpath there was what seemed to be a popular resting place on a rock formation with an excellent view of the valley below.

Now with about 400 metres to Lud's Church we still had no idea what to expect, although by this stage we realised that there would be no hymn singing today. The entrance to Lud's Church was on our right and as we entered a deep chasm steeped in myth opened up.

This deep dark chasm was created by a massive landslip above the river Dane. It is at least 200 ft (60m) long and 60 ft (18m) high. Look at our panoramic photographs to see for yourself.

The walk to Lud's Church is relatively comfortable, although there are some steep inclines, but it is well worth visiting.

By Chris Sabian for Peak District View. 18/09/2006.