Blake Mere (Mermaid Pool), Morridge

Morridge is the Staffordshire moorlands' forgotten grandstand. The single-track ridge road north of the Mermaid Inn runs along a 450-metre escarpment with Blake Mere — the legendary Mermaid Pool — sitting right beside the tarmac, and the view west takes in the full silhouette of the Roaches, Hen Cloud and Ramshaw Rocks with the Cheshire plain glittering behind. That matters, because the Roaches estate itself is Staffordshire Wildlife Trust ground where drone flying isn't permitted; this ridge is the legal way to get those rock formations in frame — TOAL from the open access moor by the pool and shoot across the valley. Sunset is the event here, with the light dying directly behind the Roaches skyline. It's bleak, windy and almost always empty apart from the odd model-glider pilot, which tells you the slope lift is real: small drones get shoved around hard near the escarpment edge. One genuine caution — the MOD's Leek training area sits on the moor to the north-west under danger area EG D201, so check NOTAMs and look for red flags before ranging in that direction. Otherwise this is quiet, honest moorland flying.