Torching Cottage

Cottage rocks, hidden deep in the picturesque Churnet valley, is a ‘pebble-pullers’ paradise; it's a pebble-dashed Cottage. But the pebbles sweat, and they can’t be climbed on when wet. It’s the strangest thing; you have to ‘torch’ Cottage. The practice of ‘torching cottages’ (albeit English holiday cottages) dates back to the 1970s, to North Wales, another area famous for rock-climbing.