Derbyshire is a beautifully scenic county in England’s East Midlands. This remarkable area serves as a gateway to the Pennine Mountains and the Peak District National Park. The Peak District was the first area in the UK to be designated a National Park in 1951. Its stunning scenery of bleak moors and lonely isolated peaks, as well as its labyrinth of caves attracts visitors in great numbers. Derbyshire is also surprisingly central, sharing county borders with Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, and West and South Yorkshire. Derbyshire also holds the distinction of containing the point in England that is furthest from the sea, which, in case you are interested, is farmland on the outskirts of the little village of Coton in the Elms.

Much of the land of Derbyshire is taken up by the Peak District National Park, but there are also several famous attractions and stately homes in Derbyshire, including the iconic Chatsworth House. In addition to the visitors who come to explore Derbyshire’s beautiful scenery, a good many come to visit the superbly atmospheric traditional estates used in television and film adaptations of Regency dramas and Austen romances. Much of the county is rural and relatively unpopulated, but there are several fairly large towns and cities, each with an individual character. Its more urban areas grew substantially during the Industrial Revolution, when its hills and valleys became important for the iron, coal and limestone they yielded, and pioneering water power made cotton a major industry. The world’s first water powered silk mill was built on the banks of the River Derwent in Derby in 1717, and subsequent developments in the mechanisation of the textile industries led to dramatic growth of the town.

Derby remains the largest city in Derbyshire, although it has moved to become what is technically now a separate unitary authority, with the spa area of Matlock taking over as county town. Derby contains a good choice of visitor attractions, but Derbyshire has a selection of notable towns worth exploring. This includes the historic Ashbourne, and Chesterfield in the north of the county, which has one of England’s most famous landmarks – the crooked spire of the Church of St Mary and All Saints. You could also visit Glossop or Bakewell, a pleasant market town close to Chatsworth House, or Buxton, the traditional spa town and starting point for heading into the Peak District.