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About Derbyshire - Some Facts and figures about Derbyshire

Derbyshire is situated in the north midlands of England, bordered in the north-west by Cheshire, in the north by Yorkshire, in the east by Nottinghamshire, in the south by Leicestershire, in the west by Staffordshire. It measures about 52 miles from north to south, and for most of that length is only about 20 miles from east to west, in an area of approximately 2631 sq km (1016 sq miles).

Derby is by far the largest town in the county. Other towns of some importance are Alfreton, Ashbourne, Bakewell, Belper, Buxton, Chesterfield, Glossop, Heanor, Ilkeston, Long Eaton and Matlock.

Foremark Reservoir
Foremark Reservoir

The population of Derbyshire in 2018 was roughly 796,000 and can be broken down as follows

Amber Valley 122,700
Amber Valley includes include the towns of Alfreton, Belper, Heanor, Heage and Ripley. Amber Valley takes its name from the River Amber and covers a semi-rural area with a number of small towns formerly based around coal mining and engineering.
See
Visit Amber Valley
Amber Valley Borough Council

Bolsover 76,400
Bolsover is notable for two sites of historical importance, Bolsover Castle and Creswell Crags
See
Bolsover Borough Council

Chesterfield 103,800
See
Chesterfield Borough Council

Derby 257,000
See
The Derby Guide
Derby City Council

Derbyshire Dales 71,300
Derbyshire Dales serves the four market towns of Ashbourne, Bakewell, Matlock and Wirksworth, each serving large rural catchments. There are also over 100 villages within this local government district. The district offices are in Matlock.
See
Derbyshire Dales District Council

Erewash 112,800
Its eastern boundary is the River Erewash, from which the borough takes its name. It is bounded on the south by the Rivers Trent and Derwent, and to the west it extends as far as Derby and the River Derwent at Duffield. Includes Ilkeston.
See
Erewash District Council

High Peak 91,100
The borough was formed on April 1, 1974, by absorbing the municipal boroughs of Buxton and Glossop, the urban districts of New Mills and Whaley Bridge and the rural district of Chapel-en-le-Frith.
See
High Peak Borough Council

North East Derbyshire 99,300
North East Derbyshire covers some 100 square miles and lies between Sheffield in the north and Alfreton in the south. In the centre of the district, and virtually encircled by it, is Chesterfield which acts as the shopping and work centre for much of the district.
See
North East Derbyshire District Council

South Derbyshire 96,000
South Derbyshire contains a third of the National Forest as well as Aston-on-Trent, Elvaston, Hatton, Hilton, Ingleby, Melbourne, Stenson Fields and Weston-on-Trent. The council offices are in Swadlincote.
See
South Derbyshire District Council

Derbyshire is a brilliant place to live, work, play and visit. Its towns, villages, hills, dales and rivers, offer beautiful scenery, and a rich variety of customs that date back from time immemorial. In Derbyshire you find large country houses, like Chatsworth, Kedleston and Haddon, towns and villages associated with famous people or rare minerals, and crystal clear rivers and streams running through its valleys and dales.

Derbyshire caters for nearly every kind of sport, from rock climbing and pot holing to fly fishing and canoeing on waters surrounded by beautiful scenery.

The towns and villages are often quite isolated and built of the abundant native stone. Here also, there are many more stone built reminders of the ancient past, including the many burial mounds or `lows` which crown so many hills in Derbyshire. Prehistoric monuments also remain such as the magnificent Arbor Low stone circle and henge near Parsley Hay and the Nine Ladies stone circle on Stanton Moor.

The hedgerows and arable fields which typify the Midlands, once you have passed Ashbourne, give way to mile after mile of drystone walls criss-crossing stoney pastures, where pastoral farming of sheep and cattle predominates.

Derbyshire today is perhaps best known for the Peak District National Park, the first to be designated in Britain, in 1951, in recognition of its outstanding and largely unspoilt scenery. It covers 555 square miles of the north of the county, taking in the limestone plateau and dales of the White Peak, and the brooding gritstone moors and edges of the Dark Peak. Over 22 million day visits are made to the Peak District National Park every year, making it the second-most visited National Park in the world.

Over the years this region has been immortalized on film in numerous movies and TV dramas, including, Lady Jane Grey, Women in Love, The Virgin and the Gypsy, The Prince and the Pauper and Moll Flanders. The ever popular British TV Series, Peak Practice, BBC's Pride and Prejudice and Frank Zeffirelli's Jane Ayre have had an immense impact on the area, and visitors come from far and wide to see locations used during filming.

Some of the best places to visit in Derbyshire at Visiting Derbyshire

Approx position of Derbyshire within the UK

Derbyshire Crest

Unofficial Derbyshire flag



The Derwent Valley Mills region is now a World Heritage Site, leading to worldwide recognition of the unique role this area, which snakes down the Derwent Valley from Matlock Bath to Derby, played in shaping the factory system, the industrial revolution and modern society. The site includes a series of mill complexes, river weirs, mill settlements and an historic transport network.

The Derbyshire Sport Partnership includes agencies from the local community, education and sports that are committed to working together through sport and active recreation to improve the quality of life for the people of Derbyshire. They cover the traditional county of Derbyshire including the City of Derby and the Derbyshire part of the Peak District National Park.

Restaurants in Derbyshire

Dining out is easy in Derbyshire because the region has a huge variety of restaurants serving all kinds of food, from traditional old English to Mediterranean and Eastern cuisine. There is always something different to taste.
Many Derbyshire and the Peak District restaurants use quality, locally sourced ingredients. Chefs can often be found leading cooking demonstrations at local shows and country fairs helping to illustrate and promote the quality of local produce. See Restaurants in Derbyshire

Pub Food in Derbyshire and the Peak District

Most pubs most serve some form of food these days and of course there are many hundreds of pubs in the Derbyshire and Peak District region. See Pub Food in Derbyshire

More general information on the Peak District at Peak District

If looking for accommodation in Derbyshire and or the Peak District please visit Accommodation in Derbyshire and the Peak District

A good account of history in the peak district dealing with anglo saxons to present times can be found at Peakscan

For Genealogical research information on Derbyshire try GENUKI



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