Glossop nestles in the foothills of the Pennines, with Bleaklow to the northeast and Kinder Scout to the south. Glossop is about 13 miles north of Buxton and 13 miles east of the city of Manchester with a direct rail link to that city. The town is twinned with Bad Vilbel in Germany.

Glossop was occupied by the Romans and there are the remains of a Roman fort standing on high ground above the River Etherow, named Ardotalia by the Romans, but renamed Melandra. The extensive site has been excavated, revealing fort walls, a shrine and the fort headquarters. The site has been landscaped to provide parking and picnic areas.

At Domesday there were twelve villages listed in the Glossop parish. It became the property of the monks of Basingwerk Abbey in North Wales. Later on, it became the property of the Dukes of Norfolk. In the nineteenth century it was an important cotton mill town with one of the mills owned by Edmund Potter, the uncle of Beatrix Potter. In the early part of the 20th century, the Glossop Estate was sold by the Dukes of Norfolk, and Glossop became a town in its own right.

Old Glossop is the name given to the original old town on the eastern side of Glossop which itself was formerly called Howard Town. This is an attractive area with some fine 17th and 18th century cottages clustered around the Market Square and Cross. The parish church of All Saints is medieval in origin but little remains of the old church. The west tower dates from 1853 and the nave from 1915. It has an 18h century sundial.

Glossop town centre caters for most shopping needs and has an indoor market, open Thursday to Saturday and an outdoor market open on Friday and Saturday. Some shops close early on Tuesdays. There is wide range of accommodation for the many tourists that visit the region each year.

Glossop Heritage Centre is situated in Henry Street and hosts a range of regularly changing exhibitions which can include local history, arts and crafts as well as industrial heritage.

Manor Park, set in 60 acres of gardens, woodlands and lakes, offers crazy golf, putting, bowling and tennis as well as a miniature railway and children's playground. Howard Park, although smaller, is equally pleasant. Glossop Brook runs through the centre of old Glossop making the perfect setting for a leisurely stroll. There is an interesting history trail around Old Glossop, which is also the location of "Doctors Gate", a footpath which leads up the Snake Pass and Pennine Way.

Hadfield and Padfield are two former mill villages which lie just over the hill to the north of Glossop, overlooking the Longendale Valley. The villages merge into each other and mostly consist of neat terraces of gritstone-built terraced houses constructed in the heyday of the cotton industry in the late 19th century. This area was badly hit by the decline of the cotton industry in the 1960-70s but has recently rebounded, and much of the area is now occupied by Manchester commuters. Hadfield has recently achieved fame as the location where the BBC's 'League of Gentlemen' series was filmed.

North of Glossop is the Longdendale valley, with a chain of five reservoirs and the Longdendale Trail, a cycle and walking trail through this picturesque valley, part of the Trans-Pennine Trail long distance footpath.

South of Glossop are the villages of Hayfield with its Sett Valley Trail and Little Hayfield, overlooked by Kinder Scout and popular with walkers and mountain bikers. The mill at Little Haywood survives, though it has been converted into flats, and the pub here is called The Lantern Pike after the sharply pointed hill which overshadows the place.

Tintwistle was once a sleepy little village at the bottom of Longendale, but now has the Manchester - Sheffield A628 road thundering through and a substantial estate of newer houses has been built below the original village, doubling or trebling its size. Though there is little of interest in Tintwistle itself, it is a good base from which to explore the Longendale valley.

The old village is perched on the hillside above Bottoms Reservoir, the last of the Longendale reservoir chain. The main road now bypasses the old cvillage entre, which retains much of its old charm with rows of old cottages, a Methodist Chapel and a pub, the Bull Inn.

In recent years, Glossop has become quite well known musically, for staging Jazz Festivals and Global Music Festivals. Glossop also follows the tradition of well dressing, a local custom.

The designer Vivienne Westwood (attended Glossop Grammar School, former name of Glossopdale Community College)

Accommodation in Glossop

Lees Hall Farm - Lees Hall Farm provides choice of 2 large holiday barn conversions, one sleeping 10 in 4 bedrooms and the other sleeping 14 in 6 bedrooms, a total of 24 when available for joint bookings.

Lees Hall Barn and the slightly smaller Lees Hall Cottage are two wonderful adjoining barn conversions located in an idyllic rural position on the edge of the famous old Derbyshire town of Glossop.

Surrounded by lovely countryside, the barns sit in expansive grounds with a large pond and a family of Canadian Wild Geese resident for part of the year. With access to over forty acres of countryside, excellent walks from the doorstep and the amenities of the town a short walk away, this makes an ideal base for a holiday at any time of the year Read more at Lees Hall Farm Glossop

Windy Harbour Farm Hotel - situated in a rural location just outside Glossop, High Peak. With views over the Woodhead and Longdendale we are in an unrivalled position on the edge of the Peak District.

We are a family owned business offering a warm welcome, home cooked food and a well stocked bar often serving speciality cask ales. Our twin and double rooms, all en-suite, are each individually furnished. Choose from bed and breakfast or dinner, bed and breakfast. We serve evening meals and lunches in the restaurant and afternoon teas in restaurant or in the garden during the spring and summer. Our camping and caravan site has electric hook up, toilet and water/waste facilities.

We are licensed for civil wedding ceremonies up to 120 and have three rooms offering a capacity in total of up to 160 people for a variety of private parties and functions. Read more at Windy Harbour Farm Hotel

Local links

Glossop

Old Glossop

Glossop Heritage

For some excellent photographs of Glossop please visit Derbyshire and Peak District Photographs