Ballooning Dragon Balloon Company 0115 947 3778.

Bird Watching at Carsington Water, 01629 540696

Bookshops

Scarthin Books of Cromford. A wonderful Aladins cave of a place with floor after floor of room after room of shelf after shelf of every book you could ever think of, new and used. There is also a small cafe serving mainly homemade food, which is very useful for browsing over potential purchases.

If you like bookshops don't go near this one unless you have some serious time to spend!

Country Bookstore at Hassop Station Situated in an old railway station.

Bookthrift at Ashbourne, 01335 300299 All new books, but at very good prices.

The Picture Book at Ashbourne, 01335 344008 All new, a serious bookshop

Jarvis Books, Matlock, 01629 55322

Scrivener Books, Buxton, 01298 73100

Back to Top

Cable Car The Heights of Abraham, Matlock Bath, 01629 582365

Canoeing Escape (Derbyshire), 07000 437227

Caving

Speedwell Cavern Ltd, Hope Valley 01433 620512
Poole's Cavern, Buxton, 01298 26978
Treak Cliff Cavern, Castleton, 01433 620571

Chatsworth House www.chatsworth.org

Climbing - Peak Activities

Cycling

Tissington Trail Peak Cycle Hire 07000 732529,
High Peak Trail, Middletop Cycle Hire 01629 823204,
Manifold Valley, Brown End Farm Cycle Hire,Waterhouses,01538 308313

Back to Top

Eating Out click for details

Entertainment

Alton Towers 0870 444 4455
Buxton Opera House Box Office 01298 72190
Derby Playhouse Derby Box Office 01332 363275
Metro Cinema Derby Box Office 01332 347765
Showcase Cinema Derby Box Office 01332 270707

Events For local events in our area this week click here - the post code is DE56

Fishing Click here for details of fishing activities.

Garden Centre. Tissington Nursery near Ashbourne 01335 390650

Gardens Click here for local stately homes and garders.

Gliding The Gliding Club, Great Hucklow 01298 871270

Golf Ashbourne Golf Club 01335 347960

Hang-gliding Peak School of Hang-gliding 01335 310257

Heights of Abraham - Click Here

Historic sites (Click here for more detail)

Chatsworth House 01246 582204
Haddon Hall 01629 812855
Arbor Low
Minninglow.
Roystone Grange
Caudwell's Mill, Rowsley 01629 734374
Wirksworth Heritage Centre 01629 822020
Wingfield Manor 01773 832060
Eyam Hall 01466 631976

Back to Top

Museums

Bass (Brewing) Museum, Burton upon Trent 01283 511000
Brindley Mill and Museum, Leek 01538 381446
Buxton Museum & Art Gallery 01298 24658
Caudwell's Mill and Craft Centre, Rowsley 01629 734374
Red House Stables Carriage Museum, Darley Dale, 01629 733583
Eyam Museum, Hope Valley 01433 631371
Old House Museum, Bakewell 01629 813165
Peak District Mining Museum, Matlock Bath 01629 583834
Royal Crown Derby, Visitor Centre, Derby 01332 712841
National Stone Centre, Wirksworth 01629 825403
The National Tramway Museum, Crich, Matlock, 01773 852565
Wirksworth Heritage Centre, Wirksworth, 01629 825225

Back to Top

Paint Ball - Wild Park

Quad Bikes - Wild Park

Riding

Rock-climbing Escape (Derbyshire), 07000 437227

Stately Homes

A wealth of information on local sites. Click here
Chatsworth House.www.chatsworth-house.co.uk

Steam Railway Peak Rail, Matlock, 01629 580381

Swimming Ashbourne Leisure Centre 01335 343712

Tramway The National Tramway Museum, Crich, Matlock 01773 852565

Walking

Dovedale. From its source on Axe Edge, the Dove snakes its way past the ancient reef limestones of Chrome and Parkhouse hills, meandering through verdant farmland of the upper Dove Valley to Pilsbury and Hartington from where it enters Beresford Dale (famed by Isaak Walton) and Wolfscote Dale lined by steep screes, then to Milldale and Dovedale Woods with Reynard's cave, Jacob's Ladder, Twelve Apostles and Lover's Leap, spectacular rock formations, entering the Lower Dove Valley at Thorpe Cloud.

Manifold Valley. From its source on Axe Edge, (within a kilometre of the sourceof the Dove) the Manifold winds its way through verdant farming country to Hulme End where it enters limestone terrain, pursuing a deeply entrenched meandering course southwards. The footpath follows the track of the now defunct Manifold Light Railway all the way to Waterhouses on the A523 Ashbourne Leek road, where bicycles may be hired. Thor's cave and Beeston Tor are spectacular rock formations and there are many examples of exposed geological folding which gave rise to the name of the valley. In dry weather the riverbed dries up and the river follows an underground course.

Tissington Trail. Following the Beecham axing of the Ashbourne Buxton railway line in 1967, the line was bought by the Peak Park authorities for conversion into a walking/cycle way that runs from Ashbourne up to Street Farm at Pomeroy on the Buxton Road(A515), joining the High Peak Trail at Parsley Hay. The original railway was built from Ashbourne to Parsley Hay at the turn of the 19th century. It is now a magnificent amenity for walking and cycling, affording some splendid views of the surrounding country.

High Peak Trail. The Cromford and High Peak Railway was approved by Act of Parliament in 1825 to link the Cromford Canal with the Peak Forest canal at Whaley Bridge. The route involved excavating deep cuttings and making embankments of the kind William Ruskin described as "vaster than the walls of Babylon" as it wound its way around Minninglow Hill. So steep was the incline up onto the White Peak plateau that horses were needed to draw the engines. By 1841 the horse teams were replaced by locomotives. Following the Beecham axe in 1967, the line was bought by the Peak Park authorities for conversion into a walking, cycling and bridleway that runs from Parsley Hay to Cromford.

Carsington Water. Completed in 1992, Carsington Water is the ninth largest reservoir in England, used by Severn Trent Water to store water taken from the Derwent at Ambergate. It is now a major recreational facility providing opportunity for watersports, cycling, fishing, sailing, walking and bird watching with a Visitor Centre comprising an exhibition, shops, restaurant and refreshments. Water sports Carsington Water, 01629 540696

White Knuckle Rides - see Alton Towers

Wildlife The Chestnut Centre, Chapel-en-le-Frith 01298 814099

Zoos

Chester Zoo - 01244 380280
Twycross Zoo We ONLY close Christmas Day - 01827 880250

Back to To Top