A report on Peak District, Matlock, Derbyshire, Derbyshire, Buxton and Ashbourne, Derbyshire

Matlock is the county town of Derbyshire, England.

Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England.

Ashbourne is a market town in the Derbyshire Dales district in Derbyshire, England, with a population of 8,377 in the 2011 census, estimated at 9,163 in 2019.

Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.

It is situated in the south-eastern part of the Peak District, with the National Park directly to the west.

It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest.

It lies close to Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, on the edge of the Peak District National Park.

Its position near the southern edge of the Peak District makes it the closest town to Dovedale, to which it is sometimes referred as the gateway.

The town is 14 mi west of Derby, 21 mi southeast of Buxton, 22 mi east of Stoke-on-Trent, 49 mi south-southeast of Manchester, 35 mi southwest of Sheffield and 27 mi north of Lichfield.

The town is also near to the towns of Matlock, Uttoxeter, Leek, Cheadle and Bakewell.

Matlock is within the Derbyshire Dales district, which also includes the towns of Bakewell and Ashbourne, as well as Wirksworth.

Later they settled round Buxton, famed for its warm springs, and set up a fort near modern-day Derby in an area now known as Little Chester.

Outside the park, the wider Peak District often includes the area approximately between Disley and Sterndale Moor, encompassing Buxton and the Peak Dale corridor.

Its northern limits are on the A62 road between Huddersfield and Oldham; its southernmost point is on the A52 road near Ashbourne.

Buxton's profile was boosted by a recommendation from Erasmus Darwin of the waters there and at Matlock, addressed to Josiah Wedgwood I. The Wedgwood family often visited Buxton and commended the area to their friends.

The towns of Glossop, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Buxton, Macclesfield, Leek, Ashbourne, Matlock and Chesterfield are on the national park's fringes.

The A6, which links Carlisle with Luton, passes through the town; it provides access to Manchester, Stockport, Buxton, Bakewell and Derby.

It has a county council based in Matlock and eight district councils and since 1997, a unitary authority area of the City of Derby.

The town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire is known for its Royal Shrovetide Football, described as a "medieval football game", played annually on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.

The town is served by bus routes that cross the Peak District National Park, including to the nearby towns of Whaley Bridge, Chapel-en-le-Frith, New Mills, Glossop and Ashbourne.