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

Matlock is the county town of Derbyshire, England.

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

Bakewell is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, known also for its local Bakewell pudding.

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

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

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

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.

Bakewell and many villages are in the national park, as is much of the rural west of Sheffield.

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.

Nearby towns include Matlock to the south-east, Chesterfield to the east and Buxton to the west north-west.

A major employer is the Peak District National Park Authority, which has its offices at Aldern House, Baslow Road.

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.

It offers Peak District scenery such as Mam Tor and Kinder Scout, and more urban attractions such as Bakewell, Buxton and Derby.

The High Peak Transpeak service offers an hourly link southwards to Taddington, Bakewell, Matlock, Belper and Derby.