As above really. Just found a very interesting looking job at Chatsworth that I’m considering applying for, these looked like the closest villages/towns of a reasonable size. I don’t know the area well, only been there once on holiday, but fancy a change from Swindon. Whats the area like – is it friendly? I know the biking will be good but are there any local clubs etc? Thanks!

Bakewell is closer to Chatsworth (a lovely ride away) and is a nice place, although busy with tourists at the usual times.
Matlock/Darley Dale area can be quieter if you stay away from Matlock Bath, and avoid Hurst Farm estate if you can.
Plenty of beautiful villages within striking distance, but as they’re beautiful, and also close to Manchester/Sheffield/Nottingham etc, property prices are high.

Fantastic, live in Matlock, work in Sheffield, drive through Chatsworth estate everyday and never get tired of it. Active local club, and bike shop, Stanley Fearns. Great central location for getting out on the bike, either straight from door or short drive.

Moved up here in 2002 after 10 odd years in London and growing up in Hampshire, decided it’s a good place for daughter to grow up and so far wouldn’t move back.

Downsides, it rains a lot and bank holidays in Matlock, around the A6 are a bloody nightmare.

I know the biking will be good but are there any local clubs etc? Thanks!

Forgot about this bit – Matlock CC, best club in the country 😉 😀

Avoid the farm at all costs 😯 or kiss goodbye to you’re bike!! But in all honesty its a lovely part of the country, great riding as said above, from the door or further into the peaks! Derbys 25 mins from Matlock and is finally catching up with other cities! Have to disagree about the rain comment tho!

I grew up near Ashover (over the hill from Matlock), every weekend we’d cycle out Chasworth/Bakewell way – I’d love to live there still, and probably could if I could come to terms with going down the M1 every morning to south Notts.

Great riding from the door and a nice place to bring kids up. We lived out in the sticks a bit which was great for biking and stuff but a bit crap when my brother and me started going out to town etc. But you find ways round it.

If you want to meet random people in a new place then get a dog. You see the same people all the time and people with dogs always talk to people with dogs its weired. I walk my dog every morning at 6am with 4 other people who were complete strangers 2years ago, then on the way home I have a daily chat with an old bloke who loves our dog.

Thanks all – really sounding like it might be quite a good idea to move!

I grew up near Ashover (over the hill from Matlock), every weekend we’d cycle out Chasworth/Bakewell way – I’d love to live there still, and probably could if I could come to terms with going down the M1 every morning to south Notts.

Do it – Ash’er born and bred for me too, living in Milltown now and working in Nottingham. It’s worth it.

There is also a good state secondary school there – that may be planning ahead a little too far though 😀

Although I have just worked out how many years it was since my mate went there!!! – Probably check with Ofsted that it still exists.

Doh1Nut – Do you mean Lady Manners? I went there. It’s still there and still doing pretty well.

Bakewell is nice but seems to be becoming a retirement town.

Some of the smaller towns (bigger villages?!) around there have a bit an an, um, small town mentality: Friday night is fight night. Tideswell and Youlgreave were the worst for this when I was there.

Having said that, it’s the greatest place to live – biking, walking, climbing literally minutes from home, good transport links, great pubs etc etc etc

Most people cite tourists as the key downside. I always took the view that ultimately they were there for the same reason I was, but I got to live there!

You can’t go wrong with any of he villages/towns surrounding Chatsworth.

Bakewell house prices are on the high side and getting in and out of Bakewell can be a real pain in the summer months.

If house prices are important you could look at the villages on the west side of Chesterfield.

Highfields at Matlock and lady manners I think for Bakewell!! Never forget whipping the posh kids from manners at hockey, with our half baked, been together 2 weeks team! Happy memories!!

If you are not set on a small town or village, much of the west side of Chesterfield is an easy commute to Chatsworth, again with a decent state school.

Holymoorside and Walton give you access via Beeley Moor, which I imagine would make a lovely commute by bike.

{Edit} – Slow typing, west side of Chesterfield just mentioned 😳

LS – I grew up in Alton, started mountain biking in Butts Quarry, and worked in the Miners Arms in Milltown for 6 years on and off, we still go there for meals occasionally. My parents only moved away 3 years ago.

How do you find the drive to Nottingham everyday? I work in Keyworth to the south of Nottingham so it’s a bit further than the north. We’ve got a 20month old son now and another due in may and I’d love them to grow up in the same kind of counrtyside as I did. Althoug i’m off home now and it will take me a minute by bike so I do get loads of time at home with the Kids in teh evenings.

I went back 2 weeks ago for a ride up the hill and through the old quarry behind the Miners across to tops and down to kestedge. Made me realise how lucky i was to have grown up with rides like that out of the door!

How do you find the drive to Nottingham everyday?

It’s not too bad, I work at the University on the west side of the city so I don’t have to get into the centre. It’s about 1h10 by car on a bad day, and it takes me 1h10 on the road bike if I give it a bit of welly.
I’ve lived in one or two other places but there are very few (make that none, actually) that I’ve visited that I’d prefer to live and raise a family in. You’ve got the open countryside on the one hand but decent links to local cities and all the facilities you need on the other. That, though, is the reason why the whole area is so popular. My daughter goes to Ashover school and loves it, just like I did.

Lucas, you wouldn’t have a brother called David, would you?

No, I have a brother called Tom, he worked at the Miners too (we are going back 16 years to when I started there though). We went to school in Chesterfield.

My work is 10-15 mins round the ring road from the University so it’d be a 1.5 hour journey for me which is too much. I did it in 50 mins the other day though.

There’s only one or two places less desirable than Swindon and they’re currently having revolutions…

I live just out side of bakewell and i went to manners….infact i was head boy….so there.You will love the area…best club in the world,great riding on both road and mtb.Plus cross course at thornbridge 6 miles from chatsworth
Bruce

I don’t actually live in the area but have spent 5 years working around the area, my job relates to property to.

Depends on your budget and what facilities you want on your doorstep. Bakewell is prettier, but Matlock has a “proper” supermarket, a new leisure centre being built and a train station.

Bakewell is more touristy, and much as I love it, I could never live there as it gets claustrophobic when busy. It tends to be more expensive. Feedback I’ve heard recently suggests that they feel standards at Lady Manners have slipped in recent years (possibly rose tinted specs in action), though I have a feeling Ecclesbourne in Duffield was catching it in the league tables. Though the Thornbridge brewery may sway you towards Bakewell…..

All the smaller places around the area are lovely, generally pricey and have great riding to hand. I quite like Darley Dale – some nice houses at sensible prices, and Youlgrave is nice, if a bit exposed up on the hillside.

If I could find the right property and could afford it I’d personally look at Baslow, or maybe Calver/Curbar up towards Hathersage, depending how close you want to be to Chatsworth.

Just wish I could have persuaded Mrsswadey to move that extra 20 miles when we moved up here 10 years ago, can’t afford to do it now due to all you southerners coming up and pushing houseprices out of our reach! 😉

D’oh – nearly forgot to mention it – if you are buying somewhere with a view to renovating or extending, check and doublecheck whether you are within the Peak park boundaries, as their planners can be sticklers at times and can ruin those plans that you had in your head because you fall within their remit, but I’ll stop before I get on my soap box…..

I live in Darley Dale and it’s great – good mates, good pubs, good riding.

It straddles the A6 and sits between Matlock and Bakewell/Chatsworth. I find it has the right blend of not too busy, but with accessible shops & pubs. There are prettier areas to live locally though, but you sacrifice facilities – Darley Hillside is very desirable though if you can afford it. I’ve lived in a nearby village (Elton) for most of my youth and the ‘community’ involvement/interfering/nosy-ness did my head in – I’d maybe retire there. Most villages are quite clicky.

Most has been said already about living in the area, but whilst there may be slightly more imposing areas of natural beauty in the UK, features such as Chatsworth, the Peak, the proximity of Derby, Sheffield & Manchester, as well as the M1 make it an all-round winner.

Excellent tarts.

Tarts are an invention of Mr Kipling.

Bakewell is the home of puddings.

There are some great tarts in Bakewell also though Fred 😉

I was right, STR agrees with me.

And I’m sorry, Bakewell puddings are nasty – the tarts are probably pretentious and of retirement age as well

Noooo – a proper Bakewell pudding is delicious, but very sickly.

Plenty of young tarts swadey

Sadly my job role has changed and the young ones no longer require my services 🙄

Aside from puddings,another highlight is the Matlock Bath Balti, one of the best Indian Restaurants in the UK…

Have we persuaded lexiekay yet?

Matlock Bath Balti you mean, surely Hanky?

The Maazi in Matlock is fantastic too, but only for eat in – takeaways not too good.

Mrsswadey and I stumbled across a little Italian restaurant in Matlock Bath the other week, surprisingly good. And the chilli chocolate fudge from the sweet shop at the Pav end was a revelation…..

The Pav – that takes me back

8) The pav!!!!!!

Wow – wasnt expecting so many replies! Having just spent the last two days in London (including the last 3 hours on a train packed with rugby fans) I’m definitely convinced that the Peaks is a good idea. Biking, climbing and hiking, whats not to like 🙂
Just need to apply for the job and actually get it now!