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Covering Derby, Chesterfield, Ilkeston, Swadlincote, Buxton, Matlock, Ashbourne, Alfreton, Glossop, Heanor, Ripley and all areas of Derbyshire.
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands area of England, which has borders with a number of counties, as well as a large proportion of the Peak District National Park.
The Peak District was the earliest national park in the UK – it was designated in 1951. Since then, it’s popularity has grown and it now receives an estimated 22 million visitors a year, making it the 2nd most visited national park in the world – after Japan’s Mount Fuji National Park. 12% of the national park is owned by the National Trust and the Peak District National Park Authority owns 5%.
Derby is the best known urban area in Derbyshire and was the site of Britain’s first water powered silk mill which was built in 1717. Derby only received city status in 1977, despite already having a cathedral.
Chesterfield is another well known place in Derbyshire, although unlike Derby, it is a town and not a city. Chesterfield is well known for its church of St Mary and All Saints which has a crooked spire. The spire twists 45 degrees and leans almost ten feet from its true centre.
Matlock is the county town of Derbyshire and is situated on the edge of the Peak District in the Derbyshire Dales. The Derbyshire Dales also includes the towns of Bakeswell. Wirksworth and Ashbourne. Matlock has its own tramway system, which was built in the 1890’s and is thought to have been inspired by the cable cars of San Francisco.
Derbyshire can consider itself to be the centre of the UK; a farm near Coton in the Elms is considered to be the further farm from the sea.
One of Derbyshire’s MP’s is Margaret Beckett, who served as foreign secretary under Tony Blair, after Jack Straw was demoted. After Gordon Brown became prime minister, however, she was replaced by David Miliband in this role.
A well known village that also lies in Derbyshire is Repton – which was the royal burial place for the kings of Mercia – one of the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
The county of Derbyshire has two football teams playing in the football league – Derby County FC and Chesterfield FC. Derby County reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1973 and were one of the founding members of the football league. They also have the unfortunate claim to fame of being the lowest point scoring team in a Premiership season in the 2007/08 season.
Derbyshire is also home to 3 large reservoirs, which were built to supply Leicester and Derby with drinking water – these reservoirs are called Howden, Derwent and Ladybower
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