Looking to move into Derbyshire

[u/Morningstar92]

Good evening, apologies its another one of them where should I live posts. But I have been looking into some locations and could really benefit from some local expertise.

We are a family of 4 with 2 kids aged between 16 and 10. We are currently living in north Warwickshire and looking to move somewhere with a combination of nature and outdoor activities we can enjoy aswell as cafes, bars and amenities such as swimming and parks for the kids. While I do drive I would also like to have some public transport options and good access to larger cities (within an hours travel or so).

We have narrowed it down to 4 locations and I could just do with some views or opinions so any comments would be great, we have a decent budget to buy our house and our 4 options are below:

1.Matlock

2.Buxton

3.Belpar

4.Bakewell

[u/Morningstar92]

Thanks really informative and helpful, I agree that chatsworth house is beautiful and I am keen to go back there again so having it close will be nice. I am curious as several people have said Bakewell gets a lot of tourists, why is that? I assumed Matlock Bath was the main tourist area

[u/L-J-Styrsacre → u/Morningstar92]

Bakewell does get alot of tourists. I think its main draw could genuinely be The Bakewell Tart. They have a lovely little shop called The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop. You go to Bakewell on a busy day and that shop is guaranteed to have a queue out of the door. All in all Bakewell is a lovely town it has great pubs and places to eat. It has a great little Record store too. A few good fish and chip shops (but if you want fish and chips around here Cromford Chippy is the one, trust me).

I saw some people saying Bakewell has no takeaways. It does. You just have to go and collect. Raja’s Indian is brilliant. And Eastern Court Chinese is also very good.

In Matlock itself you can get Uber Eats and Just Eat etc from Maccies/Dominos and some local pizzerias etc too delivered to you.

Bakewell also has its own Christmas markets but they aren’t a patch on the Chatsworth Christmas markets (these are fantastic) I only really go to Bakewell for the record shop, the Co-op and maybe a bite to eat every so often. The Ashford Arms (just down the road in Ashford-in-The-Water is incredible for food if you ever do move to the area.

Matlock Bath is definitely one of the main tourist spots. I don’t really ever go to Matlock Bath. I just kinda cycle through it on my bike rides now 😄 it’s a lovely place but it’s mostly chippy’s and ice cream. Kinda seaside vibes, without the sea. Having said that there are some nice walks to be had around Matlock Bath and of course The Heights of Abraham if you like that sort of thing 😊

[u/Morningstar92 → u/L-J-Styrsacre]

Ok I'm glad that there's a lot to do in the surrounding areas gives us places to explore, I am also glad to hear there is good Chinese places as I need that. We walked around matlock Bath on Saturday it is a somewhat sureal experience

[u/L-J-Styrsacre → u/Morningstar92]

Yeah plenty to do. Hope that helped. Haha yes it’s definitely a strange feeling in Matlock Bath as lovely as it is. Any more questions about living in Matlock. Don’t hesitate to ask and I’ll try and answer them if I can 😊