Derbyshire Life

• The Lifestyle

Land-locked and lacking a coastline, you could be forgiven for thinking that Derbyshire is just an ordinary English county trapped in the Midlands, close to a handful of the UK’s largest cities and nestling somewhere between the M6 and M1 motorways.

How wrong you would be! Derbyshire makes up the majority of the vast expanse of Peak District National Park, packed with National Nature Reserves, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and home to opulent stately homes, country houses and fabulous places of interest. Living in Derbyshire is a photographers paradise, offering a mixture of scenic landscapes, far reaching views and a bounty of beauty spots.

Derbyshire is a county of diverse countryside ranging from the dramatic and exposed moorlands of the Dark Peak to the rich pasture and rolling fields of the Derbyshire Dales and White Peak. Derbyshire contains pretty little villages, market towns, remote hamlets and the remnants and remains of ancient settlements all linked by a network of country lanes and a sprinkling of main roads.

Living in Derbyshire is bliss! It is a county of customs and traditions such as Well Dressings and Wakes Weeks where villagers unite in a community spirit of fun and festivities. Although country living has changed considerably in the last century, Derbyshire strives to maintain its old ways as well as to embrace new trends and to cope with an influx of visitors and ever-changing lifestyles.

Outdoor pursuits are very popular in Derbyshire which can offer fabulous footpaths and secure trails for walkers and cyclists as well as more adventurous activities such as hot air ballooning, gliding, rock climbing, horse riding or simply aping about in the trees. However, living in Derbyshire means that you tend to walk early in the morning or mid-week if you want solitude and empty paths or you must learn to share!

Apart from in the large towns and cities, Derbyshire has very few factories, engineering workshops or manufacturing premises, many Derbyshire businesses are often on a small scale with only a handful of employees. Employment in the north of the county is therefore restricted to cottage industries, shops, offices, banks, building societies, service providers and self-employed trades. However, there are a large proportion of people living in Derbyshire that make the daily commute over the hills each day or those who work from home thanks to the advantages of modern technology and the introduction of broadband facilities.

The streets of Derbyshire are relatively safe as the County has a good crime record and the introduction of Neighbourhood Watch plays an important part of village life for those living in Derbyshire, who are ever vigilant and observant of strangers lurking in their midst!

One of the advantages of living in Derbyshire is the quality of food and produce with a gastronomic multi-cultural assortment of restaurants, takeaways and delicatessen as well as the relatively new trend of farmers markets, farm shops and local produce stalls selling quality home-made food and provisions with flavours to savour, tickle and taunt discerning taste buds.

One of the downsides of living in Derbyshire are the house prices! Buying a home in the Garden of Eden does not come cheap! It’s a big step to find affordable housing for young adults approaching the first rung of the property ladder, with many of the select areas and National Park villages being well beyond reach. A move to less popular areas is often considered in the hope that eventually the homeowner can builtd up enough equity to return. Alternatively there is a rental market to consider, but often the long term tenants must vie in competition with the more profitable holiday home occupier.

Living in Derbyshire is great for kids as it contains some of the best schools in the country and there is always plenty to do, places to see and activities around every corner.

For a touch of the good life sprinkled with happiness there is nothing to compare with living in Derbyshire.