Stilton is an English cheese, produced in two varieties: Blue, which has Penicillium roqueforti added to generate a characteristic smell and taste, and White, which does not. Both have been granted the status of a protected designation of origin (PDO) by the European Commission, requiring that only such cheese produced in the three counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire may be called Stilton. The cheese takes its name from the village of Stilton, now in Cambridgeshire, where it has long been sold, but cannot be made because it is not in one of the three permitted counties.
Ashbourne is a market town in the Derbyshire Dales district in Derbyshire, England. Its population was measured at 8,377 in the 2011 census and was estimated to have grown to 9,163 by 2019. It has many historical buildings and independent shops. The town offers a historic annual Shrovetide football match. Its position near the southern edge of the Peak District makes it the closest town to Dovedale, to which Ashbourne is sometimes referred to as the gateway.
The Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway (L&MVLR) was a narrow gauge railway in Staffordshire, England that operated between 1904 and 1934. The line mainly carried milk from dairies in the region, acting as a feeder to the 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge system. It also provided passenger services to the small villages and beauty spots along its route. The line was built to a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge and to the light rail standards provided by the Light Railways Act 1896 to reduce construction costs.
Dovedale is a valley in the Peak District of England. The land is owned by the National Trust and attracts a million visitors annually. The valley was cut by the River Dove and runs for just over 3 miles (5 km) between Milldale in the north and a wooded ravine, near Thorpe Cloud and Bunster Hill, in the south. In the wooded ravine, a set of stepping stones cross the river and there are two caves known as the Dove Holes.
The Tissington Trail is a bridleway, footpath and cycleway in Derbyshire, England, along part of the trackbed of the former railway line connecting Ashbourne to Buxton. It takes its name from the village of Tissington, which it skirts. Opened in 1971, and now a part of the National Cycle Network, it stretches for 13 miles (21 km) from Parsley Hay (53.1706°N 1.7828°W) in the north to Ashbourne (53.0196°N 1.7397°W) in the south.
Pikehall is a small village in the Derbyshire Dales consisting of a few dozen households and a handful of farms. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Hartington Nether Quarter. The A5012 road runs through the middle, dividing the village in half. The village is home to the annual Y Not Festival.
Biggin is a village in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. It is part of the Hartington Nether Quarter parish, and is in the Peak District National Park.
The Manifold Way is a footpath and cycle way in Staffordshire, England. Some 8 miles (13 km) in length, it runs from Hulme End (53.1307°N 1.8480°W) in the north to Waterhouses (53.0480°N 1.8654°W) in the south, mostly through the Manifold Valley and the valley of its only tributary, the River Hamps, following the route of the former Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway, a 2 ft 6 in gauge line which closed in 1934 after a short life.
Thorpe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire; it is on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border, on the east bank of the River Dove, about four miles north of Ashbourne. The population of the civil parish as at the 2011 census was 183.
Parsley Hay railway station served Parsley Hay, a hamlet within Hartington Middle Quarter civil parish, about 9.3 miles (15 km) south east of Buxton, Derbyshire, on the LNWR line to Ashbourne. The nearest large settlement is the village of Hartington.
The Ashbourne line was a 33+1⁄2 mi (53.9 km) railway from Buxton via Ashbourne to Uttoxeter. It was built by the London and North Western Railway using a section of the Cromford and High Peak Railway (C&HPR) and it joined the North Staffordshire Railway at Ashbourne, proceeding to Uttoxeter with a junction onto the main line at Rocester.
Alsop en le Dale railway station was opened in 1899 near Alsop en le Dale and Alstonefield, villages in Derbyshire southeast of Buxton.
Hartington railway station is a former railway station which operated from 1899 to 1963. It was built to serve the village of Hartington in Derbyshire, south east of Buxton.
Friden is a hamlet in the civil parish of Hartington Nether Quarter, Derbyshire, England. It is 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Buxton, just off the Newhaven to Cromford Via Gellia road, and lies within the Peak District National Park.
Fenny Bentley is a small village and civil parish located close to Dovedale in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. The population in 2009 was 305 reducing to 183 at the 2011 Census. It lies two miles north of Ashbourne, on the A515 Buxton to Ashbourne Road. It is one of the most southerly villages in the Peak District.
Ashbourne railway station formerly served the town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire. There have been two stations in the town. The first, opened in 1852, was operated by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR); it was replaced in 1899 by a station at a new location, jointly operated by the NSR and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). In 1923 the station passed into the ownership of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and in 1948 that of the London Midland Region of British Railways. It was finally closed to all traffic in 1963.
Dovedale, sold as Dovedale Blue, is a blue cheese. It is named after the Dovedale valley in the Peak District, near where it is produced.
Hartington Middle Quarter is a civil parish within the Derbyshire Dales district, which is in the county of Derbyshire, England. Formerly a part of Hartington parish, for which it is named, it has a mix of a number of villages and hamlets amongst a mainly rural and undulating landscape, and is wholly within the Peak District National Park. It had a population of 379 residents in 2011. The parish is 130 miles (210 km) north west of London, 20 miles (32 km) north west of Derby, and 5 miles (8.0 km) south east of the nearest market town of Buxton. Being on the edge of the county border, it shares a boundary with the parishes of Chelmorton, Flagg, Hartington Town Quarter, Hartington Upper Quarter, Middleton and Smerrill, Monyash in Derbyshire, as well as Hollinsclough, Longnor and Sheen in Staffordshire.
Eaton and Alsop is a civil parish within the Derbyshire Dales district, in the county of Derbyshire, England. Largely rural, in 2021 Eaton and Alsop had a population of only 80 residents. It is 130 miles (210 km) north west of London, 17 miles (27 km) north west of the county city of Derby, and 6 miles (9.7 km) north of the market town of Ashbourne. Eaton and Alsop is wholly within the Peak District national park, and touches the parishes of Alstonefield, Hartington Nether Quarter, Newton Grange and Parwich. There are five listed buildings in Eaton and Alsop.
Tissington and Lea Hall is a civil parish within the Derbyshire Dales district, which is in the county of Derbyshire, England. Named for its settlements and sparsely built up with much rural expanse, its population was 134 residents in the 2021 census. The parish is 125 miles (201 km) north west of London, 15 miles (24 km) north west of the county town of Derby, and 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the nearest market town of Ashbourne. It shares a boundary with the parishes of Ballidon, Bradbourne, Fenny Bentley, Kniveton, Newton Grange, Parwich and Thorpe. The parish is wholly within the Peak District National Park.
