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Known as the ‘Gateway to the Peaks,’ Ashbourne sits right on the southern edge of the Derbyshire Dales, where the rolling farmland of the Midlands begins to lift into the limestone hills of the National Park. It remains a functional market town at its core, centered around a triangular marketplace that still hosts regular stalls, while the long, paved run of St John Street is lined with a mix of independent shops and sturdy Georgian townhouses. Geographically, it’s a town of two levels; the lower end is dominated by the spire of St Oswald’s Church - once described by George Eliot as the 'finest single spire' in England - while the upper reaches offer steep climbs toward the Tissington Trail. This former railway line now serves as a key traffic-free route for walkers and cyclists heading north into the countryside. Locals identify the town’s calendar by Shrovetide, an ancient, two-day game of ‘football’ played across the streets and in the Henmore Brook, which sees the town boarded up and the shops closed in a tradition that predates most formal records. It serves as a practical hub for the surrounding villages, offering a scale of life that feels connected to the landscape without being isolated from the nearby cities of Derby and Stoke-on-Trent.