Where's nice to live in Derbyshire?

[AnduinsGirl]

Partner and I are looking to re-locate further south in the next year or so to be closer to families, etc (but not too close!) Derbyshire seems to be our final choice and we've seen there are some lovely towns as well as the Peaks of course. Partner would like to live close to the city centre, or at least a town with good access to the city; I would like this too, but definitely want to be within reasonable driving distance of the gorgeous countryside.
I'd be really grateful for suggestions! Belper is already on the list as a possible....
TIA

I was going to say Belper 😊. It’s a great town with tonnes going on and all the primary schools are Good but the secondary school has just got RI.

Oh fab, thanks for the suggestion! :)

Some parts of Chesterfield are really nice and it's close enough to Derby, Sheffield and Nottingham, plus on a main line to London?

Belper is nice. If you’ve got a bit more cash then Duffield is more well to do and has the most desirable secondary in the area. Both are on the trainline into Derby which I think runs once an hour. I would be very happy to live in either. Further into the city I love Darley Abbey.

Along the A6 - places like Matlock, Wirksworth, Darley Dale etc are all nicer than Belper imo... Although I guess it depends on whether you're thinking of Belper town itself/estates surrounding it, or the pretty little villages. Closer to Derby there's Duffield and Quarndon which are affluent. Then the other side of Derby there's Ashbourne etc but I know less about that area. As you get more towards the Notts border and the pit villages then I'd be more cautious as it's the kind of place where no one leaves and no one moves in so everyone is related to everyone. My mum is still referred to a newcomer to our village and she moved there aged 25 in 1981!

Derbyshire is fairly big though and it can take time to travel through the peaks so I'd advise working out which side of the peaks you want/need to be on and taking it from there. I'm assuming you mean you'd like to be close to Derby, but if you'd be happy with a city (Nottingham, Sheffield, Manchester etc) then that widens your options and all of those are better than Derby too.

One positive attribute of Derbyshire is that you don't really have to worry about school places as everyone just sends their kids to the closest school regardless of the OFSTED meaning almost everyone gets their first choice so it's regularly cited on BBC News as a stark contrast to London.

Haha, many thanks for the helpful advice and warnings! I'll look into all these places. Quite torn as I love little rural cottages with beams, views, etc. but partner wants the opposite. Need to find a compromise I think of a lovely house with original features, but close to things to do.

The other cities mentioned are possibilities too...need to be within an hour or so of Leicester, which I suppose they are!

You’ll find that Belper has a good variety of housing from new builds to cottages with beams and of course it’s right on the edge of the beautiful countryside.

I used to live in Belper and it’s a lovely little town. I worked in Derby city centre and it didn’t take long to get there, basically one road in.

Anything along the A6 really!

Can I recommend Keyworth in Notts. Near to Nottingham. West Bridgeford is rather posh, nice little villages - Bunny makes me smirk. Got shops and a big morrisons. Very easy to get to Leicester, Melton M, Nottingham, hour to Belper.

Ashbourne is lovely, lots of housing and community, there are some beautiful villages around too if you fancy a more village feel.

Derby has plenty of decent suburbs. Allestree, Chellaston, Oakwood, Littleover, Mickleover. It's a nice size "city" that has most of what you need and is easy to get around (by car anyway).

The surrounding villages are also pleasant, Smalley, Breadsall, Kilburn.

The pit towns are their own little strange bubbles where Brexit is 50 years away and joining the Single Market is a political hot potato They were rather interesting places to teach in, especially when teenagers think 10 miles is near the edge of the planet (special dispensation granted for Skegness )

The smaller country towns like Belper, Melbourne and Asbourne tend to be nice.

There's been a lot of growth along the south side, Chellaston, Hilton, Etwall which can put pressure on school places.

Nottingham is more cosmopolitan, but it's more sprawling and congestion is more of an issue.

Derbyshire is very nice. Derby city centre is not. Belper, Amber Valley is good though.

Glossop and Hadfield are lovely and have train lines to Manchester 30-40 minutes and back onto the Peak District

Wirksworth, Matlock and Cromford are all nice little towns.

I’d go for Duffield or Quarndon near Derby. If you need to be near Leicester though you’d be better off looking in Melbourne, Ashby, Aston/Weston or Castle Donington.

In the south of the county your best bets are Melbourne, Ticknall, Weston on Trent, Aston on Trent. Barrow on Trent is nice but has been prone to flooding of late. South Derbyshire is beautiful but also has great access to Derby, Nottingham and Leicester. The M42 is also close by. It's a friendly part of the world too with great pubs, although that can be said for the whole county.

Stay away from the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire border! Lots of strange pit towns.

We live in south Nottingham and it's a perfect combination of access to the city and country. Still a good 45 mins to Leicester though!

Duffield, Belper, Matlock are all lovely. If you want to be able to walk to derby city centre then Darley Abbey is perfect. Set in a world heritage site it has a mix of old workers cottages and more modern builds. Allestree is a longer walk but also a nice mix of houses. Quardon has lovely houses too and is between Derby and Duffield. I moved here from the north over 10 years ago and would never go back!

The pit towns are their own little strange bubbles where Brexit is 50 years away and joining the Single Market is a political hot potato… They were rather interesting places to teach in, especially when teenagers think 10 miles is near the edge of the planet (special dispensation granted for Skegness)

Sounds rather like where and how I grew up in the 80s.
Personally I think Derbyshire is shite, well the pit areas anyway although I'll grant you the actual High Peak area is beautiful.
I'd live in Sheffield; close to the Peak District but a proper city.

There are a number of nice towns that have already been mentioned but my experience of occasional socialising with our Derbyshire friends’ circle is that there seems to be quite a pervasive parochial mindset.

South Derby. Ashbourne is also nice.

Not everyone in the pit villages is backwards, I moved out here to commute from the city because it's quiet, pretty and affordable. My asthma has improved immensely and I'm paying less for a mortgage than I did for a pokey flat. Hugs big cheap house.

How did we get this far, and no-one has said Buxton ? Georgian Spa town, beautiful architecture, opera house (one of Europe's best), Gilbert and Sullivan festival etc..