Why the medieval market town with cobbled streets in Derbyshire is worth a visit

Derbyshire is filled with picturesque villages and market towns, which means come the weekend, you can usually find me mooching around the fabulous places in the county.

Ashbourne is on my list of top places to visit in Derbyshire.

The medieval market town is just 35 minutes away from Derby city centre, making it easily accessible.

There are so many reasons why I adore Ashbourne.

1. Great shopping destination:

From its vibrant high street with boutique shops, to independent family-run delis and eateries, chilling out in Ashbourne could well be one of my favourite hobbies of all time. Ashbourne, like numerous other towns across England, is not immune to a tough trading environment. What I feel makes it different, is the tight-knit, independent business community - and locals - who come out in a unifying force, to make Ashbourne a great place to visit.

2. Town with a soul:

It is the town’s sense of entrepreneurship and soul that makes Ashbourne ‘The It Place To Be in 2025’ (I have just coined this phrase, by the way). The town centre has recently undergone a big transformation as part of the Ashbourne Reborn 15.2m regeneration project which means an improved shopping experience too.

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3. Hosting quirky events:

It feels like Ashbourne is on the rise, hosting events that will appeal to a wide crowd. You may be familiar with Ashbourne Shrovetide Football, a medieval game considered to be one of the oldest football game versions in the world. This is just one event that sees people flock to the streets of Ashbourne to see tradition being played out in the 21st century.

The town also hosted an autumn open air fashion show as part of Ashbourne’s Big Fashion Day Out on Sunday, September 7.

I was in town for the Sunday afternoon fashion show which saw St John Street transformed into a red carpeted catwalk.

It was brilliant to see people turn out and support their local businesses, with an air of celebration and clapping and cheering for the models who are all local business owners.

Here are a few photos taken on the day at Ashbourne’s Big Fashion Day Out. If you have any to share we would love to see them too! Get in touch by emailing [email protected] and we’ll take a look.