Motorhoming & Campervanning Around Derbyshire – Our Top 10 Places to Visit

So you’ve bought your new motorhome or new campervan from us here at Don Amott, and you’re looking for suggestions for great places to visit and brilliant things to see on your maiden voyage – and all of those happy times beyond! We’re pleased to oblige, with our selection of the Top Ten places to visit in Derbyshire…

Mining Museum

Visit Matlock and explore the history of the lead mining industry in Derbyshire, and of the families who made their living from it. This museum features an impressive array of documents, maps and photographs, plus tools, engines, instruments and machinery that moved minerals up to the surface – and thousands of minerals and rocks on display. Just across the road from the museum is the Temple Mine, a working 1920s lead and fluorspar mine – and a guide will provide an authentic insight into life underground when you visit. This museum and mine is a great way to immerse yourself in some of the important social and cultural history of the area.

Chatsworth House

An impressive historic house and grounds set in the heart of the Peak District in Derbyshire, on the banks of the river Derwent. The house contains one of Europe’s most significant art collections while the garden and estate contain water features, giant sculptures and beautiful flowers, plus farm animals in a working farmyard. Chatsworth also features shops and restaurants, so you can make the most of your time there. TV and film location fans will be happy here, too. The house and estate were used in the BBC’s Peaky Blinders (as aristocratic horse-trainer May Carleton’s mansion) and in the 2010 film Wolfman, which starred Anthony Hopkins.

The Devil's Arse

An impressive natural cave in the heart of charming town Castleton, the Devil’s Arse has become something of a cultural hot-spot in recent times. Rockers Richard Hawley, Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) and The Wedding Present have performed live in there, offering their audiences a truly unique concert experience. The BBC also filmed scenes for a children’s TV adaptation of some of the Narnia stories here. The cave reputedly gets its title from the strange gurgling noises as water drains away, though the name was altered to avoid embarrassment when Queen Victoria visited in 1880. In recent years it has been changed back, as the high marketing value has been recognised!

Great British Car Journey

Though you’re enjoying a break in your motorhome, this attraction in Ambergate is a great reminder of another way to get around – the motor car. It’s a museum which features over 130 classic cars, from the Austin Seven up to the latest McLaren, plus loads of memorabilia. Interactive technology serves as your guide, and there are fantastic activities for children – plus a great café where you can relax after your remarkable automobile adventure through time.

Bolsover Castle

This fantasy hilltop pleasure palace of a horse-mad Cavalier playboy was built between 1612 and 1617 – and even four hundred years later it never fails to impress. As you walk through it you will discover lavishly decorated rooms, an astonishing riding school and a wonderfully recreated garden. Costumed storytellers, relay the history of the castle and its grounds, you can take in stunning countryside views from the restored wall walk. Children can let their imaginations run wild in a castle-themed play area next to the café. A great day out is guaranteed at this castle designed for elegant living.

Crooke Spire, Chesterfield

This Derbyshire town is relatively unremarkable, though not without charms. Chief amongst them is the crooked spire of St Mary & All Saints church, which is well worth seeing with your own eyes as it offers a kind of optical illusion which turns out to be entirely real. The 14^th century spire is both twisted and slanting. Scientists think the lead in the south side of the roof has expanded and contracted over the course of hundreds of years of sunny days, but whatever the explanation it’s fascinating to see.

Hadfield

A very small town high in the high peak of Derbyshire but close to the border of Greater Manchester, former mill town Hadfield provides truly ‘special stuff’ for fans of the cult TV series The League Of Gentlemen, as almost all of it was filmed here (interiors were filmed at YTV studios in Leeds). The statue from the title sequence is still present and correct, and a walk down the High Street leave you feeling that the weird atmosphere of the show somehow permeated the pavements here – particularly when you pass the butcher’s shop!

Derby

It’s not possible to talk about places to visit in Derbyshire without mentioning Derby itself. A city since 1977, Derby has plenty to offer – including art galleries, the cathedral and a fascinating museum dedicated to the history of making silk. Many bars, restaurants, cafes and shops should fill your day here, and if you want to go on the trail of famous people there are several connected to Derby. Amongst many other notables, the iconic British actor Alan Bates (Whistle Down The Wind, Women In Love) was born here and the legendary nurse Florence Nightingale lived her childhood near the city.

National Tramway Museum

This museum making an homage to a bygone method of public transport is located at Crich, Derbyshire. There are over 60 trams at the museum, all built between 1873 and 1982 and it’s set within a beautifully recreated period village containing a working pub, cafe, sweetshop and transport depot. The trams are not just on display – some of them run through the village-setting and take visitors out into the local countryside, offering a wonderful glimpse into ‘the way things were’.

The StarDisc