Local Area Information
Although guests may need to arrive by car, you can leave it at home for the rest of the stay. By crossing our private fields and slipping through one of two gates our guests at Groom's Cottage and The Coach House can join a pretty footpath which connects them to the huge Peak District network of trails. The best Ordinance Survey Map for our area is the OL24 - Explorer 1:25 000 scale
Parkfield is ideally located to make the very most of the area. It is a ten minute walk (2 minute drive) down to the picture postcard village of Ashford-in-the-Water. Ashford is one of a handful of the truly lovely villages in the Peak. There is a small but useful village shop, a great village pub, a smart riverside restaurant and a pretty church and the idyllic, much photographed bridge over the River Wye which is home to many hungry ducks! Buses leave the village regularly for the Spa Town of Buxton in one direction and Bakewell, Rowsley, Matlock and Derby in the other. From Bakewell you can change bus and travel onwards to Chatsworth, Baslow, Hathersage and the rest of the Peak District.
If you head up the hill on the footpath from the cottages you get to the dramatic views of Monsal Head where you can join the route of the Monsal Trail. Otherwise, there are the sleepy villages of Great and Little Longstone to explore (home to some very good pubs too!).
Groom’s Cottage and The Coach House are only minutes from many of the major local attractions. The gardens of Thornbridge Hall are a ten minute walk away. The market town of Bakewell is considered to be the capital of the area and is 5 minutes away by car. Derbyshire's most famous stately home Chatsworth House and all it has to offer is only a ten minute drive, or a 2 hour walk, away, as is the Tudor splendour of Haddon Hall.
Hassop Station is less than five minutes drive away and from there you can either walk or hire bikes to travel the length of the Monsal Trail. The quintessential Peak District Villages of Eyam, Hathersage, Tideswell, Edale and Buxton and many other excellent places are all within half an hour of the front door. Walking and enjoying the great outdoors is what our stunning area is all about, some of the properly beautiful local highlights are to be found at Monsal Dale, Curbar Edge, Stanton Moor, Kinder Scout, Stanage Edge, the Derwent Valley, the Tissington Trail, the NT Longshore Estate and Lathkill Dale. We can recommend them all as wonderful places to explore but it's nearly impossible to choose a favourite!
There are so many events which go on in the Peak District throughout the year providing all types of entertainment. There are the traditional village well dressings to visit during the summer, many open gardens, horse and sheep-dog trials, music and food festivals, cycle tours, rock climbing, caving, sponsored runs and guided walks by Peak District Rangers. Several of our guests have very much enjoyed a round of golf in Bakewell and lunch at the club house and a day’s fly fishing on our glorious River Wye. With a little advance planning you could even go on a hot-air balloon ride, up in a glider or out on a tour in a vintage car! There really is something for everybody.
All of the highlighted words in the above paragraphs should take to you to relevant websites. We have also compiled a list of just some of our favourite pubs, restaurants and shops in the area, to get you started. You can find these in our 'We Recommend' section on this website.
Some of the public footpaths around the house are little used and can be uneven, nettles can also lurk in the undergrowth - please ensure you have long trousers, to avoid stings, and appropriate footwear.
