Derbyshire experts.....ashford in the water..classic village for a game of cricket?
 

Aussie cricket team looking for fixtures out of a nottingham or perhaps Derby accomodation base.

Ashford looks great...any comments??

can't help you Johhj but it is very nice to read another Aussie post.

I know the village well. Prettily situated by a small river and attracts a lot of visitors, just outside of Bakewell (of pudding fame). Ashford cricket ground is on the edge of village just as you enter from A6 Blackwell to Buxton road. Like many Peak villages it's famous for well dressings that take place between June and August. Ashford has theirs this year from June 5-13. Details:
http://tinyurl.com/2qcu7

Thanks again Alec...
what's your opinion on...
-how long would it take us to drive our bus up to ashford from notts?

-chatsworth...we would want to visit one stately home..is Chatsworth as good as any to demonstrate to the lads where all the colonial exploitation ended up? Just read a fascinating obituary of the XI duke of devonshire in the sydney morning herald.

-clay cross...a fixture in another
de industralised town?

-is Monsal head a good walk in the Bakewell district? Is there a pub up there for a pint? whats the bitter of choice in derbyshire?

-ashby de la zouch? your categorisation?

so have your retired from a working class town in lancs to the peak district?

No, on the Fylde coast! But frequent visitor to the Peak and the Lakes.
Nottingham to Ashford is around 35 miles. I would say about an hour, via M1, Alfreton, Matlock and Bakewell.
Chatsworth is lovely and well worth a day. Very nicely presented too.
Clay Cross is between Alfreton and Chesterfield, another former mining town.
Monsaldale provides some good, easy walks in the area and is very popular by townies from surrounding cities. You can walk along former railway tracks for a nice view. Monsal Head has a nice pub overlooking the valley with cask ales. http://www.monsalhead.com/
Ashby is a prosperous market town steeped in history and has a delightful centre with half-timbered and Georgian houses. Has a ruined castle and a national forest nearby.

Thanks again alec...
is Fylde coast a fancy name for Blackpool?

probably will do a day trip ex manchester to the football museum in Preston and on to Blackpool for a bit of fun for the younger blokes

Getting back to Manchester how would you categorise Marple?

The ashford,ashby fixtures looked "inked" in.

Marple, part of Stockport, mainly suburban residential, some old cotton mills, pretty pleasant, borders on rural Derbyshire Peak.
Fylde coast is that stretch of Lancashire coastline from Fleetwood through Blackpool to Lytham. Very varied, from old fishing port through the Tower and the Pleasure Beach to upmarket residential/retirement area in St Annes and Lytham, famous for links golf.