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Buxton
Buxton is an infamous market town deep in the Derbyshire Peak District which is positioned over 1000ft above sea-level making it the highest town of its size in England. Buxton has been the centre of pilgrimage for centuries, venerated by those who have come for the reputedly magical curative powers of its Spa waters.
Buxton Spring Water is exported worldwide and is well known for it's clarity and purity; hardly surprising when considering it has had five thousand years of filtering through the porous limestone of the surrounding hills before bubbling to the surface from a mile underground at the Natural Baths near the Crescent in the centre of town. The warm mineral water is freely available to the public by St. Anne's Well near the Tourist Information centre, and is used to fill the public Swimming Pool, opened in 1972. Another notable point in Buxton is the Old Hall Hotel, reputedly the oldest hotel in the world, one of whose original guests was Mary Queen of Scots!
Buxton was confirmed as a centre of excellence and culture, becoming a retreat and country holiday resort for the gentry during the Victorian era with the advent of public travel and communication. The twenty three acres of the Pavilion Gardens includes ornamental lakes, putting greens, children's play areas with a paddling pool and miniature railway, whilst the whole is dotted with colourful arbours and flower beds, with shaded walks beneath mature trees, and the gardens are a sheer delight in the summer. This area of Buxton is a delight for all visitors and if is a popular stop for all walkers and cyclists passing through the area.
There is a fantastic annual event known as the Buxton Festival, the largest `Fringe' Festival in England, which takes place in July each year and coincides with the town's Well Dressing Festival, with a Carnival Procession through the town on the second Saturday in the month.
Other sporting facilities in the town include two very popular, if windswept, 18 hole golf courses, and Buxton has both football and rugby teams in regional leagues, and hockey, cycling, tennis, bowling and fishing are all catered for. Buxton is an excellent centre for shopping, with its market in the upper quarter, and the splendid Cavendish Arcade, a shopping emporium par excellence and makes an ideal centre or base for visiting the nearby attractions of Chatsworth House, Haddon Hall, and the market towns of Bakewell, Matlock and Ashbourne, all within half an hours drive.
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