'Unique' UK seaside town is 60 miles away from the coast - and families love it
A small village in the middle of England is a 'unique anomaly' in that it's a seaside town far away from the sea.
The curious little settlement of Matlock Bath is buried in middle England on the southern fringe of the Peak District in the Derbyshire Dales – 80 miles from Skegness due east and 70 miles from the shores of Wales to the west. Despite being very much landlocked, you’d be forgiven for smelling salt in the air in Matlock Bath.
Long since designated a conservation area, the tiny village of 750 sports old-timey fish and chip shops, ice cream parlours, glitzy arcades and souvenir boutiques. Bikers in boots can be seen walking down the promenade while families in flip flops browse postcards and souvenirs, the Daily Express reported.
Professor Joe Smith, director of the Royal Geographical Society, grew up nearby and visited the village from an early age. "I remember going as a child on the bus. Everything you would find at the seaside was there; fish and chips, rock, candyfloss," he told Geographical.
The layout of the town and the activities laid on for locals and visitors are nearly identical to those you'd find in a Victorian seaside town. There is even an annual festival in October when crowds gather to enjoy the Matlock Bath Illuminations, a parade of floats bobbing down the river.
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The town sits in the Derbyshire Dales (Getty Images/iStockphoto)The Matlock Bath Illuminations have been held in the autumn each year since Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 1897. These “Venetian Nights” consist of a parade of decorated and brightly lit boats floating along the River Derwent, as well as a fair.
The 2023 season is running every Saturday and Sunday night from September 9 to October 29, with fireworks finales every October Saturday and the final night on October 29. When not hosting this dazzling flotilla, the river is a reputed canoeing spot for recreationists and serious competitors alike. Matlock Canoe Club hosts national-level wild-water racing and slalom events.
Matlock Barth was first put on the map back in 1698, when warm springs were discovered at the end of a windy dirt road in the valley of the River Derwent. A bathhouse was built, and as the belief that thermal waters and fresh air were the cornerstone of wellness took hold, Matlock Bath’s popularity steadily grew.
The Princess Victoria of Kent’s royal dip in 1832, just five years before she became Queen, then cemented its notoriety. Lord Byron found his way there, drawing on the village’s Alpine appearance to give it the nickname of Little Switzerland. Mary Shelley echoed this thought in Frankenstein, writing that it looked like the landlocked country but “on a lower scale.”
Matlock Bath railway station was built in 1849 on the Midland Railway line between London and Manchester, opening the area up to wider society. The village is anchored on three grand buildings: the New Bath Hotel, Holy Trinity Church, and the Grand Pavilion. As for the famous old spa, it is now an aquarium.
Townhouses and cottages throughout the town are built from local Derbyshire limestone and Welsh slate in a Gothic style. On the opposite bank from the village towers High Tor, a sheer cliff well-known and respected by walkers who snake their way to the top along Giddy Edge, the narrow path.
For those who don’t fancy the thrill, the Heights of Abraham cable cars also link the base of High Tor rising to the Heights of Abraham above. As if all of this weren’t enough, on Sundays in summer Matlock Bath high street is also a congregation spot for bikers on their way to touring the Peak District.
A recent visitor to the town, Rory Walsh, described the dramatic scenery of Matlock Bath. "Peering down from the summit, the pastel-coloured houses and shops line the bottom like sweets in a bag. Ahead is the vast limestone crag of High Tor. At 300 feet, it’s one of England’s tallest inland cliffs. High Tor creates a dramatic, almost alpine setting," he wrote.
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