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Ashbourne Centre - Photo:
Andy B
CCL |
A handsome Georgian market
town, this is the gateway to the limestone area of
the Peak District, including Dovedale which so
inspired the ultimate angler Izaak Walton. St
Oswald’s Church has a magnificent, tall spire and
fine monuments. The town is most famous for
hosting a 1,000-year-old annual football game,
held on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, in which
two teams of up to 10,000 players chase a
hand-painted cork-filled ball through the streets
to the river. Tradition has it that Ashbourne is
the birthplace of the ‘gingerbread man’ biscuit
which was was created by a Frenchman who lived
here after the Napoleonic Wars. |