Ashford in the Water is a very pretty, chocolate box village in the heart of the White Peak, visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. It is home to the most photographed bridge in Britain, which has the gloriously crystal clear waters of the River Wye flowing free underneath.

 

It's a tiny place and is made up of ancient picturesque cottages, two pubs, a stunning hotel with a riverside setting, a beautiful church, which houses relics dating back to the 1200s and a village store and delicatessen, who boasts they have the best home-made pickles in Derbyshire. Home to the lucky few, the cottages were once owned by the Chatsworth estate. These were sold off in the 1950s to pay for death duties.

 

With the famous Sheep Wash Bridge adorning many a postcard and photograph, tourists flock to hear how sheep were washed in the water before chemical dips were introduced. Lambs were kept in the walled pen on the other side, which is still in good working order and used in demonstrations today, to entice their mothers to have their bath and swim to the other side. The bridge makes a great vantage point for watching the huge rainbow trout meandering leisurely on their way below your feet.

 

There are several places for the walker to rest their weary legs and enjoy refreshments. The tea rooms in Ashford have a new gift shop and offer delicious lunches, top quality coffees, a variety of local speciality teas and cold drinks and other light refreshments. The Ashford Arms, which was once a coaching inn, welcomes weary travellers since the 1700s, and the Riverside Hotel offers a chance to sit in the sunshine enjoying a beverage and listening to the River babbling by.

 

It is the village renowned and used by local industries in the past, with very diverse and different businesses, including lead mining and candle making. Testament to the latter is the Candle House, which stands proud on the site of the old candle making factory in Greaves Lane, named after the dregs of melted tallow. Ashford black marble has also put this village on the map when Henry Watson discovered it, a limestone that when polished, makes the perfect background to mosaic and inlaid patterns.