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Coordinates: 53°00′54″N 1°43′26″W / 53.015°N
1.724°W / 53.015;
-1.724
Ashbourne is a small market town in the Derbyshire
Dales, England. It has a
population of just over 7,000.
The town advertises itself as 'The Gateway to Dovedale'.
Local
customs
Ashbourne is known for its annual two-day Royal Shrovetide
Football Match in which one half of the town plays the other at football, using the town as
the pitch and with the goals three miles apart. As many as several
thousand players compete for two days with a hand-painted,
cork-filled ball. The game is played over two eight-hour periods,
the goals are three miles apart and there are only a few rules.
There are just two teams: the Up'ards and the Down'ards. Shrovetide
football has been played for centuries and possibly for over 1,000
years. It is a moving brawl which continues through the roads of
the town, across fields and even along the bed of the local river.
There have been intermittent attempts to ban the game but none have
been successful.
Tourism
The Tissington Trail, a popular
recreational walk and cycle path, starts at Mapleton Lane on the
northern outskirts of town and follows the course of the former Ashbourne to Buxton
railway, running from what was Ashbourne railway station
through the village of Tissington and joining the High Peak Trail
(the old Cromford and High Peak
Railway) at Parsley Hay. The line, which had been built
in 1894, closed to regular passenger traffic in 1954, and all
services on the Ashbourne-Parsley Hay section,
including excursion traffic, ceased in 1964.
The line continued down the Dove to
Rocester near Uttoxeter
where it joined the main North Staffordshire
Railway. This southern link had opened in 1899. It also closed
to passengers in 1954, finishing completely in the early '60s.
A branch of the Limestone Way also starts in the
town.
Ashbourne Churches Together (ACT) has a link with the Diocese of
Patna in the ecumenical Church
of North India. Regular visits take place in both directions
and members of ACT are currently sponsoring the education of
children in a school in Bihar, one of the poorest states in
India.
Ashbourne became the 97th Fairtrade Town in March 2005 after many
businesses, cafes, shops and community organisations started
supporting Fairtrade[1].
Notable
people
Catherine Booth - A famous daughter of Ashbourne.
- Catherine
Booth, 'Mother of the Salvation Army, was
born here[2] in
1829
- Sir Brooke Boothby, 6th
Baronet, poet, was born here in 1704
- Thomas Brown, Garter
King of Arms was born here in 1708
- Henry
Cantrell, clergyman and religious controversialist,
was born here in 1684[3]
- George Hayne
(died 1723), merchant and entrepreneur
- Francis Charles Robert
Jourdain (1865-1940), ornithologist
- Catherine
Pegge Mistress to Charles II, mother to Charles
FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth resident of Yeldersley.
- David
Redfern (born 1935), photographer
- Dave Tyack
(1978-c. 2002), guitarist and singer
- Sir Aston Cockayne 1st Baronet Cockayne of Ashbourne
Geography
References
External
links
Ashbourne,
Derbyshire 
Wikis
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