| Ashbourne | |
St. Oswald's Church, Ashbourne |
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Ashbourne
Ashbourne shown within Derbyshire |
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| Population | 10,302 (Parish) |
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| OS grid reference | SK1846 |
| Parish | Ashbourne |
| District | Derbyshire Dales |
| Shire county | Derbyshire |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ASHBOURNE |
| Postcode district | DE6 |
| Dialling code | 01335 |
| Police | Derbyshire |
| Fire | Derbyshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | West Derbyshire |
| List of places: UK • England • Derbyshire | |
Ashbourne is a small market town in the Derbyshire Dales, England. It has a population of 10,302.
The town advertises itself as 'The Gateway to Dovedale'.
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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 by two teams, the Up'ards and the Down'ards, over two eight-hour periods, subject to only a few rules. 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.
The Tissington Trail, a popular recreational walk and cycle path, starts at Mappleton 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 1960s.
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]
| Leek | Buxton | Wirksworth, Matlock, Bakewell | ||
| Stoke-on-Trent | Belper | |||
| Ashbourne, Derbyshire | ||||
| Uttoxeter | Lichfield | Derby, Burton-upon-Trent |
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