The Bentley Brook Inn and Restaurant is ideally situated in the Southern part of the Peak District National Park known as the Derbyshire Dales. The Dales with their sparkling trout streams, the nearby Staffordshire Moorlands, the White Peak and Dark Peak are areas of such natural and contrasting beauty that they are attractions in themselves, and entrance is free. So well located is the Inn that it is the ideal base from which to explore the area by car, by cycle or perhaps best of all, on foot.

Ashbourne is a market town just two miles South of the Inn. It is mainly Georgian but there are several important Elizabethan and Jacobean buildings still in use. Many traditional style shops remain, with excellent butchers, haberdashers and grocers and of course many antique shops. A stall market opens on the Market Place every Thursday and Saturday.

Buxton is a picturesque Spa town only 18 miles to the North. It is also almost a thousand feet higher than Fenny Bentley and is known to be a top coat colder. The town is famous for it’s spa water and it also has a wonderful Opera House, Pavilion Gardens, parks, Pool’s Cavern and much more for you to enjoy.

Bakewell is 18 miles to the northeast and is famous as the home of the Bakewell Pudding. It is a very quaint town where you can spend hours in the intriguing shops and museums, and on Mondays visit the modern cattle and sheep market that is now one of the premier livestock markets in the country.

Matlock and Matlock Bath are 25 minutes drive to the East. The River Derwent has carved a great ravine through Matlock Bath that attracts both climbers and white water canoeists. It is also a Mecca every Sunday in the summer for motor-cyclists who arrange their machines along the Strand in a sort of beauty parade.

One of the favourite occupations of guests at the Inn is to visit the many nearby great houses that are open to the public. Most famous of these is Chatsworth House, home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. The House is open to the public from March until Christmas Week, but the wonderful estate grounds and gardens remain open all year. 

Other great houses within easy reach are Haddon Hall, Hardwick Hall, Sudbury Hall and the great Paladian mansion Kedleston built for the Lord Curzon Viceroy of India. Smaller but of no less interest and full of curiosities is Calke Abbey once home of the eccentric Harper Crewe family.

Popular visitor attractions within easy reach by car are Alton Towers, the American Adventure Park, and for the younger children Gullivers Kingdom at Matlock Bath. 

The many caverns and underground caves in the Hope Valley at Castleton and Poole’s Cavern at Buxton require the visitor to be reasonably fit but are stimulating and exciting.

The Gladstone pottery museum at Stoke-upon-Trent is a great starting point for a tour of the world famous potteries such as Wedgwood and Spode. The Royal Crown Derby and Denby Pottery visitor centres are only a half hour drive from the inn.

Walking in the Dales:

The deeply riven limestone valleys of the Derbyshire Dales are the same geological structure as the Yorkshire Dales. The millstone grit of the Pennines covers the limestone between these two areas of equal natural beauty and provide the High Peak the glories of Kinder Scout and the many dramatic edges such as Curbar and Stanage.  

A short drive from the Inn are the beautiful Manifold Valley and Dovedale. In a letter to a friend, the poet and adventurer Lord Byron asked, "Was thou ever in Dovedale - there are sights here the equal of those in Switzerland and Austria." Truly to walk through the limestone gorge that divides Derbyshire from Staffordshire is rewarding. Experienced walkers can continue through to Mill Dale, Beresford Dale and Wolfescote Dale. 

Alternatively, there are some exciting walks along the heather trails above Royal Cottage and around the roaches over the boarder in Staffordshire. In Derbyshire the brave can tackle the high peaks of Mam Tor or Shining Peak in Edale and the Hope Valley.  

The Tissington Trail is less than a mile away. Once a narrow gauge railway track, it has been renovated and surfaced to make a delightful track for walkers or cyclists. Its easy gradients provide an ideal way for visitors to see the changing scenery in this idyllic part of the Peak District National Park. At Parsley Hay the trail joins the High Peak Trail that runs down to Cromford where Joseph Arkwright built the original Mason Mill and started the Industrial Revolution.

The Bentley Brook Inn,
Fenny Bentley,
Ashbourne DE6 1LF

Tel UK +44 (0) 1335 350278 Fax UK +44 (0) 1335 350422
Email: all@bentleybrookinn.co.uk