Katherine and Sharon work at the old Apothe Curry on Matlock Bath (Image: Rowan Griffith)
“I've been working at Matlock Bus since I was 18, so I don't have any soul left,” says Jenny Kirk, 39, a member of the Banknote Cafe staff. “It's getting worse. I thought the lockdown would make people more polite. Not so. It made them a ruder.” The Peak District tourist hotspot in Derbyshire is thought to have the classic British seaside town characters, featuring chippies, arcades, ice cream shops and cable cars at the height of Abraham, despite being about 70 miles from the nearest coastline.
People sit down the road at the table outside the bank notes eating fish and chips, when Kirk tells the Express she has to move on. She adds:
Visitors appear at the cafe to use the toilet despite having nothing purchased. Kirk said: “The amount of abuse you get. You get nice people and regular visitors who return each year, but most of them aren't nice,” adds Ms Kirk. She explains: “Everyone is in a bad mood by the time they walk around. They're either congested for a long time or there's nowhere to park,” he explains.
Read more: “I'm tired of going on holidays – but the English gems have expelled the blues of my travels.”
Banknote is one of many cafes and restaurants in the Matlock Bus parade (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Express)
Matlock Bus is similar to a seaside town (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Express)
Café workers say that the temporary signal is in place because “God knows how many weeks.” “With their endless wisdom, they like to do it around Easter holidays,” Kirk says. “Every time we get it, they show up somewhere.”
There were also travelers in the train station parking lot, with coaches and other day trippers stopping their visit. “People drive, see it, then drive again,” Kirk says. She added that “many hell” habits have been lost as a result.
Regarding the seaside atmosphere in the area, she says some people are “very confused.” “I was asked before where the beach is, but we're as far as you can get,” Kirk says.
Not everything was that downbeat for the area. Katherine Swindells, 61, from the village of Chisworth, owns an old apothecary shop where she wrote the book. The store holds many of the original late 19th century characters. A former Lloyds bank finance specialist said:
“We ended up buying it. Just because we fell in love with it, 'I spent all my work on advising the business. Can I certainly do something myself?” I was able to see it as something like this, and it worked. ”
Matlock Bath: Shop Owner on the appeal of Derbyshire Town
Katherine Swindells bought her store after seeing the for sale for a day at Matlock Bus (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Express)
Matlock Bus in Derbyshire is a hot spot for tourists. (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Express)
Also behind the counter is Sharon Jones (64), from Lancashire. “You have to come over the weekend to see it,” she said, adding that it will be incredibly busy.
But the original mechanic has since mentioned the trade-offs, namely the beauty spots are visited by many bikers who can be a little loud.
She explains:
Anthony Clark says the owner of Charles Restaurant, who specializes in fish and chips and pies for 20 years, says the parade is “nice” and resembles the beachfront “Year of Donkeys.” “You have the height of Abraham, behind you is the Kingdom of Gulliver, and you will defeat the biker.”
He adds:
“Obviously there was a lockdown, but it's back to normal because we can resume. The only thing that's going on in the world around us is that people don't have the money they used to.
This has penetrated around 20% of customers, he adds.
Norwich's Mark and Teresa Fordar were on the Matlock Bus during their trip to the Peak District (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Express)
Mark Perfect and Darien Cook were visiting the Matlock Bus from London (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Express)
Mark Foder, 55, and his wife, Teresa, 52, of Norwich, are visiting Matlock Bus. Teresa said: “It's our first time. We literally arrived. It's really scenic and you can see a little bit of the seaside town.”
Her husband says: “It has a bit of season. When I was last here (late summer), it was rocking the block.”
The couple has also been to Ashbourne, a handsome town in the nearby town, as loved by tourists in the Peak district. However, they observed that many of the places there were closed on the Monday they visited. “They have to have a long weekend on Monday,” Fauder said.
Daryencook, 67, Clothing and Jewelry Desiner, Mark Perfect, 71, was also in the area he traveled from London. “We've been looking at industrial archaeology for a few days and doing a bit of pottery,” the latter says.
The former CEO of the England Youth Judiciary Committee and Wales adds, “The cliffs are refreshingly different. It's 3D compared to southeastern England.”
Raised in South Africa, Darien said, “The terrain is different from what you normally see. The English village is beautiful.” However, she mentions that there was a blackout in the mining museum, and that they couldn't look around.
Matlock Bath is popular for coaches' trips (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Express)
Matlock Bath is known for its picturesque natural scenery (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Express)
Derbyshiredales District Council told the Express that the traveler mentioned by Ms. Kirk left the parking lot last year and that in 2025 there was no further problem with Matlockverse.
A Derbyshire County Council spokesman said:
“We had no choice but to do this important task on the holding wall. Without this task, the wall holding the A6 would have had a great risk of collapse.
“We removed the traffic lights over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. For the following weekend, this work was finished in time for the summer season.”
