Belper in Derbyshire is on the edge of the Peak District national park, if you are heading from Derby and avoiding the A38 then the A6 will take you through this special little town and its well worth a stop.
Belper won High Street of the Year in 2014 and for a very good reason, the town and high street is very traditional, even now in 2019 we’ve got the fantastic Gummers greengrocers, Jerry Howarth’s butchers and a fair amount of hairdressers including Laura Elizabeth’s and Authentic Self.
I’ve lived in Belper for 4 years now and my wife was born and bred, I love Belper as it is a community similar to what you see on soaps. Every morning we go for our morning coffee, say hello to a lady with a cat on Campbell Street, wave to Dean at 45 degrees as he is opening his doors, have a quick chat with the lovely guys at Gummers and stroke a lovely poodle outside Costa Coffee whilst saying morning to its owner.
In Costa Coffee (Yes we know its a chain, but the staff make it) we have a laugh and a joke with Jay and Becky, we don’t even need to ask for our usuals, as they just make it. On the way out a quick wave to the gents at Lester & Nix before we then head up to our offices on Holbrook Road.
At lunch its a toss up between Perfect Cuppa or Beaurepaire Patisserie, If its Perfect Cuppa we say hello to the Big Issue lady before heading in for one of Susan’s delicious cakes and a coffee. Beaurepaire Patisserie is a must for Scone lovers, Chris and James freshly make them in the wee hours and they are fresh and tasty.
Home time arrives and a quick trip to the Post Office within the Co-operative on Strutt Street is brightened up by the lovely ladies who sort all of our work letters out.
The whole town feels very much a society, all with the same belief that Belper should remain a town, not letting large chains come in and take it over. They managed to over turn a Tesco plan a few years back and rightly so, it would have been the beginning of the end of Belper’s high street.
Read More on Medium.com: The Top 5 things to do in Belper
England’s Best High Street; Belper
That’s right! Yet again, Belper Town has been named England’s best high street in 2019, following on from the previous win in 2014.
This is a Hugh boost for Belper and the community, with the collection of independent retailers, sitting alongside some major brands such as Boots, Superdrug and Wilkos.
So on top of the list of things to do in Belper, you need to add Belper High Street to the top.
