Elton is a village in Derbyshire, England and in the Peak District. There are no shops situated in the village (nearest is in Winster, 2km) but Elton has a small post office, church, school and a sports field. Its nearest towns are Bakewell and Matlock. Elton was mentioned in the Domesday book in 1086 when it was owned by Henry de Ferrers.

Elton is situated on a hillside overlooking Robin Hoods stride. It lies on the division between gritstone and limestone countryside and there are examples of buildings and walls constructed with both types of stone in the village.

It has numerous music festivals throughout the summer term and a beer festival during August, which are held on the 'Jubilee Field' (known to villagers as 'The Thistle'). Since its elevation is about 900 feet, it isn't sheltered from the wind as well as communities of lower elevation are, and it therefore has a reputation for being cold. The area used to be known for lead mining. An Iron Age fort, Castle Ring, is near the village.

Sport

Elton boasts a playing field, which doubles up as a football pitch for the football season, and a cricket field for the cricket season. Elton Cricket Club (ECC) has a strict policy that only villagers may join the team. In more recent times Elton's team have enjoyed success having finished twice runners up in the Longstone League and Orme Shield thanks to the performances of Andrew Cooper and Alan Dakin (76 years old). Elton Football Club (EFC) was re-vamped in 2004 with great success: winning a trophy and ending 3rd in their league for the 2006/07 season. The team manager/player is Billy Lester.

Famous People

Locally famous people residing in Elton include Jonathan Heath also known as 'The village idiot', Dom Musgrave and Olly Millward, members of 'The Antibodies hehe' who used the cricket pavilion on 'The Thistle' playing fields as a practice room. Matthew Parris lives in Gratton, which is the neighbouring village to the west of Elton. And in the North-Eastern neighbouring village of Birchover, lived Colin Heath, a reserve team footballer and ex Manchester United A team player.

Public Transport

A bus service is operated by Hulleys of Baslow, route no. 172. This service links Elton and surrounding villages to either Bakewell or Matlock about eight times a day (four times on Bank Holidays). There is no Sunday service to Elton; nearest Sunday services are at Darley Dale or Youlgrave (two buses to and from Bakewell, one of these to/from Sheffield). The local public transport is kept under scrutiny by village resident Jake Davis, who writes strongly worded letters to the bus companies should they be early, late or of poor service.

School

Elton C of E Primary School was built in the Victorian times. It is known for its surprisingly small number of students, usually not exceeding 40 for the whole school. At the end of primary school life, most students will move to Highfields School in Matlock, or sometimes Lady Manners School in Bakewell.

References

External links

• Elton, Derbyshire Village Website
• Tourist Net UK Ltd: Elton
• Derbyshire and the Peak District: Elton
• Peak District Online: Elton