It’s no stranger to being praised far and wide, having recently been named as home to one of Britain’s 20 best high streets and the only place in the country to have twice won the UK Government’s Great British High Street’s High Street of the Year, most recently in 2019.

Surrounded by countryside and just a short train or bus journey from cities like Derby and Nottingham, and towns like Chesterfield and Matlock, it’s also got plenty of independent shops, restaurants and pubs of its own, all close to one another and easily walkable. 

These include shops like decor and interiors shops Primsisters and Nordicana and heritage clothing brand Stanley Biggs Clothiers, restaurants like Nourish at No.44 (crowned as having Derbyshire’s best fry-up following a poll earlier this year) and a “proper” pub, The Railway, that was named the best in Derbyshire at the National Pub and Bar Awards 2024.

And Belper, in Derbyshire, seems to be attracting more and more independents as the weeks roll by, recently welcoming a new speakeasy jazz bar, seen a popular bar reopen and even the introduction of a “one-of-a-kind” Lego studio, Oggel.

It also has plenty of nature surrounding it, reports Derbyshire Live, which sets it aside from its competition. To the south of the busy town, you can take a stroll around Belper Park Local Nature Reserve, and, to the north, you can take a quick pit stop at Belper River Gardens, admiring the looming Derwent Valley Mills.

I moved to Belper around two years ago and began to realise just how lucky I was to have found it. When I told my 96-year-old grandmother I was moving to Belper, she couldn’t believe it.

“Never,” she exclaimed, before catching her breath. “The charity shops are amazing. It’s a proper high street.”

When I spoke to people who lived there shortly after moving in, they felt the same. Yes, it has a Poundland, Greggs and Iceland, but it also houses some fantastic and unique vendors which transport you back to a time when high streets were thriving. One resident, Andy Kirkhope, told me he’s “delighted” with how the town has retained its authenticity over the years. The 59-year-old said: “Belper is always changing, but I think it’s managed to stay a nice place over the years, which is delightful really. You see how other town centres are. They can be busy, miserable and full of idiots. But in Belper, things have managed to stay civil. Sure, you get the occasional crime or whatever, but that’s expected. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else and I’m confident it will stay that way.”

Another shopper, Jane Mycroft, also heaped praise on the town, saying: “One of my favourite things is spending time around the River Gardens and walking along the high street and up to Market Place. The shop owners are all really friendly and they all take care of the town to ensure it’s the best it can be. The charity shops are also great and we have great buses into Derby and Ripley, so I find it easy to get around since I don’t drive. I also love the fact we have so much history in the surrounding countryside. Heage Windmill isn’t too far away so sometimes I’ll take a walk over there as a bit of exercise – but our steep hills can be a challenge sometimes.”

Across the UK, the modern high street often seems an empty shell of days gone by: busy banks turned into Greggs, car parks swapped for flats and vape and barber shops seemingly appearing at the change of each season. But for Belper, despite the few chains it has, it seems the downfall of the high street is yet to take over completely. 

More recently, I went back to the town centre on a bright autumnal morning to find out. I spoke to a dozen or so people over the course of an hour and most people seemed content with life in the town on the whole. But there was one thing getting the residents down. 

“Roadworks, roadworks, roadworks,” Brian Elliott, 75, told me. “It’s all good having big changes to legislation and the way the country works, but our roads should be the bread and butter. At times, the state of the roadworks and the traffic is nothing short of a disgrace.

“They always seem to catch us off guard and, because of the one-way systems, there really is no escape. Buses can be really late because of this, and people also get stuck in the Co-op car park. I’m sure the one-way system does its job at times, but when roadworks are thrown in the mix, you ask yourself: who designed this?”

Local Michael Johnson, who lives on the steep Mill Street, also mentioned roadworks, painting a picture of gridlocked frustration.

But the 62-year-old also mentioned parking during festivals and markets, adding: “90 percent of the time Belper is great, it’s perfect, but on big days when we have our markets and festivals, or whenever there are roadworks, everything is just turned on its head.

“Where I live, when it’s busy, people will just block the entire road, even when there aren’t enough spaces – and they’ll also use it as a rat run, so it’s just insufferable.

“People coming to the town need to be more wary and plan ahead before travelling, it’s great for the town to have people come and spend money in our shops, but us residents don’t want to our days ruined because of it.

“It’s the cause of so much frustration in the town, and, while I understand the roadworks are vital, there surely must be a better way of going about it.”