Belper Food Festival: Sunday 6th July

Hot off the press.......fabulousplaces.co.uk will be at the Belper Food Festival. Along with my sidekick, Lib, I'll be officially launching the site and spreading the word! It's all very exciting and hectic, I've got so much to do to get ready for it!

Sam, the manager from Fresh Basil in Belper, has been incredibly helpful and offered a stand at the event. I'm now trying to be creative and thinking of ways to make the stand look fabulous! The site is coming along incredibly well and will be ready to go live in a couple of weeks.

The Festival takes place on 6th July 2008. The Festival is held every year to highlight the artisan producers around the Belper area and what is available from small, independent suppliers. As I'm sure you're aware, Belper is in great risk of becoming a 'Tesco Town' and one of the aims of the festival is to highlight the fact that Belper does not need a Tesco.

Date: Sunday 6th July 2008
Time: 10.0am - 4.00pm
Location: King Street & Strutt Street, Belper

Hope you can make it!

Debs

Do you know of a fabulous place in Derbyshire?

Derbyshire is a huge place, I can't possibly cover all of it on my own! So, here's where I ask for your help.......do you know of a fabulous place in Derbyshire?

A coffee shop, farm shop, deli, gallery, eatery, farm shop, local artist? To be given the fabulousplaces.co.uk stamp of approval, they need to have that special something. Something that makes them stand out from the run of the mill.

For example...here are some of the sites I plan to include on fabulousplaces.co.uk:

Fresh Basil, Belper - a deli and cafe offering fresh local produce. The food is amazing!

The Bottlekiln, West Hallam - attention to detail must be their mission! They sell a variety of unique items for the home and an array of handmade jewellery, cards, gift wrap and much more. There is a cafe offering fresh coffee and homemade cakes, pies and quiche. The cafe and shops are set in what was once a working bottlekiln.

Koo Coffee Bar & Deli, Chesterfield - incredibly stylish atmosphere to soak up whilst enjoying a latte.

Avante Garde, Baslow - the inspiration for fabulousplaces.co.uk! The shop stylishly offers an array of beautiful items for the home, along with jewellery, cards and gifts. Again, like the Bottlekiln, the attention to detail is stunning.

So, they are some of the places you'll find on fabulousplaces.co.uk, which will, hopefully, give you an idea of what I'm looking for. There's a Bank Holiday just around the corner, which means I'll be in Derbyshire looking for more fab places but, to save my little feet, if you do know of any places, I would love to hear from you!

All the places on the site will have the fabulousplaces.co.uk stamp of approval, so I'll be visiting all the places recommended to me.

Debs

There's more to Derbyshire than hiking!

Here it is! The beginning of fabulousplaces.co.uk!

We all know Derbyshire is full of gorgeous little coffee shops, eateries, gift shops, farm shops etc, but where are they? We tend to stumble upon them when we wonder down backstreets, but it’s virtually impossible to find them on the internet. My plan is to bring all those fabulous little finds together on one website....fabulousplaces.co.uk! I have always held my own list of places I recommend to friends and family, but I’m now taking it further and offering them to everyone. While my partner, David, is working away like a trooper in the background building the site, I thought I would start a blog to let you know what it's all about!

I've been thinking about starting a website like this for around 2 years now and after much frustration of not being able to find new places to visit in Derbyshire on the internet, I decided to stop moaning about it, accept that it doesn’t exist and actually do something about it! I have a passion for quirky gift shops, local art, unique coffee shops, eateries and farm shops. Over the years I've stumbled across so many places in Derbyshire, all of which I've recommended to friends and family who didn't know they existed! I like to think of it as my secret address book and although lots of other people know about these places too, I revel in being able to take friends to a new place that has that special something, making the whole experience more enjoyable. The site will also be celebrating the inspirational people who have taken a huge step and opened their own business in Derbyshire.

So, here’s what you can expect to find on the site:

Secret Address Book - an extensive database of places to visit, all having their own page showing you exactly why they’ve been given the fabulousplaces.co.uk stamp of approval.
Calendar of events - a full listing of all the best farmers markets, shows and events taking place throughout the year.
Fabulous Club - a place where you can leave your own reviews and recommend more fabulous places to be included on the site. You'll also become part of the fabulousplaces.co.uk community and be able to browse the lifestyle section offering everything fabulous from green issues to the best buys in Derbyshire.

What do you think? Ok, so it's not going to appeal to everyone, but if you're anything like me you'll just love it!

Lastly, if you know of any fabulous places I would love to hear from you! If you would like me to keep you up to date on the progress of my website please visit fabulousplaces.co.uk and leave your email address.

http://www.fabulousplaces.co.uk/