Derby has a strong claim to being the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. The Derby Silk Mill, built on the River Derwent in 1721, was one of the world's first factories, and the Derwent Valley Mills stretching north to Cromford are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today the city is better known as the home of Rolls-Royce and a gateway to the Peak District.
The city centre has a handsome Cathedral Quarter built around Derby Cathedral, a good market hall, and the Derby Museum and Art Gallery, which holds the largest collection of Joseph Wright of Derby paintings — dramatic candlelit scenes of 18th-century science and industry. The QUAD arts centre brings contemporary exhibitions and cinema.
Derby is not a tourist destination in the usual sense, but it makes a practical base for the southern Peak District, and the industrial heritage trail along the Derwent Valley is genuinely fascinating — a walk through the origins of the modern world. The Cathedral Quarter and Sadler Gate give the city a liveable centre with good independent restaurants, bars, and the oldest pub in the city — Ye Olde Dolphin Inne, which has been serving ale since around 1530.