David Mellor Visitor Centre

This is a working cutlery factory that happens to be one of the more interesting buildings in the area, with a free design museum, a country shop and a cafe attached. If you have any interest in how everyday objects get made and why they look the way they do, it rewards an unhurried stop. If you have none, the site will feel slight.

The five-acre site just outside Hathersage was the village gas works, built in 1906-07, and the circular foundations of the old gas-holder set the shape of what came next. The factory was purpose-built to a design by Sir Michael Hopkins and has picked up major architecture and environmental awards: a local-stone outer wall, a shallow-pitched radial roof, a central conical lantern and structure left frankly on show. The circle is not just a gesture. Production moves around the floor in sequence, from metal cutting and manipulation through grinding, hand finishing, cleaning and packing. The shop, museum and cafe came later from the same architects.

• The Design Museum covers the work of David Mellor and his son Corin, running from handmade silver through to traffic lights and other street furniture.
• An outdoor Street Scene sets out iconic street-furniture designs in the open air, so plan on stepping outside as well as in.
• The Country Shop carries David Mellor designs, tableware, kitchenware and British crafts, and visitors consistently rate the quality of what is stocked.
• Reviewers regularly single out the clear, well-presented displays and the cutlery collection as the parts that stick with them.

The cafe is small, seating around 42, and faces the Round Building, with terrace seating in summer. Expect tea, coffee, pastries, cakes and lunches with an emphasis on local producers. Food gets warm praise in reviews. Two honest notes: prices in both the cafe and shop run high, and people fairly often report struggling to find a free table.

There is free parking on site, including designated disabled spaces, and the site is reachable by public transport. Wheelchair access is provided across the shop and cafe, with an accessible toilet available. One recent visitor found the atmosphere cool rather than welcoming, so come for the design and the making story first and treat the rest as a bonus.