Between the glorious Rother and Hipper Rivers and north of Derby lays the beautiful city of Chesterfield. This bustling burg is the largest town in all of Derbyshire with over two hundred and fifty thousand citizens living within the metropolitan region. What is most striking about the city, though, is the fact that it looks nothing like most cities with a population of that size. Instead of aging skyscrapers and run-down slums with litter all over the streets, Chesterfield is filled with beautiful views of the two rivers as gorgeous churches climb ever higher into the sky. Rolling hills and impressive horizons take the place of smog and light pollution, making Chesterfield easily one of the beautiful big cities in all of England.
This isn't to say that Chesterfield is devoid of industry and man-made machinations, however. On the contrary, the city was one of the first to embrace coal mining and the large coalfield that Chesterfield sits upon has provided countless bevies of fortune to miners throughout the years. Some of the most famed mines in England, including Arkwright, Clay Cross, Grassmoor, and Holmewood, can be found in Chesterfield. Unfortunately, the town's dependency on the coal trade spelled doom for the economy during the eighties when mines across Europe closed down. Since then, over fifteen thousand jobs have been lost and every single mine has been shut down in the city. Grass has grown over many of these mines and little remains of what was once the cornerstone of the city's industry. The loss of so many jobs naturally caused a ripple throughout the entire town and the last decade has seen the demise of many other companies and buildings that once catered to miners with full wallets. Markham and Co. was once one of the most prestigious office buildings in the entire city but the company abandoned the building and the land is now being renovated into housing. Dema Glass was also a formidable factory in years past but this area too is being altered, this time into a football field.
Employment in the manufacturing industry as a whole has been on a downward slope in Chesterfield, with the levels of people working in this trade over thirty percent lower than it was fifteen years ago. The Tesco Sawmill, once a shining beacon of blue collar labor, has long since shut down and the property is in the process of becoming an upscale neighborhood. Though Chesterfield has been plagued by economic woes in the last couple decades, there is one common element that seems to be present during every closure: Where once a smokestack or mineshaft polluted or destroyed the Earth, one can find new buildings or greener pastures. Whenever a factory closes, new and beautiful homes are built in its stead. Chesterfield may be in a bit of a rut but it seems that, once the turnaround comes, the city will be a new, glorious, bold city filled with fresh buildings and hitherto untouched commerce. It should prove to be quite exciting.
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