TOMMY SHELBY PUTS WHEELDON TREES ON THE MAP

Tommy Shelby puts Wheeldon Trees on the map. The gritty television series Peak Blinders is no stranger to using the Peak District as a filming location. However, did you know that Tommy Shelby’s famous final scenes were filmed next to Wheeldon Trees?

After nine years and six seasons, the BBC’s hit show Peaky Blinders aired its final episode in 2022. If you’ve visited us before you may have recognised a hill or two as the show returned to the village to showcase our stunning Parkhouse Hill and Chrome Hill. Also known as the Dragon’s Back, the two hills are walked daily by our guest directly from their cottage doors.

Sleeping dragon

Parkhouse Hill and Chrome Hill get their nicknames from their resemblance to a sleeping dragon amongst the gentler hills that surround them. Amazingly, the two hills were formed from ancient coral reefs more than 300 million years ago.

In Tommy Shelby’s day the hills would have been virtually unreachable as they were situated on private land. However today visitors  can complete the 6.5-mile walk along the dragon’s spine all in the space of an afternoon and directly from Wheeldon Trees.

White horse

The final scenes of the iconic show see Tommy Shelby with his horse and wagon having set up camp in the Derbyshire hills. He’s left his family for the last time. It is here where he makes a series-defining realisation about his terminal diagnosis of tuberculosis. Tommy prepares to end his life, only to soon change his plans and leave his funeral trailer burning. Rather than laying inside it, the Shelby gang leader rode away from the scene on a white horse. His choice of horse stood out to viewers as it called to mind a similar scene from the first ever episode of the series, which aired almost 10 years ago in 2013. In the original scene Shelby could be seen riding a black horse, which eagle-eyed viewers suggested was reflective of his dark nature in the early season.

Peaky Blinders’ creator, Stephen Knight, has confirmed that a film is in the works. We’re hoping more scenes will be filmed locally to show off our stunning location.

You can read more about famous films with Peak District backdrops on this Visit Peak District blog.

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