I lived in Matlock for nearly 50 years. Born there.
It grew in popularity in the victorian period as a spa resort. The county council offices building at the top of Bank Road was the main spa hotel back then. A tram took visitors from the train station up Bank Road to the hotel. I lived close to what was the old tram station. At one time there were about 20 hydros, most of which were own by John Smedley. He built the mock Riber Castle as his home. In my late teens I remember walking up the hill to the castle, to the zoo, which was for mainly British wildlife. The owners did breed lynx MayBee70.
The history of Matlock and other spa towns (Buxton) is a long standing passion of mine. However, Matlock Bath is another town further down the A6 and , yes, that’s the town with the illuminations , Gulliver’s Kingdom, cable cars and the bikes. I used to hear the bikes roaring up the A6 from Matlock Bath into Matlock Chewbacca.
There is nothing that Matlock is famous for these days. No illuminations. No bikes.
History lesson over - sorry. ??