Couple share their journey of Derbyshire food scene to thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok

Emma and Leah moved to Clay Cross around a year ago, and while Leah was already popular on TikTok, the couple found a new following sharing their love for local food in Derbyshire.

Leah, who is originally from Leicester, works as a bid manager for a tech company and Emma, from Nottingham, started her own dog walking business when she moved to Clay Cross.

Leah said: “We are new to Derbyshire and we’re foodie people anyway. So we decided that we would go on adventures around Derbyshire trying all different food, it’s sort of our thing to just try food. We wanted to explore Derbyshire more as we moved here and didn’t really know anybody. So we thought it would be quite nice to go out and enjoy what Derbyshire had to offer.”

As their popularity continues to grow, the couple recently got invited to the new opening of Taco Bell.

Leah said: “People do contact us and ask us if we do want to go down. Fill-In Kitchen in Derby contacted us, and Mossbrook Inn. Chesterfield College has asked us to go along, but trying to organise things like that with kids and jobs is really difficult, but we do really want to go. The whole point of it is honest reviewing, so we don’t always take people up on their offers. It’s our journey rather than just going to places we wouldn’t have picked.”

She added: “We’ve been to some really lovely places and done tasting menus, we did Lovage by Lee Smith last Christmas and that was amazing, Arthur’s in Belper was insane, we are busting to get back there but it’s just so booked up! Also The Bulls Head in Holymoorside, we were friends with Mark before he went on Great British Menu so it was really nice to see him on there. It was really good when we went and he’s worked so hard, and it was lovely to see him thriving. The restaurant has just been crazy after we went, he keeps asking us to come back down but we just haven’t had time!”

While they are new to Derbyshire, it’s clear that they’ve found an amazing place to live.

Leah said: “Even though we aren’t originally from here we have decided that Derbyshire is our home, and we are proud to be from here. There is so much around, even things like Tagg Lane Dairy in the Peak

District, we passed it once and I said we must go… and it’s the most insane ice cream you have ever had in your life, it’s incredible, it’s just a little dairy in the Peak District, you feel quite proud of it!

“There’s so much to do and see, and the people are lovely. We’ve been really welcomed.”

Leah is familiar with popularity on social media, creating a TikTok account with 193,000 followers and 7.3million likes, and she explains how that happened.

“I did TikTok in 2020, during the lockdown as everyone else did. I was doing videos about similar things between the USA and the UK as my brother lives there. I was doing comparison videos and that just caught peoples’ attention in the USA so it just grew massively. I did start trying American candy as people started sending it to me, but I did not enjoy that!

“I was doing little funny skits and stuff, but TikTok got to point where they want you to ask people for money, I don’t feel ethically happy about that, I’ve got my own job, and because of that they don’t push your content.”

Leah has used her success on TikTok to raise money for charity.

“In November 2020 I did a 24-hour charity live on TikTok and raised £3,500 for Kidney Research UK and next year for my birthday I’m starting to be a bit more active on TikTok, so in January I’m going to do another 24 hour live for charity and I’m hoping to raise £5,000 this time.”

Keen to keep it local, Leah is also working with local businesses on the charity event.

She said: “I will do a charity raffle locally as well, I’ve contacted a lot of local businesses and they have been so supportive because we are supporting them. They have been lovely offering things for the raffle.

“I don’t really have any family here in the UK, so I’m not bothered about birthdays, and I find gift receiving pretty awkward. I love giving and being able to raise money for charity is a huge boost for me.”

If you’d like to follow along with Emma and Leah’s journey of the Derbyshire food scene, you can find them on Instagram: @emi.and.leah as well as @muddy_peaks_dog_services. Leah’s personal TikTok account where she will be hosting the 24-hour charity event is @LeahXLChannel