Tavistock is a thriving market town situated on the edge of the Dartmoor National Park and was voted top of a list of 120 market towns in 2004 in a survey run by the Council for the Protection of Rural England in its countryside character campaign based on retaining individuality and distinctiveness, sensitive planning and new development, architecture, sense of history, thriving shops and business, and community spirit. This was quoted in the major daily broadsheets including The Telegraph, The Guardian and The Independent. It has good shopping facilities and a full range of state schools plus several public schools, including preparatory and a senior college. Recreational facilities include golf courses, cricket, rugby, football and tennis clubs and all indoor sports. Scenic walks abound. Tavistock is 15 miles from Plymouth where there is a civil airport offering regular internal and continental flights, a cross Channel ferry service to Roscoff, Brittany, and a British Rail Inter City service to London, Bristol and the North.