[1][2] It lies on the south side of the River Etherow, near to the border with Greater Manchester, at the western edge of the Peak District close to Glossop.

[3] Hadfield is in the northwest of England, between Bottoms Reservoir and the Glossop Brook, on the southern side of the River Etherow valley, which is known as Longdendale.

The family owned this cotton mill for 68 years, before selling it in 1923 to E. Wilman & Sons, which converted it to silk noil spinning.

The Glossop and Charlesworth division contains, amongst others, the Padfield ward (which takes the northern side of Station Road, the main shopping street).

The Member of Parliament for the High Peak constituency, since 2024, has been Jon Pearce MP who represents the Labour Party.

Hadfield lies within close proximity of the county boundary with Greater Manchester and some services are provided with this in mind.

The A628 road, from Manchester to Barnsley and Sheffield over the Woodhead Pass, runs on the other side of the River Etherow through Hollingworth and Tintwistle.

These two roads are major freight routes and are often congested, which has created traffic problems both for Hadfield and the neighbouring towns and villages.

[10] Bus services in the area are operated by Stagecoach Manchester, High Peak Buses and Stotts Tours.

The town is served by three main bus routes:[11] Regional TV news comes from Salford-based BBC North West and ITV Granada.

[15] The popular BBC television comedy series The League of Gentlemen was filmed in Hadfield, which doubled as the fictional town of Royston Vasey.