Bamford is a village in the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorla ...

, Derbyshire, England, close to the River Derwent. To the north-east is Bamford Edge, and to the north-west the

Ladybower Ladybower Reservoir is a large Y-shaped, artificial reservoir, the lowest of three in the Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire, England. The River Ashop flows into the reservoir from the west; the River Derwent flows south, initially through How ...

, Derwent and

Howden Reservoir The Howden Reservoir is a Y-shaped reservoir, the uppermost of the three in the Upper Derwent Valley, England. The western half of the reservoir lies in Derbyshire and the eastern half is in Sheffield, South Yorkshire; the county border runs th ...

s. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 1,241.

History

Its name is recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

as ''Banford'', and likely came from Anglo-Saxon ''Bēamford'' = "tree-trunk

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

". The parish church of St John the Baptist was built c. 1860. There is also the Bamford Methodist Church and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

churches in the village, most notable of which is Our Lady of Sorrows Church. The village graveyard also contains some re-interred graves from the nearby villages of Derwent and

Ashopton Ashopton was a small village in Derbyshire, England, in the valley of the River Ashop. The village population was less than 100. Details are included in the civil parish of Aston, Derbyshire. In the early 1940s, the village (along with neighbou ...

which were submerged following the creation of Ladybower Reservoir. Bamford watermill has been turned into flats but some of the original machinery still remains.

Recreation

The village has a

sculpture trail A sculpture trail - also known as "a culture walk" or "art trail" - is a walkway through open-air galleries of outdoor sculptures along a defined route with sequenced viewings encountered from planned preview and principal sight lines. Setting ...

and, in mid-July, there is a

well dressing Well dressing, also known as well flowering, is a tradition practised in some parts of rural England in which wells, springs and other water sources are decorated with designs created from flower petals. The custom is most closely associated with ...

festival. Bamford has four public houses, the Derwent Hotel (now a self-catering venue), the Anglers Rest, the Ladybower Inn and the Yorkshire Bridge Inn, the latter once home to former '' Blue Peter'' presenter

Peter Purves Peter John Purves (; born 10 February 1939) is an English television presenter and actor. He played Steven Taylor in ''Doctor Who'' under the First Doctor, a role he continued to play in audio dramas for Big Finish Productions. He later became ...

. The village also had a weekly

Youth Club A youth center or youth centre, often called youth club, is a place where young people can meet and participate in a variety of activities, for example table football, association football (US soccer, UK football), basketball, table tennis, vi ...

held in the Memorial Hall until September 2010. In October 2013 The Anglers Rest was jointly purchased from the

pub chain A pub chain is a group of pubs or bars operating under a unified brand image. Pubs within a chain are tied houses and can, generally, only sell products which the chain owner sanctions. Pubs in a chain normally display their chain branding prom ...

owners Admiral Taverns by over 300 people from the local area as Derbyshire's first community-owned pub. The Bamford Community Society raised the money needed to buy the Angler's, which will be run as a community hub, listed as an Asset of Community Value under the Government's Localism Act, which also offers a daytime café and houses the local post office. Nearby Hope Valley College offers Yoga classes at Bamford Village Institute as part of its adult education programme.

Carnival

Until recently, Bamford hosted a village carnival, normally on the third week of July. The carnival took place throughout the week, with the Committee arranging various events for each day, including the whole family. The carnival was centred on the

. The blessing of the well took place on the Sunday and was followed by the crowning of the Queen, Princess and Rosebud in the church. The following Wednesday hosts the Senior fell race which many runners attend, including running groups from Yorkshire. Other events included the junior fell race, teen group challenge, car treasure hunt, pet show, village history fair and pub quiz. The Saturday hosted the actual carnival day. The procession travelled from "the old road" and paraded through the village, ending at the recreation ground, where games and entertainment for the whole family were arranged. The carnival parade encouraged children to dress up and floats to be made, fitting with the theme of the year. Two bands took part in the procession: Castleton Brass Band was invited every year, along with a visiting band randomly selected each year. There is also a tradition of making a scarecrow and dressing it up and leaving it in your front garden to be admired during the carnival.

Transport

The village is served by Bamford railway station on the Hope Valley line and by regular bus service 257 to

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

and Bakewell. Bamford is known as the Gateway to the Hope Valley from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and the north-west as it provides the only road through to the Hope Valley from the A57 Glossop–

road over the

Snake Pass Snake Pass is a hill pass in the Derbyshire section of the Peak District, crossing the Pennines between Glossop and the Ladybower Reservoir at Ashopton. The road was engineered by Thomas Telford and opened in 1821. The pass carries the A57 ...

Bamford Mill

As for so many Peak District villages, it developed around its mill, which existed here before the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. From 1782, a water powered

corn mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separate ...

was built here by a local farmer and miller, Christopher Kirk. This only lasted a few years until destroyed by fire in 1791. It was rebuilt as a

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven b ...

, still powered by water. In the early 19th century it converted to steam power, with a beam engine. A more modern horizontal cross-compound mill engine with a rope drive, ''Edna'', by Musgrave was installed in 1907, and remains on site today. Water power was still used for generating electricity for this isolated mill, with two reaction turbines of and . Until 1951 the mill also maintained its own

gasworks A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space. Early gasworks Coal ...

. More electricity generating capacity was provided by a DC generator driven by a De Laval

impulse turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating ...

and reduction gearbox, built by Greenwood & Batley. In 1857, the mill was owned by S. M. Moore and Son and employed 230 mill hands. It was sold in 1885 to Hamilton Cash of Mansfield, then in 1902 to the Fine Cotton Spinners and Doublers Association. The work at this mill was the doubling of cotton yarn which had already been carded and spun in Lancashire mills. This employed 130 hands. In 1963 FS&D became part of

Courtaulds Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. It was established in 1794 and became the world's leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtaulds ...

, who closed the mill in 1965. Afterwards the mill building was bought by Carbolite, who manufactured electric kilns and laboratory furnaces. Mill engine at full chat

The mill closed permanently in the 1990s and the building was later converted to flats. The chimney was demolished and the boiler plant and turbines removed. The mill engine was preserved on site and remains there today, but is not operational. Every year locals gather to celebrate the mill and how it brought life to the village.

Surroundings

Further up the valley are the

, Derwent and

Howden Howden () is a market and minster town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of York to the north of the M62, on the A614 road about south-east of York and north of Goole, which lies across the ...

dams. Nearby are the villages of Shatton, Bradwell (well known for its ice cream), Hope,

Hathersage Hathersage ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Peak District in Derbyshire, England. It lies slightly to the north of the River Derwent, approximately south-west of Sheffield. Toponymy The origin of its name is disputed, although it is ...

(well known for its open air swimming pool),

Eyam Eyam () is an English village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales that lies within the Peak District National Park. There is evidence of early occupation by Ancient Britons on the surrounding moors and lead was mined in the area by the R ...

and Castleton, famous for its Blue John stone. A place of notable significance near Bamford would be

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

and is a very popular place to visit for the youth of Bamford and well as Chesterfield which is where many students go for higher education. Film of Bamford in 1945 is held by the Cinema Museum in London. Ref HM0365

References

External links

Bamford webpage

Parish Council website
{{authority control Villages in Derbyshire Towns and villages of the Peak District High Peak, Derbyshire