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Peak District Towns and Villages: Bamford

An index to Peak District towns and villages including Bamford, Ashbourne, Bakewell, Buxton, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Leek, Matlock, Macclesfield and Wirksworth in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire, England, UK.
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Bamford

Local Services:

B & B

Self Catering

Food and Drink

Local Geography:
Area Map

Nearby Villages

Local Attractions

Bamford is a former mill-village clinging to the slopes between Bamford Edge and the River Derwent. There is a lot more to the village than can be seen when just passing through - the village has some nice quiet corners and the Derwent is especially pretty around the millpool just above the mill itself. There is a well-dressing festival here in mid-July.

The mill is the first of many on the course of the Derwent and was built around 1780, burnt down and rebuilt in 1791-2. It was a cotton mill but closed for this purpose in 1965 and was used by an electric furnace manufacturer until recently, but has now been converted into apartments. It still has a large water-wheel which is occasionally made accessible.

Ladybower
Ladybower
The modern village is mainly strung out along the road which leads from the A625 up towards Ladybower Reservoir, which lies about 3km away. At the bottom end there is the railway station, which links Bamford with Manchester and Sheffield. On the road just below the station the Peak Park have re-erected the Mytham Bridge toll gate which used to stand nearby. This was one of the toll gates on the first turnpike in the area - built in 1758 to link Sheffield to Sparrowpit. Higher up, at the centre of the village there are some shops and two pubs.

Near Ladybower there is another small settlement called Yorkshire Bridge, with a pub of the same name. This settlement was built to rehouse some of the people who were displaced when Ladybower dam was constructed in the 1940s.

Below Bamford, across the Derwent lies the hamlet of Shatton. This straggles up a lane south of the River Noe leading up onto Shatton Edge. At the end of the lane lies Shatton Hall and Nether House, one of the houses Robert Eyre of Highlow built for his seven sons in Elizabethan times. Shatton Edge, high above the hamlet, offers fine views over the Hope Valley and good walking country.

Nearby Places of Interest

Bagshaw CavernBagshaw Cavern, a cave system in Bradwell, Hope Valley, Derbyshire. A largely natural cave system discovered by lead miners in 1806. Open to the public on summer weekends as a show cave and for Adventure Caving.
Carl WarkThe hill known as Carl Wark lies close to Higgar Tor between Stanage and Burbage Edges on the moors above Hathersage. It rises high above Burbage Brook and is a fine natural defensive position, so it was used as a fort long ago, especially in the Iron Age and the Romano-British period.
Derwent DamsThe Derwent Dams provide water for Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham and Leicester and are situated near the Hope Valley, in the Derbyshire Peak District.
Hathersage ChurchThe Church at Hathersage, Hope Valley, Derbyshire, stands close to an ancient Danish settlement and is linked to the Eyre family. Little John - of Robin Hood fame - is said to be buried here.
Peak CavernPeak Cavern (the Devil's Arse) Castleton, Hope Valley, Derbyshire, is the largest and most famous cavern at Castleton and the only totally natural one.
Peveril CastlePeveril Castle, Castleton, Hope Valley. A Norman and mediaeval castle founded in 1080 by William Peveril - an illegitimate son of William I - in what was then the Royal Forest of the Peak.
Speedwell CavernSpeedwell Cavern at Castleton, Hope Valley, Derbyshire is the most popular cavern in the Castleton area and boasts several large chambers and an underwater canal.
Stanage EdgeStanage Edge, Hathersage, Derbyshire. Stanage is the largest and most impressive of the gritstone edges. It is a famous location for rock-climbing and a popular spot for walkers
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