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Bamford
Bamford is the only surviving settlement of three villages in the Upper Derwent Valley - the other two, Ashopton and Derwent having disappeared under the waters of the Ladybower Reservoir, opened by King George V1 in September 1945.Bamford's character changes with the weather and time of year; during the winter months the dark gritstone buildings which line the roadside beneath the towering bulk of Baslow Edge, add to the pervading gloom of the dank moorland atmosphere which surrounds and permeates the village. Add a little sunshine and the south-facing Bamford lights up and is miraculously transformed into a smiling, handsome village of character which visitors and residents alike find desirable to inhabit.
Bamford doesn't attract visitors in that same manner as it's neighbours Hathersage, which lies three miles or so eastward along the Hope Valley ior the village of Hope, five miles away in the opposite direction. Tourist facilites are increasing in the area and Bamford seems to be getting an increasing tourist trade owing to its location as the nearest village to the Ladybower and Derwent Reservoirs -in fact part of Ladybower lies within Bamford parish.
By comparison with the majority of Derbyshire villages, Bamford is a relatively modern settlement with most of its buildings dating from the early Victorian period through to modern dwellings for the disabled, erected in recent years higher up the hill past the church. In between, during the middle years of the twentieth century, small housing estates were built at around 600 feet to the east of the road where it levels out as it climbs upwards and northwards through the village from the floor of the Hope Valley. Here you will find the popular Derwent Hotel, and on the opposite side of the road as it snakes upwards toward Bamford Edge stands the quaint village post office.
The west of the road sees the land fall steeply to the river, and is home to the oldest dwelling in the village; the Tudor farmhouse with 150 acres on the south facing slope overlooking the Valley. 'The Farm', as this magnificent sixteenth century structure is named, is one of the few remaining farms in an area where for centuries agriculture provided the main source of employment.
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