Bamford

Bamford (also known as Bamford with Thornhill) is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, England, close to the River Derwent. To the north-east is Bamford Edge, and to the south-east the location of the water treatment works covering the Ladybower, Derwent and Howden Reservoirs. Though locally Bamford is described as being in the Hope Valley, it is technically in the Upper Derwent Valley. According to the 2011 census it had a population of 1,241.

History

Its name is recorded in the Domesday Book as Banford, and likely came from Anglo-Saxon Bēamford = "tree-trunk ford".

The parish church of St John the Baptist was built c. 1860. There are also Methodist and Catholic churches in the village.

The village graveyard also contains some re-interred graves from the nearly villages of Derwent and Ashopton which were drowned following the creation of Ladybower Reservoir.

Bamford water mill has been turned into flats but some of the original machinery still remains.

Recreation

The village has a sculpture trail and, in mid-July, there is a well-dressing 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. The village also had a weekly Youth Club held in the Memorial Hall until September 2010.

Maria Bamford

Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, actress and voice actress. She is best known for her portrayal of her dysfunctional family and self-deprecating comedy involving jokes about depression and anxiety. Her comedy style is surreal, and incorporates voice impressions of various character types.

Early life

Bamford was born at the naval base in Port Hueneme, California, where her father Joel was serving as a Navy doctor. She grew up in Duluth, Minnesota, where she attended Chester Park Elementary and The Marshall School. She went on to attend Bates College, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Minnesota, where she earned a degree in Creative Writing. She started doing stand-up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at age 19, at Stevie Ray's Comedy Cabaret. Bamford then joined Edinburgh's improvised comedy show The Improverts. Maria has one sister, Sarah Bamford Seidelmann.

Career

Bamford has been in a number of movies and television shows, including voice appearances in cartoons. Most notably, she was the voice of Shriek in CatDog, a huge selection of secondary characters in Cartoon Network's Adventure Time and Mrs. Botsford, Violet, and Leslie on the long running PBS educational series WordGirl. The best-known aspect of her act is her various impersonations (including her mother and her agent). Her stand-up comedy often takes the form of vignettes rather than the standard setup/punchline format.