At its heart, The Beeches is a welcoming, multi-use community hub where people of all ages and backgrounds come together to connect, rest and grow community power.
The Beeches is situated across 13 acres, on the historic site of the Derwent Valley Water Board offices (1901). The site is now transforming into a social hub for the community, run by the community.
In 2025, with support from our local community and national partners, we established The Beeches Collective, a team of stewards working to bridge this historic asset with local and national people. Get to know us here.
We are currently working towards acquiring the property to bring it into collective ownership in perpetuity. You can read more about our journey over in our blog.
our vision
To create a thriving, community-owned sanctuary where people and social movements can heal, organise, and regenerate the land and each other - building collective power for a more just and life-affirming world.
To steward The Beeches as a space for social justice organising, community health, and ecological regeneration, offering programmes, resources, and accessible facilities that support connection, learning, and collective action.
our mission
our three pillars
We aim to resource social movements through political education, training and nurturing solidarity across causes. We provide an accessible space to gather, organise, grow resilience and replenish ourselves to tackle systemic injustice.
social justice
We offer a diverse range of programmes, events, shared meals, and creative activities for our communities to grow meaningful social connections, access therapeutic support, and cultivate healthier lifestyles together.
community health
We create space for people to deepen their connection with the more-than-human world, rekindling our belonging to the land and re-centring ancestral wisdom. We’re learning how to care for the Earth through agroecological food growing, woodland stewardship, & nature restoration.
ecological regeneration
The former Derwent Valley Water Board offices and outbuildings in Water Lane, Bamford, were built in 1901–1903 to oversee the construction and management of the Derwent, Howden, and Ladybower dams. They served this purpose for 85 years until July 1988, when Severn Trent Water sold the entire site—including twelve acres of adjacent railway sidings and sheds—to a group of individuals and families. These buyers collectively purchased the land and premises to establish an all-age residential Quaker Community.
The Bamford Quaker Community occupied the water board offices for 37 years until its dissolution in August 2023. During their time there, the site became a hub of regenerative living, sustainable land management, and a venue for Quaker retreats and meetings, with many people living there over the years.
our history
