She achieved most of her successes while a member of the company of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.

[1] Bainbridge made her professional debut as the Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte at Glyndebourne in East Sussex in 1963.

[1] She joined the company in 1965, and appeared at Covent Garden more than a thousand times: among her roles were Amneris, Arvidson, Auntie (in Peter Grimes), Berta, Emilia, Erda, Grandma Burya, Mamma Lucia, Mistress Quickly and Suzuki.

She accompanied the Covent Garden company on its visits to La Scala in 1976 and to Japan and South Korea in 1979.

[1] She contributed to several albums, including recordings of Dido and Aeneas, Eugene Onegin, The Rape of Lucretia, Peter Grimes and Sir John in Love.