Bainbridge served as chief executive of the Dartmoor Preservation Association from 1996 to 2005,[1] and led the victorious campaign to save the archaeologically important Shaugh Moor from waste tipping by the china clay industry.
He has opposed the military presence on Dartmoor,[2] for which he was praised by Anthony Steen MP in the House of Commons in 2003.
In 2009 Bainbridge created the Teignmouth and Dawlish Way long distance footpath, writing the guidebook of the same name, and was involved in the creation of The Two Moors Way long-distance trail.
He has written a straight thriller "Balmoral Kill" - a set in 1937 and based on the involvement of the Establishment in appeasing Hitler, and a sequel "Dangerous Game".
He was in 2020 chosen by the writer Roly Smith as one out of twenty individuals who had done the most to influence the Right to Roam campaign in the UK Block around the Rock, The Guardian, 15 March 2005 Hansard 15 October 2003