Barney journeys back to his Cornish roots to bring you this West Country classic ride.
Words & Photography Barney Marsh
Long has my family boasted of ties to Cornwall, despite our predominantly Northern roots. My mother and grandmother were born there. My aunt lives there. My mother, sister and niece are named after villages there. We regularly used to holiday in the deepest, most inaccessible parts of the county. My childhood memories of Cornwall, then, are of massively steep hills, dropping down to dark, shadowy coves. Of pebbled beaches surrounded by massive, imposing rocky edifices. Of scraping bare feet on barnacles. Of watery ‘cola’, toweringly high hedges, and an almost visceral sense of claustrophobia. No wide open places here, no expansive views. I never remember feeling more inside a place, almost under it, as I did in Cornwall.
If you have an account, please log in. If not, you can get access to some of our features by registering here for free.
A message from all of us at Singletrack magazine
We need your help
For over 20 years Singletrack has been a source of information, news and entertainment for millions of mountain bike enthusiasts and as an important focal point for an amazing community of like minded riders from around the world. But it has also been a provider of jobs and income for dozens of families of our team as well as a source of revenue for hundreds of freelance contributors.
We want to keep going through this uncertain period and create great content to inform and entertain you, but we will need your help to do it. More than anything else we want to have a reciprocal relationship with you and the best way to make that happen is through our memberships. We’d love you to join us as a paid member of the Singletrack community – we promise you a return on your investment through the content we have and will create for you.
