History
Back in the early nineties Stuart Price came to Swaledale for a weekend’s mountain biking and he never went home. It was that good and it still is. After a few years of living and working in the valley, exploring all the trails Swaledale has to offer it dawned on him to make his passion his job. Stu bought 10 bikes and started hiring them out.
This was the birth of Dales Mountain Biking. There was a demand from people who wanted guided rides and grasping this opportunity Stu got himself qualified with OTC back in 1998, progressing to become an OTC Leader trainer and assessor.
A couple of years later kicking his heels at the football disco on a Friday night he was lucky enough to bump into his future wife Brenda. She had grown up in the valley and was home visiting her family who still farm in Swaledale. Brenda was working in Cheshire where she was the manager of an outdoor education centre but longed to be back working in the valley. The rest as they say is history.
Since then things have gone from strength to strength. Stu and Brenda have married and had two children and live just outside the village of Fremington. dmb has grown into a real business with a team of 5 qualified guides who can offer a range of mountain biking experiences for all abilities.
But Stu and Brenda wanted to go further, with a dedicated biking centre providing everything the road or mountain cyclist could wish for, whatever their level.
They wanted somewhere to house simple accommodation, repairs and sales, refreshment and retail. As they cast their eyes across the dale from their home, they rested upon a derelict stone barn, alongside the main road in Fremington. The ideal location.
It took two years to get planning permission from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority but by then, others could see the merits in this ambitious project. Yorkshire Forward REIP fund committed £100,000 and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund which is managed by the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust committed £22,000.
This enabled building work to begin.
Then despite poor weather and problems with the valley water supply, the obstacles have been overcome and what you see today is the fruit of Stuart and Brenda’s vision and bloody hard work: a lasting legacy which will provide pleasure for cyclists to enjoy this outstanding area for decades to come.
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