Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall is best known for his food, alongside campaigning for the environment, broadcasting and writing. In recent years, he's rediscovered his youthful love of the bicycle, thanks to a fun collaboration with one of the UK's finest custom bike builders.
Fearnley-Whittingstall fondly remembers bikes bringing him a lot of freedom as a child. "As kids, we practically lived on bikes when growing up in Gloucestershire. We moved there from London around 1970, and for me [aged about five], it was like moving to the biggest playground in the world with its fields and country lanes, and my sister and I learned to ride bikes very quickly. I had a Raleigh Chipper [smaller version of a Chopper], then my mum and dad bought me a second-hand bike with the Sturmey Archer three-speed gears, and we used to spin about on those all day in the summer holidays," he recalls.
Fast forward a few years and Fearnley-Whittingstall's reconnection with bikes came by chance after bike designer and builder Darron Coppin, founder of Sven Cycles, read a press release for the 2016 Bespoke handmade bike show (where Sven Cycles has picked up a number of awards) asking for builders to make a connection with local businesses for upcoming bike designs for the show.
Coppin explains, "I saw the press release and, being based in Dorset, I knew I wasn't too far away from Hugh's River Cottage (East Devon). So, I wrote to him asking if I could build him a bike and he replied enthusiastically. A custom bike should be whatever the individual needs of the customer are. The trick is balancing all this with parts that aren't too bespoke, because a bike needs to last, and be serviceable and updateable without extra cost."
Mark one: The Forager
This story is from the October 2023 edition of Cycling Plus UK.
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This story is from the October 2023 edition of Cycling Plus UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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